Scope and arrangement
The Jane and Gordon Connell papers detail the couple's careers in theatre, radio, and television. Included are correspondence, photographs, programs, reviews, scripts, scores, video, and audio recordings from the productions in which they performed. Items are grouped together by production title, theatre name, or subject matter, and often contain materials from various performances of the same show.
The correspondence files predominantly address the Connells' professional communications, which discuss contracts, logistics, and potential acting jobs. There are also letters from actors and directors who worked with the couple, as well as some fan letters. Of note is correspondence regarding their work in advertising, which includes a letter discussing the 1958 Dexol Bleach commercial.
The performance files convey the longevity of the Connells' careers through photographs, programs, reviews, and scripts, many of which are annotated and date back to their lives in Berkeley as students at the University of California. There is a great deal of material from Jane and Gordon's work on the West Coast with the Straw Hat Revue Company and in radio broadcasting. They also retained a significant amount of mementos from their early New York City careers working for Julius Monk, which include photographs of performances at Upstairs at the Downstairs, flyers, programs, and a scrapbook of photographs with notes and autographs from the actors.
The career-spanning photographs, which are the most abundant items in the collection, depict stage, television, and radio programs. Most of the performance files contain photographs of the productions and some backstage shots, but there is a small collection of photographs that are unlabeled or were filed separately. These include images of when Jane and Gordon first met in college, live performances, family photographs, and headshots of Jane and Gordon, some in which they appear together. Some of the photographs included in this collection are digital scans; the scenes depicted in these files date between 1954 and 2013.
Less prevalent are musical scores, many of which are handwritten and annotated. They include some of Gordon Connell's musical theatre composition work, most notably from Bertha, The Sewing Machine. Among the scores are some unidentified drafts which were filed separately from the rest of the performance files.
Arrangement
Performance files are arranged alphabetically by production title, theatre name, or subject matter. Correspondence files arranged chronologically.