Exhibition at The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts Celebrates the 75th Anniversary of the Billy Rose Theatre Division

Edwin Booth, Sarah Bernhardt, Tennessee Williams, Gypsy Rose Lee, Truman Capote, Edward Albee, Angela Lansbury, and Harvey Fierstein Are Among the Players Featured in Show

Poster designed by Alphonse Mucha promoting Sarah Bernhardt's Hamlet, whom she portrayed at her own theatre in Paris in 1899 and later in London.

The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts is celebrating the 75th anniversary of the founding of its Billy Rose Theatre Division with Stars and Treasures: 75 Years of Collecting Theatre, a major exhibition showcasing rare and unique artifacts from the more than 9 million items through which the Library preserves the ephemeral and captivating moments of the stage. The exhibition is on view through May 5, 2007 in the Donald and Mary Oenslager Gallery. Admission is free. The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center is located at 40 Lincoln Center Plaza.

The more than 300 items displayed include paintings, drawings, scripts, photographs, set models, costumes, posters, videos, and ephemera dating from the early 18th century to the present day, and represent drama, musical theatre, and such popular entertainment as the circus, magic, and vaudeville. From Gypsy Rose Lee's 1937 striptease diploma issued by Minsky's and Al Hirschfeld's spectacular seven-foot-long mural study from the 1950s depicting a star-studded roster of First Nighters such as Marlene Dietrich, Lillian Gish, and Noël Coward, to early drafts of Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? by Edward Albee, and letters by Edmund Kean and Tennessee Williams, the featured pieces range widely in format, content, and topic.

Also featured in the exhibition is a special section of personal theatre mementos loaned by some of today's most accomplished working professionals, including Joel Grey, Donna Murphy, Harvey Fierstein, Angela Lansbury, Julie Harris, Tommy Tune, and Patti LuPone.

"With its vast collections and close working relationship with the theatrical community, the Billy Rose Theatre Division plays a dynamic role in New York City's cultural life," said David Ferriero, Andrew W. Mellon Director and Chief Executive of the Research Libraries at The New York Public Library. "The division preserves the moments of the theatre that otherwise would disappear when the stage lights are lowered. In its millions of clippings, photographs, videotapes, manuscripts, programs, designs, scripts, and other materials, the Library provides the theatrical community with a unique window onto past productions and inspiration for future works."

Among the items on view for the first time are a 1769 handbill and ticket from the first Shakespeare Jubilee ever held (organized by David Garrick in Stratford-upon-Avon), and a draft of House of Flowers annotated in Truman Capote's hand. A 1970s-80s gypsy robe – the ceremonial robe passed among dancers from musical to musical, with embellishments added at each stop – also makes its public debut.

Jacqueline Z. Davis, the Barbara G. and Lawrence A. Fleischman Executive Director of The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, notes, "There is a marvelous synergy between the Billy Rose Theatre Division and the theatrical community. We see it when a playwright donates the drafts of his play to the Library, when the producers give us permission to film the production, when the publicist gives us the photographs and the programs, and then years later when they all return to the Library to study the materials to mount a revival. It is then that my heart swells with pride, knowing that the Library is an important partner in the performing arts process."

Early British Theatre

The exhibition begins with a tribute to early British theatre. Items on view from the Library's William Appleton Collection celebrate the acclaimed 18th-century British actor David Garrick. Early 18th-century correspondence in his hand is displayed, along with bronze medals that were commissioned in his honor. Other highlights in this section include colorful 19th-century caricatures by L.J. Binns – some autographed by their subjects – of such leading figures of the day as actress Ellen Terry and the producer Richard D'Oyly Carte; engravings produced after paintings of Shakespeare's plays; a wooden make-up box used by actress Peg Woffington in the 1720s; and letters written by actress Sarah Siddons.  

Theatre in America

Many of the most recognizable names in the history of American theatre surface in the posters, programs, images, and designs displayed in the section "Theatre in America." A number of items related to the Booth family are on view, including a locket containing the actor Edwin Booth's portrait and a lock of his mother's hair; a letter in which he wrote of his vote for Abraham Lincoln; and costume jewelry he wore in Hamlet; as well as a program from Ford's Theatre on the night Lincoln was assassinated by Edwin Booth's brother, actor John Wilkes Booth.

The historic production of Hamlet in the late 1930s is documented with Sir John Gielgud's script, the costume design for Lillian Gish's Ophelia, and Jo Mielziner's set design. Joseph Urban's striking costume designs for Edward Sheldon's Garden of Paradise (based on Hans Christian Andersen's Little Mermaid ) are among other highlights.

Theatre of Illusion

Incorporating elements of both traditional comedy and drama, magic and illusion have entertained countless audiences of theatregoers.  Paying homage to this engaging form of stage performance, the exhibition showcases letters written by Harry Houdini, promotional posters for both Houdini and Jean-Eugène Robert-Houdin, the great French magician whose surname Harry adapted, and material relating to the early 20th-century American magicians Harry Kellar and Howard Thurston. Material from the Library's Charles Pierce Collection sheds light on the history of female impersonation, with a 1930s black-and-white wedding photograph in which legendary impersonator Julian Eltinge appears as both the groom and bride.

Musical Theatre in America

Decades of original musical theatre productions – and their subsequent revivals – have yielded beloved characters and familiar tunes. Through set and costume designs, promotional posters, and other unusual items, the exhibition traces the roots of musical theatre and its evolution from minstrelsy and vaudeville.

One of the best known stage mothers, Rose Hovick, memorably depicted in the musical Gypsy, is represented by a letter to her daughter Gypsy Rose Lee. The ecdysiast Lee is on view in a demure photographic strip sequence and, more revealingly, in a photograph where she is strategically covered by a mink stole.

Oversized promotional three-sheet posters for such legendary musicals as The Black Crook, which was first produced in 1866 and is considered by many to be the first American musical, and Cole Porter's Leave It to Me (1938), starring William Gaxton and Victor Moore and featuring Mary Martin, who sang the show-stopping "My Heart Belongs to Daddy," hang near Hilary Knight's three-sheet poster for the 1971 revival of No, No, Nanette, bubbling in bright pink, purple, and orange and capturing the frothiness of the musical and the style of the 1920s.

Costume designs by Cecil Beaton for the original production of My Fair Lady (1956), and set models by Boris Aronson for Stephen Sondheim's Pacific Overtures (1976) and Kander and Ebb's Cabaret (1966) are also featured.

International

As theatre transcends geographical and language barriers, the exhibition acknowledges performers working in languages other than English, as well as shows, such as Annie Get Your Gun and How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, performed in translation. An enamel portrait of acclaimed French stage actress Sarah Bernhardt, as well as the bejeweled belt she wore in Cleopatra, are on view, along with depictions of scenes from the Folies Bergères and Kabuki theatre.

Theatre of the Spectacle

The historical chronicle of the exhibition concludes with the theatre of the spectacle, spotlighting circuses, the Wild West show, and other productions that were mounted on huge scales and achieved tremendous mass appeal. Promotional posters – an mid-1930s piece announcing Billy Rose's Jumbo, produced at New York's Hippodrome and featuring Jimmy Durante and a live elephant, and another heralding General Tom Thumb, an Albino family, Jenny Lind, and the other featured acts in Barnum's American Museum – are a testament to the blockbusters' widespread appeal.

Contemporary Treasures of Working Theatre Professionals

Personal memorabilia considered "treasures" by 25 Tony Award-winning actors has been loaned to the exhibition. These diverse items include a jewelry ensemble worn by Patti LuPone in Evita in 1979 that was also worn by Ethel Merman in Call Me Madam in 1950; a silver smelling-salts vial once owned by actress Ellen Terry and now a prized possession of the actress Jane Alexander; Audra McDonald's annotated working script for the 1994 revival of Carousel; the Halston-designed kimono given to Angela Lansbury during the revival of Gypsy and embroidered with sentiments from the entire cast; and clogs worn by Tommy Tune in the 1973 production of Seesaw.

Theatre of the Theatre

A specially created mini-theatre outfitted with seats borrowed from the nearby Vivian Beaumont Theater displays selections from the Library's Theatre on Film and Tape Archive, which documents live theatrical productions on video. Selections include Richard Burton in Hamlet, Noël Coward and Lynn Fontanne in Design for Living, Angela Lansbury in Sweeney Todd, Cherry Jones in The Heiress, and Dame Edna in The Royal Tour.

Stars and Treasures was curated by Bob Taylor who is also the Curator of the Billy Rose Theatre Division. "More than anything else, this exhibition is a tribute to a remarkable collection and to the curatorial staff, who over 75 years have sought out these Treasures and devoted a part of their lives to caring for them on behalf of future generations of theatre-lovers."

Related Programming

A related season-long series of programs, The Billy Rose Theatre Division at 75: Treasures from the Archives, is being presented in the Library's Bruno Walter Auditorium. Admission to all programs is free. For schedule information, telephone 212.642.0142 or go to the Library's website at www.nypl.org/lpaprograms.

About the Billy Rose Theatre Division

The Billy Rose Theatre Division, which was established officially as a separate unit of The New York Public Library on September 1, 1931, is world renowned as the largest and most comprehensive archive of the theatrical arts. The division's holdings of more than 9 million items illuminate virtually every type of performance, from street corner to stage to studio, and include not only theatre, but also film, television, radio, and such popular entertainments as the circus, magic, puppetry, and carousels. Chronicling performances from around the globe and throughout the centuries, the Billy Rose Theatre Division was formally established following a gift to The New York Public Library of thousands of items from the estate of producer and playwright David Belasco.  However, its roots date to two other important gifts - the George Beck Collection in 1905, which includes scripts and promptbooks from the 18th and 19th centuries, and the Robinson Locke Collection in 1925, which includes scrapbooks of stage and film personalities from 1870 through 1920.

Besides the traditional reference materials, the division's strength and uniqueness lie in its unparalleled holdings of archival collections, personal papers, performing arts ephemera, and other original materials, including its pioneering efforts documenting live theatre performances through the Theatre on Film and Tape Archive (TOFT). Working in the division, a user may examine a program for a 1767 Philadelphia performance of Romeo and Juliet, study Edwin Booth's letters to his daughter, review the working script for Orson Welles's African-American Macbeth, study costume designs from the film Anna and the King of Siam, analyze a videotape of A Chorus Line, or read scripts from current television hits.   Encompassing dramatic performance in all its diversity, the division is an indispensable resource for artists, writers, researchers, scholars, students, and the general public. Through conservation and documentation, it preserves and promotes the theatre, playing a dynamic role in the national and international theatrical communities.

About The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts

The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts houses the world's most extensive combination of circulating, reference, and rare archival collections in its field. Its divisions are the Circulating Collections, Jerome Robbins Dance Division, Music Division, Billy Rose Theatre Division, and the Rodgers and Hammerstein Archives of Recorded Sound. The materials in its collections are available free of charge, as are a wide range of special programs, including exhibitions, seminars, and performances. An essential resource for everyone with an interest in the arts - whether professional or amateur - the Library is known particularly for its prodigious collections of non-book materials such as historic recordings, videotapes, autograph manuscripts, correspondence, sheet music, stage designs, press clippings, programs, posters, and photographs.

Stars and Treasures: 75 Years of Collecting Theatre is on view from November 21, 2006 through May 5, 2007 at The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center, Donald and Mary Oenslager Gallery, 40 Lincoln Center Plaza.   Exhibition hours are: Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday from noon to 6:00 p.m.; Thursday from noon to 8:00 p.m.; closed Sundays, Mondays, and holidays. Admission is free. For exhibition information, telephone 212.870.1630 or visit the Library's website at www.nypl.org.

The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts gratefully acknowledges the leadership support of Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman. Additional support for exhibitions has been provided by Judy R. and Alfred A. Rosenberg and the Miriam and Harold Steinberg Foundation.

This exhibition has been made possible, in part, through the generous support of Barbara Fleischman, Newman's Own Foundation, and James Burrows. We are pleased to acknowledge Playbill, Incorporated as our media partner. A special thanks is due to members of the Theatre Collection Committee and the co-chairs Dorothy Cullman, Barbara Fleischman, and Harold Prince.

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Contact:                   Rima Corben at 212.592.7700 or rcorben@nypl.org