Scope and arrangement
The Mary Frank Papers document the career of twentieth-century American theatrical producer and president of the New Dramatists, Mary Frank. Files pertaining to Frank's producing career, and her even more extensive experience as a frequent investor in theatrical productions, provide insight into the process of lining up backers and theatres, as well as hiring writers, actors, directors, designers, stage managers, and other production staff. The day-to-day business of running a major arts organization in its formative early years is well documented by Frank's New Dramatists records.
Materials collected or created by Mary Frank as a theatrical producer include production files containing agreements, contracts, scripts, programs, photographs, business correspondence, financial projections, budgets, and royalty statements from plays she produced, including Tea and Sympathy, Sabrina Fair, Too Late the Phalarope, One More River, Sponono, and K2. There are materials from I and Albert, a 1975 musical Frank produced in London, the off-Broadway musical Bodo (1983), and from other unproduced plays and musicals, including Madeline, Maggie & Jiggs, and On Borrowed Time. There are also files on productions in which Frank played a less active role, sometimes that of investor. These files contain letters, programs, and publicity materials. There are many scripts for plays and musicals Frank produced or invested in, as well as for plays submitted to Frank for consideration for production or investment. There are other office files on production companies, individuals, and unidentified projects, which contain resumes, agreements, correspondence, clippings, and photographs. Frank office files contain written reports on plays seen and read and books read and reviewed during the 1950s and 1960s. These reports appear to have been made in order to follow theatre trends and to assess new books for their adaptability as stage pieces.
Frank's role as president of New Dramatists from 1960 to 1969 is documented with administrative files. New Dramatists administrative files consist mainly of professional correspondence between Frank and other New Dramatists administrators and playwrights, directors, actors, investors, agents, publicists, and journalists. Administrative files also contain publicity materials, meeting minutes, applications, financial statements, fund-raising reports, and speeches.
Arrangement
This collection is divided into two groups of materials: Office Files and New Dramatists Administrative Records.