- Additional Authors
- Description
- 7 lin. ft. (18 archival boxes)
- Donor/Sponsor
- Schomburg NEH Blacks on Stage: African-American Theater Arts Collections Project.
- Subjects
- Genre/Form
- Musical scores.
- Plays.
- Scripts.
- Note
- Posters transferred to Art and Artifacts Division.
- Reel to reel recordings and casette tapes transferred to Moving Image and Recorded Sound Division.
- Photographs transferred to Photographs and Prints Division.
- Source (note)
- AMAS Musical Theatre (New York, N.Y.)
- Biography (note)
- AMAS Musical Theatre (formerly AMAS Repertory Theatre) was founded by actress Rosetta LeNoire in 1969 as a non-profit performing arts company in New York City. LeNoire conceived of the idea for a multiracial troupe in response to the rift she observed between African Americans and whites during that period.
- Processing Action (note)
- Accesioned
- Processed
- Cataloged
- Call Number
- Sc MG 463
- OCLC
- NYPW99-A159
- Author
AMAS Musical Theatre (New York, N.Y.)
- Title
AMAS Musical Theatre production files, 1978-1992.
- Summary
The AMAS Musical Theatre production files consist of documentation for thirty-six plays produced by AMAS, including both original plays and well known plays such as "It's so nice to be civilized," "Bojangles," "Jam," "Juba," "Blackberries," and "The buck stops here." Revivals have included "Bye Bye Birdie," "Carousel," and "My Fair Lady." A variety of material can be found in the files; however not every kind of material will be available for each production. The following list provides a sampling of files: attendance sheets; audition sheets, budgets, cast lists/contact sheets; casting lists and notices; contracts; costume inventories; cue sheets; equity contracts; flyers and programs; memoranda and correspondence; music and lyrics; performance reports; production schedules; rehearsal logs, schedules and reports; reviews; scene breakdown sheets; scripts-blocking/production/master/music; set design and illustrations/lighting/props; sound; stage manager's notes; and VIP lists. Additionally, the collection includes background information about AMAS and Rosetta LeNoire, AMAS's Eubie Blake Youth Theatre, programs and flyers for productions not represented in the files, and certificates awarded to AMAS.
- Biography
AMAS Musical Theatre (formerly AMAS Repertory Theatre) was founded by actress Rosetta LeNoire in 1969 as a non-profit performing arts company in New York City. LeNoire conceived of the idea for a multiracial troupe in response to the rift she observed between African Americans and whites during that period.
Originally known as the AMAS Repertory Theatre (amas means "you love" in Latin), its name was changed in 1989 to reflect its focus on musical theater. AMAS has produced plays written especially for this company as well as those written by established black and mainstream playwrights, and has also produced revivals of well-known plays. The Mainstage Musical Theatre, as the production company was known, provided opportunities for writers, composers and lyricists to create new works, free of the pressures of the commercial theaters. Serving as AMAS's artistic director, Miss LeNoire has overseen the creation of over forty original musicals, including "Bubbling Brown Sugar" and "Conrack."
Since the 1970's AMAS has sponsored a youth theater where training in music theory, drama, vocal technique, dance movement and stagecraft was offered to young people, culminating in a production. School groups, adult workshops and senior citizens are other groups with whom AMAS either worked with directly or performed for. This theatrical troupe has won a number of awards for its outstanding contributions.
- Finding Aids
Finding aid available in repository.
- Connect to:
- Added Author
Pockress, Lee. Conrack: a new musical.
Lamb, Wendy. Juba.
AMAS Musical Theatre (New York, N.Y.)
- Added Title
Schomburg NEH Blacks on Stage: African-American Theater Arts Collections Project.
- Research Call Number
Sc MG 463