Contains photographs, fliers, programs, and clippings documenting local community theater and the Little Theater movement, including the work of actor Spalding, who appeared in the world premiere of Eugene O'Neill's Lazarus Laughed in 1928 and continued to act at the Playhouse through the 1930s; acted at other San Gabriel Valley venues; and presented one-man shows and workshops for drama classes at Pasadena High School, Pasadena City College, and others. Graydon Spalding later worked in the Rare Books Department of the Huntington Library; his brother, Gordon Spalding, worked as a photographer for the Playhouse, primarily taking publicity photographs.
Contains TV production sheets, including cast lists and program staff, for TV productions #10-15. Has TV CC#1-7 sheets (Closed Channel?), 1949-1950, and CC#1-11, season 1950-1951 and CC#1-3, season 1951-1952, again with cast lists and program staff; has TV productions labeled #1-#9, 1948. Also has cast and production lists for TV productions season 1962-1963.
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.
Subseries A (Community Playhouse and Mainstage productions), Subseries B (Playbox productions) and Subseries C (Mainstage, Playbox, and Gilmor Brown) are from a collection previously known as photCL 327 or Album 327, compiled from the scrapbook series set described in Series II.
Contains oversize programs for Pasadena Community Playhouse, 1927-1937. Also includes programs for the Playbox, 1931-1962, and the Mainstage, approximately 1937-1941 and 1960-1961.
Includes articles and clippings; cast, costume, and dressing room lists; correspondence, including a copy and transcription of Eugene O'Neill's letter to Gilmor Brown and correspondence about the production's score, plus a photograph of the composer; programs, correspondence, and clippings concerning the 1928 and 1929 premieres. Also includes and scripts, in the form of sides for various characters and the chorus.
