OPEN TODAY: 10 A.M.–5 P.M.

Tickets

Manuscripts

Pasadena Playhouse records

Description

The collection contains materials documenting the history and activities of the Pasadena Playhouse and its College of Theatre Arts. It includes approximately 15,000 photographs; 5,000 theater programs; 300 scripts; over 100 scrapbooks; 70 set and costume designs; and a few musical scores; as well as board meeting minutes; business records including ledgers, financial records, and correspondence; student catalogs, manuals, and yearbooks; curricular materials; newspaper clippings; theater periodicals; and various subject files. Also included are publications and business records from the Pasadena Playhouse Alumni and Associates, as well as a set of indexes (Series IX) and other research materials compiled by archivists at the Huntington Library (Series IVV). The materials date from approximately 1657-2013, with the bulk of the materials dating from the beginnings of the Playhouse in 1916 through its bankruptcy in 1969.

Major areas of interest represented in the collection include the Playhouse Board of Trustees' meeting minutes and correspondence; correspondence and business records of Playhouse executives and administrators, including Gilmor Brown, Fairfax Walkup, and Lenore Shanewise; writings, photographs, scrapbooks, and clippings detailing various aspects of the Pasadena Playhouse's history; catalogs, photographs, and promotional and curricular materials documenting the School of the Theatre (later College of Theatre Arts), its students, and student life; performance photographs, theater programs, original set and costume designs, scripts and scores, and supplementary materials reflecting productions at the Playhouse's venues (Community Playhouse, Mainstage, Playbox, Workshop and Laboratory Theatres, Patio Theatre, and East and West Balcony Theatres) as well from various student, traveling, and special events productions; and the holdings of the Playhouse's library and museum.

Along with Brown, Prickett, Walkup, and Shanewise, other key figures surfacing within the collection include Maurice Wells, assistant director of the Playbox; Charles Lane, actor in many Playhouse productions; Ralph Freud, a director at the Playhouse; Catherine Turney, a member of the School of the Theatre's first class who went on to become director of the Workshop; Dorothy Arzner, a filmmaker from the silent film era into the 1940s and cinema instructor at the Playhouse; Gail Shoup, a Playhouse staff director; Bobker Ben Ali, a writer and director whose productions included Manya: The Story of Marie Curie (circa 1938) and The People Win Thru (1952); Board chairs David Crandall and Earl Messer; and actors Maudie and Oliver Prickett, Charles Prickett's spouse and brother, respectively. The core records are strengthened by the complementary personal paper collections of directors, performers, and others associated with the Playhouse, including ben Ali; Graydon Spalding; Gail Shoup; and more (see Series VIII, Related Personal Collections).

The collection features the work of photographers including Jerome Robinson, Jack Powell, Gordon Spalding, Kim Spalding, and A. E. Arnold, and the original set and costume designs of James Hyde; Jānis Muncis; Rita Glover, who was the first woman to be admitted to the Designers Guild of California; and Robert Redington Sharpe, among many others.

Type
Manuscripts(Opens in new tab)
Date
Approximately 1687-2013
Call number
mssPlayhouse
Creator
Pasadena Playhouse(Opens in new tab)
Provenance
Gift of Pasadena Playhouse Alumni and Associates,
Additional gifts have been supplemented by former affiliates of the Playhouse over the years.
Associated people
Arnold, A. E., (-1941,)
Ben Ali, Bobker, (1921-1985,)
Ben Ali, Bobker, (1921-1985,)
Ben Ali, Bobker, (1921-1985,)
Ben Ali, Bobker, (1921-1985,)
Blanchard, Frederick W., (1878-1948,)
Blanchard, Frederick W., (1878-1948,)
Bowditch, Vincent Yardley, (1916-1985,)
Bowditch, Vincent Yardley, (1916-1985,)
Brown, Gilmor, (1886-1960,)
Brown, Gilmor, (1886-1960,)
Brown, Gilmor, (1886-1960,)
Brown, Gilmor, (1886-1960,)
Brown, Gilmor, 1886-1960, (1886-1955,)
Cook, Philip, (1886-1955,)
Cook, Philip, (1901-1954,)
Eaton, Jerry, (1905-1992,)
Evans, June, (1905-1992,)
Evans, June, (1904-1934,)
Haas, W. (1904-1934,)
Howell Helen, (1904-1934,)
Howell, Helen, (1905-1952,)
Hyde, James, (1911-1993,)
Powell, Jack, (1911-1993,)
Martin, W. Albert,
Muncis, Jānis,
Muncis, Jānis,
Prickett, Charles F.,
Blake, Oliver,
Blake, Oliver,
Sharpe, Robert Redington,
Sharpe, Robert Redington,
Sharpe, Robert Redington,
Shoup, Gail,
Shoup, Gail,
Spalding, Charles Gordon,
Spalding, Graydon E.
Spalding, Graydon E.
Spalding, Kim,
Sterling, Eloise,
Sterling, Eloise,
Van Dyke, Philip,
Van Dyke, Philip,
Find out more
View in the Library catalog(Opens in new tab)
View in the Online Archive of California(Opens in new tab)

You might also be interested in

  • Image not available

    Pasadena Playhouse figures

    Manuscripts

    Includes Thomas Browne Henry Acting and Directing Assignments at Pasadena Playhouse (1950, 4 typed pages covering productions from 1930-1950); Robert Redington Sharpe: The Life of a Theatre Designer, by Arnold Wengrow, 1990; and two typescripts, one regarding outdoor productions and referencing Brookside Par, and one a 1931 review of Green Fire, by Monroe Lathrop, in LA Express, 5/30/1931.

    mssPlayhouse

  • Image not available

    Guides to Pasadena Playhouse plays

    Manuscripts

    Guides to Pasadena Playhouse plays, removed from a binder labeled "Ephemera finding aid, Pasadena Playhouse plays, 1917-1946." Gift of Gail Shoup. Includes an alphabetical list of plays; alphabetical index of all public performers of works by an author; Mainstage plays, November 1917-December 1959 and November 1917-August 1949; Chronological list of Pasadena Playhouse premieres, 1917-1951; "Plays attended by less than 10,000 persons for the past seven years" (May 1962); and chronological list of productions, 1916-1941.

    mssPlayhouse

  • Image not available

    Series VIII. Related personal collections

    Manuscripts

    Contains personal papers of people affiliated with the Playhouse. Included are the papers of writer, producer, director, and actor Bobker Ben Ali (1921-1985), whose play, Manya: The Story of Marie Curie, helped to launch the career of William Holden; actor, director, and artist Frederick Blanchard (1878-1948); actor and staff director Vincent Yardley Bowditch (1916-1985), who also served as co-director at its College of Theatre Arts; dancer and actor Phil Cook, who studied at the Playhouse before embarking on a career in touring theater; actress, writer, director, and singer June Evans, who was active at the Playhouse from approximately 1930-1960; Ambassador Hotel Theater manager William "Uncle Bill" Haas; actor Graydon Spalding (1911-1993); set designer Helen Howell, active at the Playhouse from approximately 1927-1936; actor and teacher Oliver Prickett (1905-1992); actor Graydon Spalding (1911-1993); actress and associate director Eloise Sterling, active at the Playhouse from approximately 1916-1925; and writer Philip Van Dyke.

    mssPlayhouse

  • Image not available

    Pasadena Community Playhouse News/Pasadena Playhouse News

    Manuscripts

    This collection contains the records of the Pasadena Playhouse, a community theater established in Pasadena, California, in 1917. Materials consist primarily of theater programs, scrapbooks, business records, correspondence, clippings, scripts, school catalogues, brochures and ephemera, indexes, photographs, original drawings of set and costume designs, and research materials originally housed in the organization's library. The materials document the performance history of the various theaters of the Playhouse and also contain partial administrative records and school records, with particular strength in coverage for the "Mainstage" theater and an extensive run of programs and performance photographs. The core records are strengthened by the complementary personal paper collections of directors, performers, and others associated with the Playhouse.

    mssPlayhouse

  • Image not available

    State Theatre Players and others

    Manuscripts

    Chiefly contains programs from plays featuring the State Theatre Players. Also includes materials reflecting the Playhouse's association with the Los Angeles County Department of Parks and Recreation and the Pasadena Playhouse at Catalina, as well as fliers and a coursebook from educational outreach efforts.

    mssPlayhouse

  • Image not available

    Pasadena Community Playhouse

    Manuscripts

    This collection contains the records of the Pasadena Playhouse, a community theater established in Pasadena, California, in 1917. Materials consist primarily of theater programs, scrapbooks, business records, correspondence, clippings, scripts, school catalogues, brochures and ephemera, indexes, photographs, original drawings of set and costume designs, and research materials originally housed in the organization's library. The materials document the performance history of the various theaters of the Playhouse and also contain partial administrative records and school records, with particular strength in coverage for the "Mainstage" theater and an extensive run of programs and performance photographs. The core records are strengthened by the complementary personal paper collections of directors, performers, and others associated with the Playhouse.

    mssPlayhouse