Manuscripts

Biographical information and business records

Description: Contains an address by Brown, The Drama of History (1937); address books, circa 1948-1953; brochures and announcements; marketing and publicity materials; clippings and articles relating to Brown's involvement with the Little Theater movement and theatrical organizations; photographs, including one of Brown standing outside of the Playbox (1930); Harriet Green's biography, Gilmor Brown: Portrait of a Man - and an Idea (1933); obituaries and tributes to Brown; ephemera; some personal correspondence; invoices and receipts from lodging and insurance; a memoir by Percy MacKaye and a World War II poster inscribed to Brown; and records of gifts.
Type: Manuscripts(Opens in new tab)
Date: Approximately 1906-1984
Call number: mssPlayhouse
Creator: Pasadena Playhouse(Opens in new tab)
Provenance: Gift of Pasadena Playhouse Alumni and Associates,

Series V. Theater performance and related photographs

Manuscripts

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.

mssPlayhouse

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Playbox and other

Manuscripts

Contains portraits of actors and actresses; performance photos from the Playbox; and images of Gilmor Brown and Lenore Shanewise in performance.

mssPlayhouse

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Various oversized items

Manuscripts

Contains awards and honors, 1951-1959; floor plans, undated and by unidentified architect; a broadside of Shakespeare and Shakespeare-related images, inscribed to Gilmor Brown by Mrs. H.D. Bentley, 1936, in appreciation of the Midsummer Drama Festival; one painting of Gilmor Brown in a kilt, undated, and one cartoon by Ernest Hix and Doug Hayes, 1948, celebrating Gilmor Brown. Also includes a 17th-century theater prop given to Gilmor Brown by Gareth Hughes: Indenture, used as Shylock's bond, 1687, accompanied by a label stating that this was stage property used in many productions of "The Merchant of Venice." Additionally, contains two copies of a banner advertising Pasadena Playhouse and its College of Theatre Arts, 1959; and portraits, including a photograph of Gilmor Brown's father, a photograph of Percy MacKaye inscribed to Brown, a photo depicting Bob Hope and Bing Crosby with a Pasadena Playhouse student, and photos of Elton Howard's portraits of Brown, Shanewise, Freud, and Wells, approximately 1925.

mssPlayhouse

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Interior views; Gilmor Brown

Manuscripts

Items 10890-10969 and 10979-10981: Various views of interiors, undated. Items 10970-10978: Playbox interior and exterior views, 695 Herkimer Street, undated. Items 10982-11066: Gilmor Brown, circa 1888-1960, including portraits of Brown as a youth and in various roles, among them as part of pre-Playhouse companies such as the Gilmor Brown Players; depictions of Brown with others, including at a New York Pasadena Playhouse Alumni Associate Breakfast (1956) and with Charlie Prickett, Victor Mature, Dana Andrews, Robert Preston, and Murray Yates; and images of Brown speaking, rehearsing, and traveling.

mssPlayhouse

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Various photographs, posters, and programs

Manuscripts

Contains enlargements of performance photographs from the set previously known as photCL 327 or Album 327; depictions of Gilmor Brown in character for unidentified play; and a scene from Trelawny of the Halwels, 1920. Also includes programs from Pasadena Community Playhouse and Playbox productions; a hand-drawn poster for When Knighthood was in Flower, 1932, by Corliss McGee; posters for the Gin Game, Charley's Aunt, and El Grande de Coca Cola; and four blueprints of the set design for a Mainstage production of Picnic, 1955.

mssPlayhouse

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Various performance and other photographs

Manuscripts

Contains loose undated performance photographs by Jerome Robinson for productions including: Broken dishes (three photos); Take it from the Angels and River Boy (two photos each); and A Yankee Fable, Oh! Susanna, Dr. Knock, A Servant in the House, Twin Beds, The Unmarried Hat, What Happened to Jones?, I Have Been Here Before, and The Patsy (one photo each). Also contains photographs by Jerry Eaton (Arms and the Man, one photo, plus unidentified photos) and two photos by Peter Pipe, one unidentified and one, from Autumn Crocus, inscribed to Gilmor Brown, "with best wishes for the Playbox," signed by Piper (1938). Also contains one drawing of an unidentified actor; portraits of groups and students; two undated photographs of a Mainstage play, Remains to Be Seen (undated); one undated photograph of an event, possibly a Festival breakfast; and 12 undated photos from unidentified performances, taken by unidentified photographer(s).

mssPlayhouse

Biographical information and business records

Opening Hours

Admission Info and Tickets

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Series V. Theater performance and related photographs

Playbox and other

Various oversized items

Interior views; Gilmor Brown

Various photographs, posters, and programs

Various performance and other photographs