Talks 8. Theatre

Abstract

“American Theatre Archive Project”: The American Theatre Archive Project (ATAP), an initiative of the American Society for Theatre Research, was established in 2009 to help active theater companies preserve their legacy by deploying regional teams composed of archivists, dramaturgs, and scholars throughout North America and developing a network of resources and community of practice around theater archives. This presentation will introduce attendees to the American Theatre Archive Project and its work with archivists, theater practitioners, and repositories to promote the preservation of America’s theatrical history.; “Costuming in the Federal Theatre: 1935 – 1939”: The Federal Theatre Project (FTP) was established under the Works Progress Administration, during the first term of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Radical in concept, the FTP was the only large-scale effort ever undertaken by the U.S. federal government to organize theatrical events. This presentation will introduce the costume designers of the FTP, their original costume designs, and related archival materials deposited in the Special Collections of the George Mason University Libraries, the Library of Congress, and the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts.; “Joseph Urban Archive at Columbia University”: Joseph Urban (1872 – 1933) was the major U.S. stage designer of his day, working simultaneously for the Metropolitan Opera, Ziegfeld and other Broadway producers, and Hearst’s Cosmopolitan Pictures. This presentation will give an overview of Urban’s creative achievements; note the performers who worked on his sets for stage and screen, such as Kate Smith, Isadora Duncan, Duke Ellington, and Ezio Pinza; outline the work that Columbia has done in processing, conserving, housing, and imaging the archive; and explore ways that new imaging technologies may be able to digitally put back together the 340 set models that came with the archive.