Theater Programs Collection 1850-2005 MS.2011.024 http://hdl.handle.net/2345/2883 Archives and Manuscripts Department John J. Burns Library Boston College 140 Commonwealth Avenue Chestnut Hill 02467 library.bc.edu/burns/contact URL: http://www.bc.edu/burns Table of Contents Summary Information .................................................................................................................................... 3 Administrative Information ............................................................................................................................ 4 Related Materials ........................................................................................................................................... 4 Historical note ................................................................................................................................................ 6 Scope and Contents ........................................................................................................................................ 7 Arrangement ................................................................................................................................................... 7 Collection Inventory ....................................................................................................................................... 9 I: Robert M. Dell collection ........................................................................................................................ 9 II: F. A. Searle Boston theater handbills .................................................................................................. 13 III: Boston playbills and ephemera ........................................................................................................... 13 IV: W. W. Todd scrapbooks ..................................................................................................................... 14 V: Augustin Daly theater playbills ........................................................................................................... 14 VI: Julia M. Fairbanks theater scrapbook ................................................................................................. 14 VII: Bruce J. Browning scrapbooks .......................................................................................................... 15 VIII: John P. Barry theater programs ....................................................................................................... 15 IX: Allen E. Beckwith theater programs .................................................................................................. 21 X: J. Robert Barth collection .................................................................................................................... 24 XI: Phyllis Penn Turin theater programs .................................................................................................. 29 XII: J. Paul Marcoux theater programs .................................................................................................... 33 XIII: Other playbills and programs ........................................................................................................... 34 Theater Programs Collection MS.2011.024 - Page 2 - Summary Information Creator: Marcoux, J. Paul, 1932- Creator: Barth, J. Robert Creator: Dell, Robert M. Creator: Barry, John Paul Creator: Turin, Phyllis Penn Creator: Todd, W. W. Creator: Fairbanks, Julia M. Creator: Browning, Bruce J. Creator: Beckwith, Allen E. Title: Theater programs collection Collection Identifier: MS.2011.024 Date [inclusive]: 1850-2005 Physical Description 33 Linear Feet (48 boxes, 16 volumes) Language of the Predominantly English, with small amounts of Dutch, French, Spanish, Material: and Welsh. Abstract: This collection contains theater playbills, programs, and scrapbooks, primarily for theaters in Boston and New England but also for other regions of the United States, Europe, and Asia. Programs make up the bulk of the collection. Also included are scrapbooks, bound volumes of handbills, clippings and writings, photographs, ticket stubs, movie programs, correspondence, and postcards. A small number of items have been annotated, or signed by performers. Scrapbooks often include information about the compilers' favorite actors in addition to recording performances seen. Many of the playbills and bound volumes are fragile and should be handled with care. Materials date from 1850 to 2005. Preferred Citation Identification of item, Box number, Folder number, Theater Programs Collection, MS.2011.024, John J. Burns Library, Boston College. Theater Programs Collection MS.2011.024 - Page 3 - Administrative Information Publication Information Processed by Stephanie Bennett in October 2012. This finding aid was produced using ArchivesSpace. Restrictions on access Collection is open for research. Provenance This collection consists of twelve separate accessions, not all of which have provenance information. Because the current accessioning system was not used until January 1986, it is not possible to know exactly the dates of acquisition of materials received before that time. The John P. Barry collection was donated by Henry F. Barry in 1990. The Robert M. Dell collection was donated by the collector in 1992. Mr. and Mrs. Bruce F. Browning donated the Bruce J. Browning scrapbooks in 1995. Phyllis Penn Turin donated her materials in 2003. Two programs were a gift of Dottie Brush in 2020. Restrictions on use These materials are made available for use in research, teaching and private study, pursuant to U.S. Copyright Law. The user must assume full responsibility for any use of the materials, including but not limited to, infringement of copyright and publication rights of reproduced materials. Any materials used for academic research or otherwise should be fully credited with the source. The original authors may retain copyright to the materials. Related Materials Related Materials American Theater Program Collection, Brandeis University. Boston Athenaeum Theater Collection, Boston Athenaeum. Boston Theatre Archives, Rare Books & Manuscripts, Boston Public Library. Ellerton J. Brehaut Bostoniana collection, MS.2008.016, John J. Burns Library, Boston College. Theater Programs Collection MS.2011.024 - Page 4 - Harvard Theatre Collection, Houghton Library, Harvard University. Jackson-Dowd Theater Collection, Emerson College Archives, Emerson College. Theater Programs Collection MS.2011.024 - Page 5 - Historical note In 1750, the General Court of Massachusetts prohibited "stage plays and theatrical entertainments of any kind." This anti-theater sentiment sprang from the area's religious roots. Nonetheless, plays were sometimes performed in private homes, even though a "puritanical uproar" occasionally followed. When Boston was occupied by British solders during the Revolutionary War, Faneuil Hall served as a theater for military productions. After the war, Boston's first official playhouse, Boston Theatre, opened in February 1794 and a second playhouse, the Haymarket, opened in 1796. By 1853, theater had a long enough history in Boston and enough popular interest for writer William Warland Cooke to write about local theater history in the newspaper Boston Evening Gazette and compile those entries into a book, A Record of the Boston Stage. Interest continued to grow, with additional theaters built (and rebuilt, after fires destroyed a few) throughout the nineteenth century. The late 1800s brought famed theater owner and former circus member Benjamin Franklin Keith to Boston, where he opened the New York Museum. Initially the museum starred a "three headed songstress," but shortly after opening, Keith began advertising a "theatorium." Museums like these introduced vaudeville to Boston, and B.F. Keith and various partners moved into ownership of Boston's Bijou Theatre and others. Theater owners frequently owned multiple properties. Augustin Daly owned Daly's Theaters in New York and London, and the Shubert organization owned a number of New York theaters in addition to those in Boston and Chicago. Theaters frequently underwent name changes, depending on ownership; today, many of Broadway's theaters have been renamed in honor of well-known performers. In Boston, many of the theaters constructed around the turn of the century have been demolished or repurposed. The Wang Center for the Performing Arts, for example, was formerly known as Metropolitan Theatre. The reverse is also true; Horticultural Hall has existed in name since 1845, but has moved on several occasions. Very few theaters have retained their original name and location over the decades. Popular nineteenth century performance halls included the Boston Museum, Tremont Theatre, and a variety of opera halls. Notable twentieth century Boston theaters include Bijou Theater, B.F. Keith's Theatre, Colonial Theatre, Hollis Street Theatre, Majestic Theatre, Plymouth Theatre, Shubert Theatre, Wilbur Theatre, and performance halls at local colleges like Boston College, Boston University, Harvard University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Wellesley College. This collection also reflects Boston theater-goers' excursions to performances in nearby New York, N.Y., New Hampshire, Vermont, and Maine, as well as their further ventures into other areas of the United States, Europe, and Asia. Sources "Boston Athenaeum Theater History." Boston Athenaeum. 2012. http://www.bostonathenaeum.org/ node/224 (accessed