Actors Theatre of Phoenix
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TITLE: Actors Theatre of Phoenix DATE RANGE: 1985-2015 CALL NUMBER: PP-MS 249 PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION: 53 linear ft. (106 boxes) PROVENANCE: Donated by Renee Gerstman & Matthew Weiner COPYRIGHT: The Arizona Historical Society owns the copyright to this collection. RESTRICTIONS: This collection is unrestricted. CREDIT LINE: Actors Theatre of Phoenix, PP-MS 249, Arizona Historical Society-Papago Park PROCESSED BY: Aiyana Irwin, July 2015 HISTORICAL NOTE: Actors Theatre of Phoenix was established in 1985. At the time there was only one major theatre company in the Phoenix area and it very rarely hired local actors. It was for this reason that Carol McLeod, Judy Rollings, Glorianne Engle, and Gerald Burgess started the Actors Theatre of Phoenix Company. The Actors Theatre started out in a bank building in downtown Phoenix. It was a small space, with curtains separating the “stage” from the rest of the building. From the start, this company got rave reviews from both critics and audience members largely due to the inspired leadership of Judy Rollings, Jim Pinkerton and Matthew Weiner. During its thirty-year history, the company put on 151 productions. They ranged from knee-slapping comedies (Beehive produced twice by popular demand) to tear-jerking dramas (Baby Dance and Doubt). The company was known for taking risks and staging plays that other theatre companies would not. They also performed A Christmas Carol almost every year without fail, occasionally with slight variations. The Actors Theatre Company shared several guiding principles: public service, education and innovation. They believed that theater should be accessible to everyone regardless of ability to pay so they started the “priceless matinee.” At these shows people paid what they could or paid nothing at all to see The Actors Theatre understood the need to engage young people and put considerable effort into developing the student matinee. These shows were specifically for students who were given study guides and an entire educational experience about stage performance. In 1989, due to budget constraints, the Actors Theatre moved out of the bank building and into the newly built Herberger Center. Here it occupied Stage West, a substantially larger venue. The larger space meant bigger productions and, they hoped, a bigger audience. In 2010 it became clear that the Company was not creating enough revenue nor getting enough funding from its benefactors to continue paying for rent at the Herberger Center. There were talks of merging the Actors Theatre with the Herberger Center but no agreement was reached. In 2013 the company became a nomadic troupe that traveled to different venues in Phoenix before Actors Theatre of Phoenix Collection – 1 of 32 Arizona Historical Society at Papago Park, 1300 N. College Avenue, Tempe, AZ 85281 Phone: 480-387-5355, Email: [email protected] settling at the Mason Performing Arts Center where the company shared the stage with other companies. In 2015, the Actors Theatre Company was liquidated by unanimous vote of the Board of Directors due to lack of funding. A victim of the downturned economy, it was one of many regional and small theater companies that closed. What remains is the Actors Theatre’s enduring reputation for local acting at high standards and introducing audiences to a wide range of theater productions not often seen in the Phoenix metropolitan area. SCOPE AND CONTENT NOTE: Series I: Playbills. Organized by season. Each contains a cast, crew list and advertisements from different businesses. Series II: Production Books. Organized alphabetically by title of the play. They contain a copy of the script and director’s notes, as well as set drawings for several of the plays. Series III: Stage Manager Scripts. Organized alphabetically by title of the play. It includes scripts with blocking and other notes made by the stage manager throughout the rehearsals, cast lists and occasionally contact information for those involved in the production. Series IV: A Christmas Carol. This was performed numerous times by the Actors Theatre Company. Organized by date and sub series - such as Production Books, Stage Manager Scripts Costuming and Music Scripts. Series V: Education. Organized alphabetically by play. This series contains Student Matinees and Study Guides for children seeing the plays for educational purposes. Series VI: Administrative. Organized by date within sub series: Board of Directors Files, Equity Association Correspondence and Contract Documents, Strategic Plans, Three Year Plans, Fundraising, and Show Reports. Series VII: Financial. Organized by date within sub-series: Budgets, Financial Statements, Board of Directors Minutes, Fundraising, Development/Financial Strategic Plans, and Tax Information. Series VIII: Press & Marketing. Organized by date within each sub-series: Press Books, Marketing Archive, Ads and Marketing Materials Binders, Loose Marketing Materials, Reviews, and Marketing Plans. Series IX: Media. Organized alphabetically by play within a given format. These formats include Cassettes, CD’s/DVD’s, Floppy Disks*, Photographs, Photo Slides, and VHS Tapes. Series X: Awards & Memorabilia. Includes Plaques, Certificates, T-Shirts and Mixed Media Artwork. Series XI: Oversized. Organized alphabetically by play title within each sub-series: Shop Drawings, Play Reviews, and Show Posters. *NOTE: There is an External Hard Drive in the folder with the Floppy Disks that contains all the information of the Actors Theatre Company from 2006-2015 when the Company attempted to go paperless. It includes Board of Directors Meetings, Administrative and Financial information, Play Scripts, and Press & Marketing Materials. Actors Theatre of Phoenix Collection – 2 of 32 Arizona Historical Society at Papago Park, 1300 N. College Avenue, Tempe, AZ 85281 Phone: 480-387-5355, Email: [email protected] CONTAINER LIST: Box Folder Description Dates 1 1 Playbills 1986 2 Playbills 1986-1987 3 Playbills 1987-1988 4 Playbills 1988-1989 5 Playbills 1989-1990 6 Playbills 1990-1991 7 Playbills 1991-1992 8 Playbills 1992-1993 9 Playbills 1993-1994 10 Playbills 1994-1995 11 Playbills 1995-1996 2 1 Playbills 1996-1997 2 Playbills 1997-1998 3 Playbills 1998-1999 4 Playbills 1999-2000 5 Playbills 2000-2001 3 1 Playbills 2001-2002 2 Playbills 2002-2003 3 Playbills 2003-2004 4 Playbills 2004-2005 5 Playbills 2005-2006 6 Playbills 2006-2007 4 1 Playbills 2007-2008 2 Playbills 2008-2009 3 Playbills 2009-2010 4 Playbills 2010-2011 5 Playbills 2011-2012 6 Playbills 2012-2013 7 Playbills 2014 8 Production Books: All in the Timing (From Binder) 1996-1997 9 Production Books: American Safari (From Binder) 2000-2001 10 Production Books: Angels in America (From Binder) 2001-2002 (1-2) 5 1 Production Books: Angels in America (From Binder) 2001-2002 (2-2) 2 Production Books: Angels in America: Perestroika 2002-2003 (From Binder) (1-2) 3 Production Books: Angels in America: Perestroika 2002-2003 (From Binder) (2-2) 4 Production Books: The Archbishop’s Ceiling (From 2000-2001 Binder) Actors Theatre of Phoenix Collection – 3 of 32 Arizona Historical Society at Papago Park, 1300 N. College Avenue, Tempe, AZ 85281 Phone: 480-387-5355, Email: [email protected] 5 Production Books: The Arizona Project (From 1999-2000 Binder) (1-2) 6 1 Production Books: The Arizona Project (From 1999-2000 Binder) (2-2) 2 Production Books: The Baltimore Waltz (From 1999-2000 Binder) 3 Production Books: Beehive (From Binder) (1-2) 1991-1992 4 Production Books: Beehive (From Binder) (2-2) 1991-1992 5 Production Books: Below the Belt (From Binder) 1997-1998 6 Production Books: The Bible: The Complete Works 2000-2001 of God (abridged) (From Binder) (1-2) 7 Production Books: The Bible: The Complete Works 2000-2001 of God (abridged) (From Binder) (2-2) 7 1 Production Books: Blown Sideways Through Life 2000-2001 (From Binder) 2 Production Books: Bordertown (From Binder) 2004-2005 3 Production Books: Brilliant Traces/ Comes the 1990-1991 Revolution (From Binder) 4 Production Books: Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (From 2003-2004 Binder) (1-2) 5 Production Books: Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (From 2003-2004 Binder) (2-2) 6 Production Books: The Complete History of America 1998-1999 (abridged) (From Binder) (1-2) 7 Production Books: The Complete History of America 1998-1999 (abridged) (From Binder) (2-2) 8 1 Production Books: The Complete Works of William 1996-1997 Shakespeare (From Binder) 2 Production Books: Conversations with My Father 1995-1996 3 Production Books: Dinner with Friends (From 2001-2002 Binder) 4 Production Books: Eleemosynary (From Binder) 1991-1992 5 Production Books: The Essential Henry V (From 1997-1998 Binder) 6 Production Books: Frame 312 (From Binder) 2003-2004 7 Production Books: From the Mississippi Delta 1994-1995 (From Binder) 9 1 Production Books: Gray’s Anatomy (From Binder) 2002-2003 2 Production Books: Gun-Metal Blues (From Binder) 1998-1999 (1-2) 3 Production Books: Gun-Metal Blues (From Binder) 1998-1999 (2-2) 4 Production Books: Gun-Shy (From Binder) (1-2) 1998-1999 5 Production Books: Gun-Shy (From Binder) (2-2) 1998-1999 6 Production Books: Hedda Gabler (From Binder) (1- 1999-2000 Actors Theatre of Phoenix Collection – 4 of 32 Arizona Historical Society at Papago Park, 1300 N. College Avenue, Tempe, AZ 85281 Phone: 480-387-5355, Email: [email protected] 2) 7 Production Books: Hedda Gabler (From Binder) (2- 1999-2000 2) 8 Production Books: Katsina (From Binder) (1-2) 1996-1997 10 1 Production Books: Katsina (From Binder) (2-2) 1996-1997 2 Production Books: The Last