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.
Contains biographical information; correspondence; employment agreements; clippings, primarily mentioning Manya; programs, some listing ben Ali; design drawings; and a typescript for a prose piece, 1983.
Contains material written chiefly by ben Ali, including several copies of Manya, many containing cues and other annotations. Also includes scripts by other playwrights, some with annotations.
Contains film clip introducing production staff, actors, and actresses in play written and directed by a young Bobker Ben Ali; one of the actors mentioned is Bill Beedle (later known as William Holden). Approximately 4 minutes.
Reel 4 is 35mm safety film. Reel 4a is 16mm reduced from 35mm original.
Folder 1 contains negatives from productions including Autumn Leaves (1938), And So They Perish (undated), and unidentified productions, including ones labeled "Workshop" and and "Lab"; also included are negatives labeled "Barrie Festival book." Folders 2-3 contain images from a Third-Year student production of Mine Eyes Have Seen (1955) and unidentified student productions (possibly a pageant). Folders 4-5 contain negatives from unidentified productions, circa 1917-1925, and rehearsals, undated. Folder 6 contains negatives from various productions.
