Ward and Harvey Studios set designs

1921 - 1932

Ward and Harvey Studios was begun by designers Herbert Ward and Walter M. Harvey and was located on West 38th Street in New York City. The firm is credited with scenic design for Broadway productions between 1921 and 1932. Original set designs and sketches by Ward and Harvey Studios for theater productions including Chee-chee, book by Lew M. Fields, music by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Lorenz Hart (1928); A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's court, book by Herbert Fields, music by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Lorenz Hart (1927); A farewell to arms by Laurence Stallings, based on Ernest Hemingway's novel (1930); Janet of France (1929); The sap from Syracuse by Jack O'Donnell and John Wray (1930); and Through the years (musical version of Smilin' through), book by Brian Hooker, music by Vincent Youmans, lyrics by Edward Heyman (1932). Of note is the Robert Benchley design for a drop curtain depicting a map of Camelot, to be used during the intermission for A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's court. Approximately one half of the designs are for unidentified productions, one of which is possibly Lew Leslie's blackbirds of 1930. Designers include Junius Cravens, Walter M. Harvey, John F. Hawkins, Herbert Ward, and William Weaver; there are also several designs with a circus theme and a commedia dell'arte character, Punchinella.