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DuPont Hospitality (a unit of E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company). Records of the DuPont Theatre, 1919-2001 (bulk, 1975-1995).

Title: Records of the DuPont Theatre, 1919-2001 (bulk, 1975-1995).

The records of the DuPont Theatre consist primarily of public relations and advertising materials related to the theater's operation between 1919 and 2001. As such, they present a sequence of changing tastes in popular entertainment in a medium-sized American city. The administrative files include selected blueprints, a business plan, 75th anniversary materials, and a chronological listing of plays performed from 1913 to 2001. The publicity files (1876-1992) include publicity about the theater and reviews and articles about plays presented there. Press clippings (1959-1997), press releases (1987-1991), and press materials (1988-1994) cover both the theater and the productions staged there. Press kits (1987-1998) are materials issued by the production companies and distributed to promote presentations at the theater. They contain press releases, photos, reviews and other information about the plays, which the theater was to distribute to advertise the shows in the local media. The records of plays (1981-1999) are more comprehensive files on various productions, including press kits, advertising, brochures featuring the play's poster art, biographical sheets on the performers and writers, photos, including standard head shots and stage scenes, and copies of newspaper advertisements and reviews. The "Playbill" theater programs (1919-1999, incomplete) were published by the touring companies as variations on those issued in connection with the original Broadway productions. They contain the outline of acts, scenes and musical numbers, the cast of players, and background information on the show and members of the company. In addition to this material supplied by the company, about half the booklet was given over to local advertising and news items to cover printing costs, in this case specific to the Wilmington area. These include ads for new suburban subdivisions in the 1950s and 1960s. There are some Playbills for performances in other venues. Flyers and advertisements date from 1949-1992. The artifacts were part of lobby displays that highlighted the history of the Theater in the 1980s and 1990s, and include old keys to actors' dressing rooms. Signed playbills and photographs date from 1953-1997, with the bulk from 1994-1997. Perfomers for whom photos and publicity sheets are available are listed below. A full list of plays and other productions may be found in the finding aid.

ArchivalResource: 18.7 linear ft.

http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/725345850 View