Playscripts and Promptbooks Collection, 1795-1978 (bulk 1870-1915).

ArchivalResource

Playscripts and Promptbooks Collection, 1795-1978 (bulk 1870-1915).

The Playscripts and Promptbooks Collection contains promptbooks, stage managers' workbooks, preparation and rehearsal copies, and unused scripts for 100 dramas, comedies, musical comedies, and other dramatic works, many of which were staged in New York or London. The majority of the items in this collection are marked copies that appear to have been used in the production process. The collection is dominated by material associated with a handful of managers and producers. Two promptbooks marked in John Philip Kemble's hand record stagings at Covent Garden in 1805 and 1816. The office of the American producer Charles Frohman was the source of typescripts, mostly unmarked, for eighteen plays, many of which were produced at the Empire Theatre in New York or in London between 1901 and 1913. Also included are materials for stagings by Arthur Collins at Drury Lane, by the British theater manager Frank Hiam, and by Wilson Barrett, Annie E. F. Horniman, and R. H. Burnside. Other noteworthy material relates to playwrights and theaters. Arthur Wing Pinero is represented by a heavily revised copy of The Profligate; Lillian Hellman, by a souvenir promptbook for The Children's Hour; Dion Boucicault, by an incomplete holograph manuscript for Janet Pride; and Lord Edward Bulwer-Lytton by a promptbook for Money. Other authors include Augustin Daly, W. Somerset Maugham, J. M. Barrie, Cecil Raleigh, Benjamin Webster, and Richard Rodgers. In addition to the John Philip Kemble and Arthur Collins promptbooks for Covent Garden and Drury Lane, the collection includes promptbooks for the Portsmouth and Adelphi Theatres.

17 document boxes, 1 oversize box (7.39 linear feet).

Related Entities

There are 15 Entities related to this resource.

Kemble, John Philip, 1757-1823

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6pm17xm (person)

John Philip Kemble (1 February 1757 – 26 February 1823) was a British actor. He was born into a theatrical family as the eldest son of Roger Kemble, actor-manager of a touring troupe. His elder sister Sarah Siddons achieved fame with him on the stage of the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane. His other siblings, Charles Kemble, Stephen Kemble, Ann Hatton, and Elizabeth Whitlock, also enjoyed success on the stage. He was manager of the Drury Lane and Covent Garden theatres in London, where his reforms ...

Empire Theatre (New York, N.Y.).

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6ps3xh0 (corporateBody)

Portsmouth Theatre (Portsmouth, England)

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6063g18 (corporateBody)

Covent Garden Theatre

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6hj0h5f (corporateBody)

Thomas Harris, John Philip Kemble and others proprietors of the New Theatre Royal called Covent Garden Theatre. From the description of Grant for 85 years from Covent Garden Theatre to George Raikes of Cornhill, Esq. [manuscript], 1809 September 18. (Folger Shakespeare Library). WorldCat record id: 281643481 The Covent Garden Theatre was built by John Rich in London in 1732. Also known as the Royal Opera House. From the description of Documents concerning finance...

Collins, Arthur, 1864-1933

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6v99bgh (person)

Barrett, Wilson, 1848-1904

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6542s01 (person)

Alfred Wilson Barrettt was an actor, dramatist, theatre proprietor and manager. One of his 27 works for the stage was set in Australia (The never-never land, 1902). He visited Australia twice in 1896 and 1902-03. From the description of The sign of the cross [manuscript]. [1895?] (Libraries Australia). WorldCat record id: 224360457 Wilson Barrett, an actor, playwright, and theatre manager, was raised in London, where he worked odd jobs as a child. He began acting in 1864, an...

Hiam, Frank,

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6wm4d5t (person)

Boucicault, Dion, 1820-1890

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6ww7p6g (person)

Dionysius Lardner Boucicault was born in Dublin on 26th December 1820. His Irish mother Anna, nee Darley, was married to Samuel Boursiquot, but it is likely that Dion was the son of Dr. Dionysius Lardner, who was closer in age to Anna than her husband. In 1828, Anna and her children followed Lardner to London when he became Professor of Philosophy and Astronomy at the new University College. Dion attended several schools in London, but it was a production of Pizarro in 183...

Payne, B. Iden.

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6z03dn4 (person)

Burnside, R. H., 1870-1952

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6cz3hxb (person)

Robert H. Burnside (1870-1952) was an American actor, director, producer, composer, and playwright. He was stage director of the New York Hippodrome from 1908 to 1923. He wrote and staged hundreds of dramas, musicals and theatrical spectacles. From the description of R.H. Burnside papers, ca. 1890-1950. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 122485338 R.H. Burnside, 1870-1952, actor, director, producer, librettist, and lyricist, is remembered ch...

Frohman, Charles D.

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w63t9phf (person)

McGinley, Phyllis, 1905-1978

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w61s7dn6 (person)

American playwright and memoirist. From the description of Lillian Hellman Papers, 1904-1984 (bulk 1934-1984). (Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center (HRC); University of Texas at Austin). WorldCat record id: 78685575 Lillian Hellman, the author of Little Foxes and Watch on the Rhine, was the executor of the estate of the novelist Dashiell Hammett. From the description of Miscellaneous manuscripts, 1979. (University of Pennsylvania Library). WorldCat record id:...

Adelphi Theatre (London, England)

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6t48m78 (corporateBody)

The Sans Pareil Theatre of London opened in 1806 and was renamed the Adelphi Theatre in 1819. Other names included: Theatre Royal, Adelphi (1829-1858); Theatre Royal, New Adelphi (1858-1867); Royal Adelphi Theatre (1867); Century Theatre (1901-1902); Adelphi Theatre (1902-1930); and Royal Adelphi Theatre (1930-1940). Frederick Henry Yates managed the Adelphi Theatre with Daniel Terry in 1825. On Terry's death in 1829, he was joined by Charles Mathews. The Covent Garden Theatre, also known as the...

Pinero, Arthur Wing, 1855-1934

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6qc03h3 (person)

British playwright and actor. From the description of Letters, 1899-1903 : to F.A. Besant Rice. (University of Michigan). WorldCat record id: 34363756 British actor and writer; member of the Garrick Club. From the description of Letter written to Sir George Henschel, 1906. (Huntington Library, Art Collections & Botanical Gardens). WorldCat record id: 122386412 Pinero was an English dramatist. From the description of Papers concerning The ...

Drury Lane Theatre

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w62r7hj2 (corporateBody)

The Drury Lane Theatre in London is the oldest English theater still in use. From the description of Financial records, 1747-1817. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 78201833 From the guide to the Financial records, 1747-1817., (Harvard Theatre Collection, Houghton Library, Harvard College Library, Harvard University) The performances took place at the King's theatre, Haymarket and at the Lyceum between 1809 and 1812. Some of Benjamin Wyatt's plans for the rebuilding of...