NEWSLETTER OF THE THEATRE LIBRARY ASSOCIATION Vo1.26, No. 1 TLA's 61"' Anniversary Year Summer 1998 TLA-FREEDLEY AWARDS 30thAnniversary of the George Freedley Memorial Award 25thAnniversary of the Theatre Library Association Award Master of Ceremonies Kevin years with productions of A portrayal of Hamlet ("we've seen all Winkler welcomed an enthusiastic Midsummer Night's Dream in the pieces of Hamlet but not the throng of TLA members and guests presenting the Freedley Award to whole Hamlet") and noted that to the 30th anniversary celebration Gary Jay Williams for Our Morrison had given us the "whole of the George Freedley Memorial Moonlight Revels: '3 Midsummer Barrymore." Morrison in his Award for distinguished Night's Dream" in the Theatre acceptance graciously thanked contribution to the literature on (University of Iowa Press). archivists and theatre historians for theatre or live performance and the Williams was very appreciative and the help they had given him with a 25th anniversary of the Theatre thanked theatre librarians who over special thanks to the Research . - Library Association Award for the years had responded very Collections of NYPL. outstanding book in the area of film generously to his requests. or broadcasting. He introduced The Theatre Library Association's Richard Wall (Queens College), Awards went to two books whose Chair of the Awards Committee, themes dovetailed. who thanked the publishers for submitting so many outstanding books on the arts and making the work of the jurors so difficult. Wall also thanked the jurors for their hard work. The Freedley Award Jurors were James Fisher (Wabash Gary Jay Williams (Freedley College), Jason Rubin (Washington winner) with actorldirector Alvin Col1ege)and Don B. Wilmeth Epstein (Brown University). The TLA jurors Playwrightlperformer Betty Comden were Steven Higgins (Museum of In presenting the honorable mention with TLA winner Cari Beauchamp Modern Art), Madeline Matz to Freedley nominee Michael A. (Library of Congress) and Stephen Morrison for his John Bmrymore, Betty Comden, performer, M. Vallillo (former Chair, Awards Shakespearean Actor (Cambridge playwright and co-author of Singing Committee). University Press), John Simon, in the Rain, the famous movie theatre critic for New York send-up of the silent to sound Alvin Epstein, who most recently Magazine, called the author a transition, was honored to present played Lee Strasberg in the "savior" saying that "he saves Cari Beauchamp with the TLA American Repertory Theatre's Barrymore from the frivolity of his Award for Without Lying Down: production of Robert Brustein's life and restores him to his art." Frances Marion and the Powerjd play Nobody Dies on Friday, Simon quoted Kenneth Tynan's Women of Ear& Holl'ood(Charles recounted his involvement over the reaction to Donald Wolfit's Scribner's Sons). Marion, one of the powerful women pioneers in champagne reception across the TLA at ALA Hollywood, began by writing hall. continuities in 19 12- 13 and became Let's Do it! Is it Legal? a screenwriter for Mary Pickford. The honorable mention was given Her career transcended the sound to Donald Crafton's The Talkies: On Monday morning, June 29th, era and she won Academy Awards American Cinema's Transition to 1998, the Theatre Library for her screenplays for The Big Sound, 1926-1931 (Charles Association presented Let's Do it! Is House in 1930 and The Champ in Scribner's Sons). Quoting Charles it Legal?, a panel discussion that 1932. Marion became part of a Chaplin who said "motion pictures examined copyright issues and the support group of early women need dialogue as much as Web, with emphasis on issues pioneers. The title of the biography Beethoven needs lyrics," Ron specific to performing arts comes from her description of the Hutchinson, the founder of the collections. TLA's program type of man she wanted; she wanted Vitaphone Project, credited Crafton committee (Susan Peters, Susan "a man she could look up to without with dispelling many of the myths Brady and Rosemary Cullen) lying down." Cari Beauchamp that have grown up around the organized the panel which was described her quest to take Francis transition from silent to sound films chaired by Paul Newman, TLA Marion and her friends "out of the and noted that from 1926 to 1930 board member and an attorney from footnotes of history." In proposing everything changed in the movie San Francisco. Rosemary Cullen the book to publishers, Beauchamp business. Popcorn even replaced (Brown University), Madeleine said Marion's address book read like peanuts because it was a "quieter Nichols (The New York Public a who's who of Hollywood. When snack." When Warner Bros. Library for the Performing Arts) and she actually finally saw Marion's released Don Juan, the first full Gayle T. Harris (retired from the address book, lo and behold it was length movie with synchronized Copyright Office and currently true. It did read like a who's who of sound effects, the film was President of Research Unlimited) Hollywood. Beauchamp thanked accompanied by sound shorts, each presented cogent papers on the the 30 libraries across the country canned moments of vaudeville and dilemmas and pitfalls that await and the librarians who helped her. acting performances." The disks librarians mounting websites on the She said she would get citations to for these shorts have recently been internet. sources from librarians that were discovered and the shorts are being like love notes: "Saw this, thought restored as the Vitaphone project. Ms. Cullen, Curator of the Harris of you." She said it was like a In his book, Crafton documents the Collection (The John Hay Library, chorus of support. Through impact of these shorts and other Brown University) described persistence, she finally got into the early sound films on the film Brown's African-American Sheet TurnerIMGM archives on the 94th industry. In his comments, Crafton Music Digitizing Project. Brown try ("If I had taken any of the first 93 said in Hollywood there was much University Library received one of "no's" as anything but a maybe..."). confusion over the new medium ten grants awarded in the Library of Her journey through the biography, ["talkies"] and what to do with it. Congress's National Digital Library while a labor of love, was also a Crafton also thanked archivists for Competition "to enable public, tricky bit of detective work as she their help in making his book research, and academic libraries, pieced together the puzzle of possible and gave a special thanks museums, historical societies and Marion's life. Beauchamp ended by to Joseph Yranski (Donnell archival institutions ...to create warmly thanking her husband "who Library) for his help with in digital collections of primary never made a condescending remark providing him with illustrations. resource material for distribution on about the paltry advance." With the Internet." The John Hay Library laughter and applause the winners has one of the largest sheet music and audience adjourned to a collections of any library in the Vo1.26, No.1 Summer 1998 2 United States and the permissions page. Worried that Congress shall have Power ... To African-American collection is one performance rights might still be in promote the Progress of Science and of the most important and heavily effect, Brown added a proviso useful Arts, by securing for limited used categories in the collection. warning that if there are Times to Authors and Inventors the performance rights involved, the exclusive Right to their respective The African-American Sheet Music user must obtain them. Brown Writings and Discoveries;" and, collection consists of approximately wanted to "transmit materials "To make all Laws which shall be 6,000 items of music, by and appropriately" so they chose to necessary and proper for carrying relating to African-Americans, from make high resolution images into Execution the foregoing the 1820s to the present day. Of that available over the net (650 pixels, Powers, and all the Powers vested number, 1,700 titles are fully 300 dpi). While Brown was by this Constitution in the cataloged in MARC format and are worried about images from the Government of the United States. or the basis for this digitizing project. collection being downloaded and in any Department or Officer The sheet music includes: Songs used improperly, they didn't want to thereof." She took the audience from the heyday of antebellum be unduly restrictive. They wanted through the sections of the blackface minstrelsy in the 1850s to provide access but also retain the Copyright Act of 1976 (1 7 U.S.C.A: and from the abolitionist movement integrity of the image. On every 106) which outline the exclusive of the same period; Numerous titles page of the internet document. rights of the copyright owner and associated with the novel and play, Brown included a statement of what constitutes fair use (Section Uncle Tom's Cabin; Civil War ownership and copyright and 107). music about African-American information on how to obtain soldiers and the plight of the newly permission to copy, publish or Then Nichols cited a number of emancipated slave; Post-Civil War otherwise use the materials was court cases that were both readable music reflecting the problems of made readily available. Cullen and relevant to copyright and fair Reconstruction, the beginnings of pointed out that there are methods use issues. In Horgan v. Macmillan. urbanization and the northern to tracking how images are Inc. 789 F2d 157 (2d Cir. 1986). migration of African-Americans downloaded and used; one George Balanchine's estate sued (notably in the music associated commercial method is Digimark Macmillan for infringing with the Harrigan & Hart shows of which changes one or two bits in Balanchine's choreography of The the 1880s) and the emergence of the image and uses those bits to Nutcracker; the book that Macmillan African-American performers and track the image on the Web.