{"links":{"self":"https://search.arvasarchive.org/catalog.json?f%5Baccess_subjects%5D%5B%5D=Theater+--+Production+and+direction\u0026f%5Blevel%5D%5B%5D=Collection","last":"https://search.arvasarchive.org/catalog.json?f%5Baccess_subjects%5D%5B%5D=Theater+--+Production+and+direction\u0026f%5Blevel%5D%5B%5D=Collection\u0026page=1"},"meta":{"pages":{"current_page":1,"next_page":null,"prev_page":null,"total_pages":1,"limit_value":10,"offset_value":0,"total_count":7,"first_page?":true,"last_page?":true}},"data":[{"id":"vifgm_repositories_2_resources_416","type":"collection","attributes":{"title":"Arena Stage records","creator":{"id":"https://search.arvasarchive.org/catalog/vifgm_repositories_2_resources_416#creator","type":"document_value","attributes":{"value":"Arena Stage (Organization : Washington, D.C.)","label":"Creator"}},"abstract_or_scope":{"id":"https://search.arvasarchive.org/catalog/vifgm_repositories_2_resources_416#abstract_or_scope","type":"document_value","attributes":{"value":"The Arena Stage records consist of material that spans the theater's history from its beginnings in 1950 to the present, including production notebooks, photographs, audiotapes, videotapes, playbills, scrapbooks, scripts, handwritten correspondence, and other production materials, as well as administrative records.","label":"Abstract Or Scope"}},"breadcrumbs":{"id":"https://search.arvasarchive.org/catalog/vifgm_repositories_2_resources_416#breadcrumbs","type":"document_value","attributes":{"value":{"id":"vifgm_repositories_2_resources_416","ead_ssi":"vifgm_repositories_2_resources_416","_root_":"vifgm_repositories_2_resources_416","_nest_parent_":"vifgm_repositories_2_resources_416","ead_source_url_ssi":"data/oai/GMU/repositories_2_resources_416.xml","title_ssm":["Arena Stage records"],"title_tesim":["Arena Stage records"],"unitdate_ssm":["1949 - 2010"],"unitdate_inclusive_ssm":["1949 - 2010"],"level_ssm":["collection"],"level_ssim":["Collection"],"unitid_ssm":["C0017","/repositories/2/resources/416"],"text":["C0017","/repositories/2/resources/416","Arena Stage records","Theater -- Washington (D.C.)","Theater","Theater -- United States","Theater programs","Theater -- Production and direction","Performing arts","Video recordings","Sound recordings","Photographic prints","Collection is open to research. Some personnel records in Series 1 Subseries 3 Sub-subseries 2: Personnel, staff contain Social Security Numbers and must be screened by SCRC staff before researchers can view them.","Accruals to this collection are expected.","The collection is arranged into five series, each of which is further divided into subseries:","Series Series 1: Administrative records, 1949-2007 (Boxes 1-196) Series 2: Production files, 1950-2010 (Boxes 197-588, 654-663) Series 3: Photographs, 1950-1991 (Boxes 589-639) Series 4: Oversize materials, 1949-late 2000s (Boxes 640-720) Series 5: Audiovisual materials, 1970-2007 (Boxes 721-739)",""," Maslon, Lawrence, editor. \"The Arena Adventure: The First 40 Years.\" Washington, DC: Arena Stage, 1990.","","From its opening on August 16, 1950, the Arena Stage has dedicated itself to being a space of imagination and innovation, a tool of \"civilization,\" and Washington, D.C.'s preeminent regional theater. Founded by Zelda Fichandler, with assistance from her husband Thomas C. Fichandler and partner Edward Mangum, the Arena Stage began as a for-profit theater under Arena Enterprises, Inc. The original Hippodrome Theatre, located on Ninth and New York N.W. in D.C., was revolutionary amongst regional theatres for its theatre-in-the-round construction and would provide the blueprint for all future Arena locations.","Arena began its long and successful life with Oliver Goldsmith's  She Stoops to Conquer.  Arena owed its early successes in the 1950s to its fluid play schedule organization and its willingness to put on works that were not commercial successes on Broadway. In November of 1956, after a year's hiatus, the company relocated to a temporary home at the Old Heurich Brewery, dubbed the Old Vat by company members. The move was facilitated in part by the commitment and drive of Board members J. Burke Knapp, Albert M. Berkowitz, Israel Convisser, Leslie Amouri, and Henry J. Danilowicz. However, financial issues would continue to trouble Arena Enterprises, Inc., eventually leading to its dissolution in 1959, and the creation of Arena's new, non-profit parent organization, the Washington Drama Society.","During the 1960s, Arena garnered international renown in its new space: the Arena Stage Theatre. The new building, located at Sixth Street and Maine Avenue SW, was the first playhouse built in Washington since 1895. Chicago architect Harry Weese designed the space to be as innovative as possible while still maintaining the theater-in-the-round layout. Now a non-profit theater, Arena drew much of its funding during this time from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) and generous donations from both the Ford Foundation and the Rockefeller Foundations.","The Arena Stage began some of its most ambitious work during the 1960s including forming the Living Stage Theatre Company, further integrating its cast, and staging its most ambitious and acclaimed work to date:  The Great White Hope. The Great White Hope  included twenty five additional guest actors, including James Earl Jones, and was an enormous success, both critically and financially, for Arena. It was the first major resident theater production to be exported to Broadway. Fichandler also began to experiment with casting African American actors in traditionally white roles during the 1968 season after she published the paper \"Towards a Deepening Aesthetic.\" Fichandler experimented with non-traditional casting in plays like  King Lear  and  The Threepenny Opera , but unfortunately these plays were met with critical confusion and disappointing ticket sales. Arena Stage was incredibly successful in the 1970s, garnering awards and critical approval, and international recognition. Not content with the current Arena Stage configuration, Fichandler and others worked diligently to acquire another stage facility that would collaborate, not compete, with the current Stage. Generosity on the part of David Lloyd Kreeger, and others, led to the construction of the new Kreeger Theater which opened on January 15, 1971.","In 1973 Arena would have the opportunity to take two of its plays,  Our Town  and  Inherit the Wind  to the U.S.S.R. This was the first ever trip to the Soviet Union undertaken by a resident theater group. The trip was a wild success with Russian audiences giving the cast a standing ovation following their performance of  Inherit the Wind  at the Moscow Art Theatre. In April 1976 the American Theatre Critics Association bestowed upon the Arena Stage a special Tony Award for resident theaters. The ATCA cited Arena's qualities as a \"trailblazer\" in theatrical arts and representative of other theaters that had followed its lead.","The early 1980s were a difficult time for theater, but, in spite of this, Arena continued to push the limits of conventional residential theater. The 1982 production of  K2 , for example, saw the construction of a sheer glacial face on the Kreeger stage according to the vision of set designer Ming Cho Lee. In 1986 twenty-three actors and a thirteen member production staff traveled to Jerusalem to perform Zelda's production of  The Crucible  at the Israel Festival.","1989 marked the end of an era as Zelda Fichandler announced that she would step down as Arena's producing director at the end of the 1990-1991 fortieth anniversary season. Douglas C. Wager would succeed her as artistic director. Amid financial difficulties and changing times for theaters everywhere, Arena's resident company of actors was disbanded by the late 1990s. Wager remained at the helm until 1998, when Molly Smith took over the position. Under Smith's leadership, Bing Thom architects completed another major renovation of Arena's existing buildings into the Mead Center for American Theater in 2010. Smith served as Arena's artistic director until 2023, when she retired and was succeeded by current Aristic Director, Hana Sharif.","Many now-famous actors took part in Arena Stage productions during the early part of their careers. Some of them include Robert Prosky, Morgan Freeman, Dianne Wiest, James Earl Jones, Kevin Kline, Christopher Guest, Yeardley Smith, Samuel L. Jackson, Ned Beatty, Jane Alexander, and Ron Perlman. Many other set designers, artists, costume designers, and technical workers owe their early success and experience to the Arena Stage.","The Special Collections Research Center does not have the equipment necessary to film and audio reels, Betacam, or U-matic tapes contained in Series 5.2 and 5.3. Additional time and money may be required to digitize this material for access.","Processed by Harvard Theatre Collection and George Mason University Special Collections Research Center staff. Reprocessed by Greta Suiter, Kerry Mitchell, Elizabeth Beckman, Diane Stancil, and Nick Welsh. EAD markup completed by Elizabeth Beckman in 2016. Finding aid updated by Amanda Menjivar in 2025.","The Special Collections Research Center holds the personal papers of several individuals involved with Arena Stage, including the Zelda Fichandler papers, the Thomas C. Fichandler papers, the Ken Kitch papers, as well as the Living Stage records.","The Arena Stage records consist of material that spans the theater's history from 1949 to 2010, including production notebooks, photographs, audiotapes, videotapes, playbills, scrapbooks, scripts, correspondence, and other production materials, as well as administrative records pertaining to the theater's finances, publicity, buildings, and programs.","Series 1: Administrative records (1949-2007) documents the creation, operation, and maintenance of Arena Stage and its various programs. It is further divided into 6 subseries. Subseries 1.1: Correspondence includes correspondence arranged alphabetically by the correspondent's last name or by organizational name. Some correspondence is further aggregated and then organized alphabetically, such as \"Play Correspondence\" or \"Audience Response.\" Of particular note are letters from President Bill Clinton, Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and King Kong star Fay Wray. Subseries 1.2: Programs, policies, and procedures, includes records of Arena's programs, such as the \"Arena Angels\" volunteer program and fellowship programs, policies, such as bylaws, diversity policies, and handbooks, and planning, including season planning and long-range plans. This subseries is broken up into four sub-subseries. Sub-subseries 1.3.1: Financial papers documents Arena's finances and includes stockholder documents from its beginnings as a for-profit theater, grant-related documentation after the theater transitioned to a non-profit in the late 1950s, and records of the theater's development office, some of which were kept by department director Elspeth Udvarhelyi. Sub-subseries 1.3.2: Personnel records includes information on staff at Arena Stage arranged alphabetically. Of particular interest are headshots and/or resumes of a number of well-known actors, including James Earl Jones, Morgan Freeman, Henry Winkler, Edward Hermann, Yeardley Smith, Jane Alexander, Swoosie Kurtz, Victor Garber, Ron Perlman, Annette Benning, Olympia Dukakis, John Lithgow, John Voigt, Sigourney Weaver, and Rosemary Harris. Sub-subseries 1.3.3: Casting information contains notes on casting for productions arranged alphabetically by play. Sub-subseries 1.3.4: Production contracts includes official agreements between Arena and others arranged alphabetically by play. Subseries 1.4: Meeting minutes contains meeting minutes from Arena's Board of Trustees, staff, and other subgroups within the organization. Subseries 1.5: Communications and events, is also divided into four sub-subseries. Sub-subseries 1.5.1: Events documents special events held by Arena Stage, including anniversaries, galas, benefits, openings and press events. Sub-subseries 1.5.2: Communications and Marketing includes records produced by the Communications and Marketing departments, including meeting minutes, planning, research, and correspondence. Sub-subseries 1.5.3: Printed Material includes subscriber materials, mailings, brochures, reviews collected and arranged by play title, and programs organized chronologically. Sub-subseries 1.5.4: Theater Communications Group contains correspondence, reports, and other information generated from Arena's association with the Theater Communications Group, an organization of theaters around the United States. Subseries 1.6: Buildings and facilities includes information about and architectural plans for Arena's various buildings over the years, including the Hippodrome, the Old Vat, the 1960 permanent building, and the Kreeger Theater addition.","Series 2: Production Files (1950-2010) is comprised of records related to the artistic development and performance of Arena's plays. It is divided into 6 subseries. Subseries 2.1: Dramaturgical files documents literary, historical and background research done by Arena's literary department for various plays, including articles, research packets, actor's packets, and scripts. It is generally organized alphabetically by play. Subseries 2.2: Playwright subject files contains research on various playwrights, both living and dead, whose work has been performed at Arena. It is organized alphabetically by playwright's last name. Subseries 2.3: Production files includes scripts, blocking information, correspondence, and other material related to the production of Arena's plays. It is arranged alphabetically by play title. Subseries 2.4: Stage manager's reports includes daily reports by the stage manager of productions for the entire runs of many of Arena's plays from the late 1960s to the mid-1990s. The reports include running times, incident reports, and other commentary on the audience and the performance. Subseries 2.5: Wrap files contains documents collected from throughout the runs of various productions, including reviews that reflect the wider response to the play. Subseries 2.6: Producing director's files contains documents from Arena's second Producing director after Zelda Fichandler, Doug Wager, who served from 1991-1998. It includes pre-production speeches given by Wager, as well as planning files.","Series 3: Photographs (1950-1991)is divided into 3 subseries. Subseries 3.1: Production photographs includes photos of scenes from Arena's productions arranged alphabetically by play. Subseries 3.2: Production books includes production photos collected in books, many of which are by professional photographer George de Vincent. Subseries 3.3: Buildings, staff, and events includes photographs of Arena's buildings, staff and cast portraits, and event photographs, such as prints from Arena's 30th anniversary celebration and from Arena's Soviet Union and Israel tours. Subseries 3.4: Negatives and slides includes slides and negatives of Arena's staff and events, as well as some buildings, sets, and production-related images.","Series 4: Oversize (1949-late 2000s) is divided into 3 subseries and contains a variety of oversize material. Subseries 4.1: Braille programs contains programs in Braille for various Arena productions from the 1990s and early 2000s. Subseries 4.2: Miscellaneous artwork and programs includes posters from Arena productions and events, enlarged photos, costume sketches, and other oversized material, such as a large model of the Mead Center for American Theater. Subseries 4.3: Scrapbooks contains scrapbooks created for each of Arena's seasons up until 1988. It also includes scrapbooks for Arena's tour of the Soviet Union and of visitors to Arena.","Series 5: Audiovisual (1970-2007) contains several types of formats and is divided into 3 subseries. Series 5.1: Performances on VHS contains VHS tapes (a few of which have associated DVDs) of performances at Arena arranged alphabetically by play title. Series 5.2: Reel-to-reel contains production and event footage on reel-to-reel film. Series 5.3: Other audiovisual formats and VHS tapes contains footage of events and productions on audiocassette, Betacam, and U-matic tapes. ","The copyright and related rights status of this collection have not been evaluated (See http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/CNE/1.0/)","The Arena Stage records consist of material that spans the theater's history from its beginnings in 1950 to the present, including production notebooks, photographs, audiotapes, videotapes, playbills, scrapbooks, scripts, handwritten correspondence, and other production materials, as well as administrative records.","\nR 5, C 1, S 2 - R 9, C 4, S 7 \n\n\nR29, C1, S2\n\nOS R 3, C 2, S 1 - C 3, S 7\nOS R 4, C 5, S 5 \nOS R 5, C 2, S 3\nOS R 5, C 5, S 4\nOS R 6, C 4, S 6 - S 7\nOS R 7, C 1, S 2\nMap Case 9.1, 11.5","George Mason University. Libraries. Special Collections Research Center","Arena Stage (Organization : Washington, D.C.)","Fichandler, Thomas C.","Fichandler, Zelda, 1924-2016","English"],"unitid_tesim":["C0017","/repositories/2/resources/416"],"normalized_title_ssm":["Arena Stage records"],"collection_title_tesim":["Arena Stage records"],"collection_ssim":["Arena Stage records"],"repository_ssm":["George Mason University"],"repository_ssim":["George Mason University"],"creator_ssm":["Arena Stage (Organization : Washington, D.C.)"],"creator_ssim":["Arena Stage (Organization : Washington, D.C.)"],"creator_corpname_ssim":["Arena Stage (Organization : Washington, D.C.)"],"creators_ssim":["Arena Stage (Organization : Washington, D.C.)"],"access_terms_ssm":["The copyright and related rights status of this collection have not been evaluated (See http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/CNE/1.0/)"],"acqinfo_ssim":["Donated by Arena Stage in 2000-2024.","This collection has additional unprocessed accessions 2023.040-C and 2024.088-C, and therefore this finding aid may not be fully up to date. Please contact SCRC for more information."],"access_subjects_ssim":["Theater -- Washington (D.C.)","Theater","Theater -- United States","Theater programs","Theater -- Production and direction","Performing arts","Video recordings","Sound recordings","Photographic prints"],"access_subjects_ssm":["Theater -- Washington (D.C.)","Theater","Theater -- United States","Theater programs","Theater -- Production and direction","Performing arts","Video recordings","Sound recordings","Photographic prints"],"has_online_content_ssim":["false"],"extent_ssm":["369.5 Linear Feet 739 boxes"],"extent_tesim":["369.5 Linear Feet 739 boxes"],"genreform_ssim":["Video recordings","Sound recordings","Photographic prints"],"date_range_isim":[1949,1950,1951,1952,1953,1954,1955,1956,1957,1958,1959,1960,1961,1962,1963,1964,1965,1966,1967,1968,1969,1970,1971,1972,1973,1974,1975,1976,1977,1978,1979,1980,1981,1982,1983,1984,1985,1986,1987,1988,1989,1990,1991,1992,1993,1994,1995,1996,1997,1998,1999,2000,2001,2002,2003,2004,2005,2006,2007,2008,2009,2010],"accessrestrict_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eCollection is open to research. Some personnel records in Series 1 Subseries 3 Sub-subseries 2: Personnel, staff contain Social Security Numbers and must be screened by SCRC staff before researchers can view them.\u003c/p\u003e"],"accessrestrict_heading_ssm":["Access Restrictions"],"accessrestrict_tesim":["Collection is open to research. Some personnel records in Series 1 Subseries 3 Sub-subseries 2: Personnel, staff contain Social Security Numbers and must be screened by SCRC staff before researchers can view them."],"accruals_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eAccruals to this collection are expected.\u003c/p\u003e"],"accruals_heading_ssm":["Accruals"],"accruals_tesim":["Accruals to this collection are expected."],"arrangement_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eThe collection is arranged into five series, each of which is further divided into subseries:\u003c/p\u003e","\u003clist type=\"ordered\"\u003e\n      \u003chead\u003eSeries\u003c/head\u003e\n      \u003citem\u003eSeries 1: Administrative records, 1949-2007 (Boxes 1-196)\u003c/item\u003e\n      \u003citem\u003eSeries 2: Production files, 1950-2010 (Boxes 197-588, 654-663)\u003c/item\u003e\n      \u003citem\u003eSeries 3: Photographs, 1950-1991 (Boxes 589-639)\u003c/item\u003e\n      \u003citem\u003eSeries 4: Oversize materials, 1949-late 2000s (Boxes 640-720)\u003c/item\u003e\n      \u003citem\u003eSeries 5: Audiovisual materials, 1970-2007 (Boxes 721-739)\u003c/item\u003e\n    \u003c/list\u003e"],"arrangement_heading_ssm":["Arrangement"],"arrangement_tesim":["The collection is arranged into five series, each of which is further divided into subseries:","Series Series 1: Administrative records, 1949-2007 (Boxes 1-196) Series 2: Production files, 1950-2010 (Boxes 197-588, 654-663) Series 3: Photographs, 1950-1991 (Boxes 589-639) Series 4: Oversize materials, 1949-late 2000s (Boxes 640-720) Series 5: Audiovisual materials, 1970-2007 (Boxes 721-739)"],"bibliography_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003e\u003cextptr href=\"http://www.arenastage.org/plan-your-visit/the-mead-center/\" title=\"'Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater.' Arena Stage. Accessed February 3, 2016.\" show=\"new\"\u003e\u003c/extptr\u003e \u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003e Maslon, Lawrence, editor. \"The Arena Adventure: The First 40 Years.\" Washington, DC: Arena Stage, 1990.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003e \u003cextptr href=\"http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/style/theater/features/arena51205.htm\" title=\"Richards, David. 'For Arena Stage, a Pioneering Selection.' Washington Post. December 5, 1997\" show=\"new\"\u003e\u003c/extptr\u003e \u003c/p\u003e"],"bibliography_heading_ssm":["Bibliography"],"bibliography_tesim":[""," Maslon, Lawrence, editor. \"The Arena Adventure: The First 40 Years.\" Washington, DC: Arena Stage, 1990.",""],"bioghist_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eFrom its opening on August 16, 1950, the Arena Stage has dedicated itself to being a space of imagination and innovation, a tool of \"civilization,\" and Washington, D.C.'s preeminent regional theater. Founded by Zelda Fichandler, with assistance from her husband Thomas C. Fichandler and partner Edward Mangum, the Arena Stage began as a for-profit theater under Arena Enterprises, Inc. The original Hippodrome Theatre, located on Ninth and New York N.W. in D.C., was revolutionary amongst regional theatres for its theatre-in-the-round construction and would provide the blueprint for all future Arena locations.\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eArena began its long and successful life with Oliver Goldsmith's \u003citalic\u003eShe Stoops to Conquer.\u003c/italic\u003e Arena owed its early successes in the 1950s to its fluid play schedule organization and its willingness to put on works that were not commercial successes on Broadway. In November of 1956, after a year's hiatus, the company relocated to a temporary home at the Old Heurich Brewery, dubbed the Old Vat by company members. The move was facilitated in part by the commitment and drive of Board members J. Burke Knapp, Albert M. Berkowitz, Israel Convisser, Leslie Amouri, and Henry J. Danilowicz. However, financial issues would continue to trouble Arena Enterprises, Inc., eventually leading to its dissolution in 1959, and the creation of Arena's new, non-profit parent organization, the Washington Drama Society.\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eDuring the 1960s, Arena garnered international renown in its new space: the Arena Stage Theatre. The new building, located at Sixth Street and Maine Avenue SW, was the first playhouse built in Washington since 1895. Chicago architect Harry Weese designed the space to be as innovative as possible while still maintaining the theater-in-the-round layout. Now a non-profit theater, Arena drew much of its funding during this time from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) and generous donations from both the Ford Foundation and the Rockefeller Foundations.\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eThe Arena Stage began some of its most ambitious work during the 1960s including forming the Living Stage Theatre Company, further integrating its cast, and staging its most ambitious and acclaimed work to date: \u003citalic\u003eThe Great White Hope.\u003c/italic\u003e \u003citalic\u003eThe Great White Hope\u003c/italic\u003e included twenty five additional guest actors, including James Earl Jones, and was an enormous success, both critically and financially, for Arena. It was the first major resident theater production to be exported to Broadway. Fichandler also began to experiment with casting African American actors in traditionally white roles during the 1968 season after she published the paper \"Towards a Deepening Aesthetic.\" Fichandler experimented with non-traditional casting in plays like \u003citalic\u003eKing Lear\u003c/italic\u003e and \u003citalic\u003eThe Threepenny Opera\u003c/italic\u003e, but unfortunately these plays were met with critical confusion and disappointing ticket sales. Arena Stage was incredibly successful in the 1970s, garnering awards and critical approval, and international recognition. Not content with the current Arena Stage configuration, Fichandler and others worked diligently to acquire another stage facility that would collaborate, not compete, with the current Stage. Generosity on the part of David Lloyd Kreeger, and others, led to the construction of the new Kreeger Theater which opened on January 15, 1971.\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eIn 1973 Arena would have the opportunity to take two of its plays, \u003citalic\u003eOur Town\u003c/italic\u003e and \u003citalic\u003eInherit the Wind\u003c/italic\u003e to the U.S.S.R. This was the first ever trip to the Soviet Union undertaken by a resident theater group. The trip was a wild success with Russian audiences giving the cast a standing ovation following their performance of \u003citalic\u003eInherit the Wind\u003c/italic\u003e at the Moscow Art Theatre. In April 1976 the American Theatre Critics Association bestowed upon the Arena Stage a special Tony Award for resident theaters. The ATCA cited Arena's qualities as a \"trailblazer\" in theatrical arts and representative of other theaters that had followed its lead.\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eThe early 1980s were a difficult time for theater, but, in spite of this, Arena continued to push the limits of conventional residential theater. The 1982 production of \u003citalic\u003eK2\u003c/italic\u003e, for example, saw the construction of a sheer glacial face on the Kreeger stage according to the vision of set designer Ming Cho Lee. In 1986 twenty-three actors and a thirteen member production staff traveled to Jerusalem to perform Zelda's production of \u003citalic\u003eThe Crucible\u003c/italic\u003e at the Israel Festival.\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003e1989 marked the end of an era as Zelda Fichandler announced that she would step down as Arena's producing director at the end of the 1990-1991 fortieth anniversary season. Douglas C. Wager would succeed her as artistic director. Amid financial difficulties and changing times for theaters everywhere, Arena's resident company of actors was disbanded by the late 1990s. Wager remained at the helm until 1998, when Molly Smith took over the position. Under Smith's leadership, Bing Thom architects completed another major renovation of Arena's existing buildings into the Mead Center for American Theater in 2010. Smith served as Arena's artistic director until 2023, when she retired and was succeeded by current Aristic Director, Hana Sharif.\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eMany now-famous actors took part in Arena Stage productions during the early part of their careers. Some of them include Robert Prosky, Morgan Freeman, Dianne Wiest, James Earl Jones, Kevin Kline, Christopher Guest, Yeardley Smith, Samuel L. Jackson, Ned Beatty, Jane Alexander, and Ron Perlman. Many other set designers, artists, costume designers, and technical workers owe their early success and experience to the Arena Stage.\u003c/p\u003e"],"bioghist_heading_ssm":["Historical Information"],"bioghist_tesim":["From its opening on August 16, 1950, the Arena Stage has dedicated itself to being a space of imagination and innovation, a tool of \"civilization,\" and Washington, D.C.'s preeminent regional theater. Founded by Zelda Fichandler, with assistance from her husband Thomas C. Fichandler and partner Edward Mangum, the Arena Stage began as a for-profit theater under Arena Enterprises, Inc. The original Hippodrome Theatre, located on Ninth and New York N.W. in D.C., was revolutionary amongst regional theatres for its theatre-in-the-round construction and would provide the blueprint for all future Arena locations.","Arena began its long and successful life with Oliver Goldsmith's  She Stoops to Conquer.  Arena owed its early successes in the 1950s to its fluid play schedule organization and its willingness to put on works that were not commercial successes on Broadway. In November of 1956, after a year's hiatus, the company relocated to a temporary home at the Old Heurich Brewery, dubbed the Old Vat by company members. The move was facilitated in part by the commitment and drive of Board members J. Burke Knapp, Albert M. Berkowitz, Israel Convisser, Leslie Amouri, and Henry J. Danilowicz. However, financial issues would continue to trouble Arena Enterprises, Inc., eventually leading to its dissolution in 1959, and the creation of Arena's new, non-profit parent organization, the Washington Drama Society.","During the 1960s, Arena garnered international renown in its new space: the Arena Stage Theatre. The new building, located at Sixth Street and Maine Avenue SW, was the first playhouse built in Washington since 1895. Chicago architect Harry Weese designed the space to be as innovative as possible while still maintaining the theater-in-the-round layout. Now a non-profit theater, Arena drew much of its funding during this time from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) and generous donations from both the Ford Foundation and the Rockefeller Foundations.","The Arena Stage began some of its most ambitious work during the 1960s including forming the Living Stage Theatre Company, further integrating its cast, and staging its most ambitious and acclaimed work to date:  The Great White Hope. The Great White Hope  included twenty five additional guest actors, including James Earl Jones, and was an enormous success, both critically and financially, for Arena. It was the first major resident theater production to be exported to Broadway. Fichandler also began to experiment with casting African American actors in traditionally white roles during the 1968 season after she published the paper \"Towards a Deepening Aesthetic.\" Fichandler experimented with non-traditional casting in plays like  King Lear  and  The Threepenny Opera , but unfortunately these plays were met with critical confusion and disappointing ticket sales. Arena Stage was incredibly successful in the 1970s, garnering awards and critical approval, and international recognition. Not content with the current Arena Stage configuration, Fichandler and others worked diligently to acquire another stage facility that would collaborate, not compete, with the current Stage. Generosity on the part of David Lloyd Kreeger, and others, led to the construction of the new Kreeger Theater which opened on January 15, 1971.","In 1973 Arena would have the opportunity to take two of its plays,  Our Town  and  Inherit the Wind  to the U.S.S.R. This was the first ever trip to the Soviet Union undertaken by a resident theater group. The trip was a wild success with Russian audiences giving the cast a standing ovation following their performance of  Inherit the Wind  at the Moscow Art Theatre. In April 1976 the American Theatre Critics Association bestowed upon the Arena Stage a special Tony Award for resident theaters. The ATCA cited Arena's qualities as a \"trailblazer\" in theatrical arts and representative of other theaters that had followed its lead.","The early 1980s were a difficult time for theater, but, in spite of this, Arena continued to push the limits of conventional residential theater. The 1982 production of  K2 , for example, saw the construction of a sheer glacial face on the Kreeger stage according to the vision of set designer Ming Cho Lee. In 1986 twenty-three actors and a thirteen member production staff traveled to Jerusalem to perform Zelda's production of  The Crucible  at the Israel Festival.","1989 marked the end of an era as Zelda Fichandler announced that she would step down as Arena's producing director at the end of the 1990-1991 fortieth anniversary season. Douglas C. Wager would succeed her as artistic director. Amid financial difficulties and changing times for theaters everywhere, Arena's resident company of actors was disbanded by the late 1990s. Wager remained at the helm until 1998, when Molly Smith took over the position. Under Smith's leadership, Bing Thom architects completed another major renovation of Arena's existing buildings into the Mead Center for American Theater in 2010. Smith served as Arena's artistic director until 2023, when she retired and was succeeded by current Aristic Director, Hana Sharif.","Many now-famous actors took part in Arena Stage productions during the early part of their careers. Some of them include Robert Prosky, Morgan Freeman, Dianne Wiest, James Earl Jones, Kevin Kline, Christopher Guest, Yeardley Smith, Samuel L. Jackson, Ned Beatty, Jane Alexander, and Ron Perlman. Many other set designers, artists, costume designers, and technical workers owe their early success and experience to the Arena Stage."],"phystech_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eThe Special Collections Research Center does not have the equipment necessary to film and audio reels, Betacam, or U-matic tapes contained in Series 5.2 and 5.3. Additional time and money may be required to digitize this material for access.\u003c/p\u003e"],"phystech_heading_ssm":["Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements"],"phystech_tesim":["The Special Collections Research Center does not have the equipment necessary to film and audio reels, Betacam, or U-matic tapes contained in Series 5.2 and 5.3. Additional time and money may be required to digitize this material for access."],"prefercite_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eArena Stage records, C0017, Special Collections Research Center, George Mason University Libraries.\u003c/p\u003e"],"prefercite_tesim":["Arena Stage records, C0017, Special Collections Research Center, George Mason University Libraries."],"processinfo_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eProcessed by Harvard Theatre Collection and George Mason University Special Collections Research Center staff. Reprocessed by Greta Suiter, Kerry Mitchell, Elizabeth Beckman, Diane Stancil, and Nick Welsh. EAD markup completed by Elizabeth Beckman in 2016. Finding aid updated by Amanda Menjivar in 2025.\u003c/p\u003e"],"processinfo_heading_ssm":["Processing Information"],"processinfo_tesim":["Processed by Harvard Theatre Collection and George Mason University Special Collections Research Center staff. Reprocessed by Greta Suiter, Kerry Mitchell, Elizabeth Beckman, Diane Stancil, and Nick Welsh. EAD markup completed by Elizabeth Beckman in 2016. Finding aid updated by Amanda Menjivar in 2025."],"relatedmaterial_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eThe Special Collections Research Center holds the personal papers of several individuals involved with Arena Stage, including the Zelda Fichandler papers, the Thomas C. Fichandler papers, the Ken Kitch papers, as well as the Living Stage records.\u003c/p\u003e"],"relatedmaterial_heading_ssm":["Related Material"],"relatedmaterial_tesim":["The Special Collections Research Center holds the personal papers of several individuals involved with Arena Stage, including the Zelda Fichandler papers, the Thomas C. Fichandler papers, the Ken Kitch papers, as well as the Living Stage records."],"scopecontent_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eThe Arena Stage records consist of material that spans the theater's history from 1949 to 2010, including production notebooks, photographs, audiotapes, videotapes, playbills, scrapbooks, scripts, correspondence, and other production materials, as well as administrative records pertaining to the theater's finances, publicity, buildings, and programs.\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eSeries 1: Administrative records (1949-2007) documents the creation, operation, and maintenance of Arena Stage and its various programs. It is further divided into 6 subseries. Subseries 1.1: Correspondence includes correspondence arranged alphabetically by the correspondent's last name or by organizational name. Some correspondence is further aggregated and then organized alphabetically, such as \"Play Correspondence\" or \"Audience Response.\" Of particular note are letters from President Bill Clinton, Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and King Kong star Fay Wray. Subseries 1.2: Programs, policies, and procedures, includes records of Arena's programs, such as the \"Arena Angels\" volunteer program and fellowship programs, policies, such as bylaws, diversity policies, and handbooks, and planning, including season planning and long-range plans. This subseries is broken up into four sub-subseries. Sub-subseries 1.3.1: Financial papers documents Arena's finances and includes stockholder documents from its beginnings as a for-profit theater, grant-related documentation after the theater transitioned to a non-profit in the late 1950s, and records of the theater's development office, some of which were kept by department director Elspeth Udvarhelyi. Sub-subseries 1.3.2: Personnel records includes information on staff at Arena Stage arranged alphabetically. Of particular interest are headshots and/or resumes of a number of well-known actors, including James Earl Jones, Morgan Freeman, Henry Winkler, Edward Hermann, Yeardley Smith, Jane Alexander, Swoosie Kurtz, Victor Garber, Ron Perlman, Annette Benning, Olympia Dukakis, John Lithgow, John Voigt, Sigourney Weaver, and Rosemary Harris. Sub-subseries 1.3.3: Casting information contains notes on casting for productions arranged alphabetically by play. Sub-subseries 1.3.4: Production contracts includes official agreements between Arena and others arranged alphabetically by play. Subseries 1.4: Meeting minutes contains meeting minutes from Arena's Board of Trustees, staff, and other subgroups within the organization. Subseries 1.5: Communications and events, is also divided into four sub-subseries. Sub-subseries 1.5.1: Events documents special events held by Arena Stage, including anniversaries, galas, benefits, openings and press events. Sub-subseries 1.5.2: Communications and Marketing includes records produced by the Communications and Marketing departments, including meeting minutes, planning, research, and correspondence. Sub-subseries 1.5.3: Printed Material includes subscriber materials, mailings, brochures, reviews collected and arranged by play title, and programs organized chronologically. Sub-subseries 1.5.4: Theater Communications Group contains correspondence, reports, and other information generated from Arena's association with the Theater Communications Group, an organization of theaters around the United States. Subseries 1.6: Buildings and facilities includes information about and architectural plans for Arena's various buildings over the years, including the Hippodrome, the Old Vat, the 1960 permanent building, and the Kreeger Theater addition.\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eSeries 2: Production Files (1950-2010) is comprised of records related to the artistic development and performance of Arena's plays. It is divided into 6 subseries. Subseries 2.1: Dramaturgical files documents literary, historical and background research done by Arena's literary department for various plays, including articles, research packets, actor's packets, and scripts. It is generally organized alphabetically by play. Subseries 2.2: Playwright subject files contains research on various playwrights, both living and dead, whose work has been performed at Arena. It is organized alphabetically by playwright's last name. Subseries 2.3: Production files includes scripts, blocking information, correspondence, and other material related to the production of Arena's plays. It is arranged alphabetically by play title. Subseries 2.4: Stage manager's reports includes daily reports by the stage manager of productions for the entire runs of many of Arena's plays from the late 1960s to the mid-1990s. The reports include running times, incident reports, and other commentary on the audience and the performance. Subseries 2.5: Wrap files contains documents collected from throughout the runs of various productions, including reviews that reflect the wider response to the play. Subseries 2.6: Producing director's files contains documents from Arena's second Producing director after Zelda Fichandler, Doug Wager, who served from 1991-1998. It includes pre-production speeches given by Wager, as well as planning files.\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eSeries 3: Photographs (1950-1991)is divided into 3 subseries. Subseries 3.1: Production photographs includes photos of scenes from Arena's productions arranged alphabetically by play. Subseries 3.2: Production books includes production photos collected in books, many of which are by professional photographer George de Vincent. Subseries 3.3: Buildings, staff, and events includes photographs of Arena's buildings, staff and cast portraits, and event photographs, such as prints from Arena's 30th anniversary celebration and from Arena's Soviet Union and Israel tours. Subseries 3.4: Negatives and slides includes slides and negatives of Arena's staff and events, as well as some buildings, sets, and production-related images.\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eSeries 4: Oversize (1949-late 2000s) is divided into 3 subseries and contains a variety of oversize material. Subseries 4.1: Braille programs contains programs in Braille for various Arena productions from the 1990s and early 2000s. Subseries 4.2: Miscellaneous artwork and programs includes posters from Arena productions and events, enlarged photos, costume sketches, and other oversized material, such as a large model of the Mead Center for American Theater. Subseries 4.3: Scrapbooks contains scrapbooks created for each of Arena's seasons up until 1988. It also includes scrapbooks for Arena's tour of the Soviet Union and of visitors to Arena.\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eSeries 5: Audiovisual (1970-2007) contains several types of formats and is divided into 3 subseries. Series 5.1: Performances on VHS contains VHS tapes (a few of which have associated DVDs) of performances at Arena arranged alphabetically by play title. Series 5.2: Reel-to-reel contains production and event footage on reel-to-reel film. Series 5.3: Other audiovisual formats and VHS tapes contains footage of events and productions on audiocassette, Betacam, and U-matic tapes. \u003c/p\u003e"],"scopecontent_heading_ssm":["Scope and Content"],"scopecontent_tesim":["The Arena Stage records consist of material that spans the theater's history from 1949 to 2010, including production notebooks, photographs, audiotapes, videotapes, playbills, scrapbooks, scripts, correspondence, and other production materials, as well as administrative records pertaining to the theater's finances, publicity, buildings, and programs.","Series 1: Administrative records (1949-2007) documents the creation, operation, and maintenance of Arena Stage and its various programs. It is further divided into 6 subseries. Subseries 1.1: Correspondence includes correspondence arranged alphabetically by the correspondent's last name or by organizational name. Some correspondence is further aggregated and then organized alphabetically, such as \"Play Correspondence\" or \"Audience Response.\" Of particular note are letters from President Bill Clinton, Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and King Kong star Fay Wray. Subseries 1.2: Programs, policies, and procedures, includes records of Arena's programs, such as the \"Arena Angels\" volunteer program and fellowship programs, policies, such as bylaws, diversity policies, and handbooks, and planning, including season planning and long-range plans. This subseries is broken up into four sub-subseries. Sub-subseries 1.3.1: Financial papers documents Arena's finances and includes stockholder documents from its beginnings as a for-profit theater, grant-related documentation after the theater transitioned to a non-profit in the late 1950s, and records of the theater's development office, some of which were kept by department director Elspeth Udvarhelyi. Sub-subseries 1.3.2: Personnel records includes information on staff at Arena Stage arranged alphabetically. Of particular interest are headshots and/or resumes of a number of well-known actors, including James Earl Jones, Morgan Freeman, Henry Winkler, Edward Hermann, Yeardley Smith, Jane Alexander, Swoosie Kurtz, Victor Garber, Ron Perlman, Annette Benning, Olympia Dukakis, John Lithgow, John Voigt, Sigourney Weaver, and Rosemary Harris. Sub-subseries 1.3.3: Casting information contains notes on casting for productions arranged alphabetically by play. Sub-subseries 1.3.4: Production contracts includes official agreements between Arena and others arranged alphabetically by play. Subseries 1.4: Meeting minutes contains meeting minutes from Arena's Board of Trustees, staff, and other subgroups within the organization. Subseries 1.5: Communications and events, is also divided into four sub-subseries. Sub-subseries 1.5.1: Events documents special events held by Arena Stage, including anniversaries, galas, benefits, openings and press events. Sub-subseries 1.5.2: Communications and Marketing includes records produced by the Communications and Marketing departments, including meeting minutes, planning, research, and correspondence. Sub-subseries 1.5.3: Printed Material includes subscriber materials, mailings, brochures, reviews collected and arranged by play title, and programs organized chronologically. Sub-subseries 1.5.4: Theater Communications Group contains correspondence, reports, and other information generated from Arena's association with the Theater Communications Group, an organization of theaters around the United States. Subseries 1.6: Buildings and facilities includes information about and architectural plans for Arena's various buildings over the years, including the Hippodrome, the Old Vat, the 1960 permanent building, and the Kreeger Theater addition.","Series 2: Production Files (1950-2010) is comprised of records related to the artistic development and performance of Arena's plays. It is divided into 6 subseries. Subseries 2.1: Dramaturgical files documents literary, historical and background research done by Arena's literary department for various plays, including articles, research packets, actor's packets, and scripts. It is generally organized alphabetically by play. Subseries 2.2: Playwright subject files contains research on various playwrights, both living and dead, whose work has been performed at Arena. It is organized alphabetically by playwright's last name. Subseries 2.3: Production files includes scripts, blocking information, correspondence, and other material related to the production of Arena's plays. It is arranged alphabetically by play title. Subseries 2.4: Stage manager's reports includes daily reports by the stage manager of productions for the entire runs of many of Arena's plays from the late 1960s to the mid-1990s. The reports include running times, incident reports, and other commentary on the audience and the performance. Subseries 2.5: Wrap files contains documents collected from throughout the runs of various productions, including reviews that reflect the wider response to the play. Subseries 2.6: Producing director's files contains documents from Arena's second Producing director after Zelda Fichandler, Doug Wager, who served from 1991-1998. It includes pre-production speeches given by Wager, as well as planning files.","Series 3: Photographs (1950-1991)is divided into 3 subseries. Subseries 3.1: Production photographs includes photos of scenes from Arena's productions arranged alphabetically by play. Subseries 3.2: Production books includes production photos collected in books, many of which are by professional photographer George de Vincent. Subseries 3.3: Buildings, staff, and events includes photographs of Arena's buildings, staff and cast portraits, and event photographs, such as prints from Arena's 30th anniversary celebration and from Arena's Soviet Union and Israel tours. Subseries 3.4: Negatives and slides includes slides and negatives of Arena's staff and events, as well as some buildings, sets, and production-related images.","Series 4: Oversize (1949-late 2000s) is divided into 3 subseries and contains a variety of oversize material. Subseries 4.1: Braille programs contains programs in Braille for various Arena productions from the 1990s and early 2000s. Subseries 4.2: Miscellaneous artwork and programs includes posters from Arena productions and events, enlarged photos, costume sketches, and other oversized material, such as a large model of the Mead Center for American Theater. Subseries 4.3: Scrapbooks contains scrapbooks created for each of Arena's seasons up until 1988. It also includes scrapbooks for Arena's tour of the Soviet Union and of visitors to Arena.","Series 5: Audiovisual (1970-2007) contains several types of formats and is divided into 3 subseries. Series 5.1: Performances on VHS contains VHS tapes (a few of which have associated DVDs) of performances at Arena arranged alphabetically by play title. Series 5.2: Reel-to-reel contains production and event footage on reel-to-reel film. Series 5.3: Other audiovisual formats and VHS tapes contains footage of events and productions on audiocassette, Betacam, and U-matic tapes. "],"userestrict_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eThe copyright and related rights status of this collection have not been evaluated (See http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/CNE/1.0/)\u003c/p\u003e"],"userestrict_heading_ssm":["Use Restrictions"],"userestrict_tesim":["The copyright and related rights status of this collection have not been evaluated (See http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/CNE/1.0/)"],"abstract_html_tesm":["\u003cabstract id=\"aspace_ec96c412f915842d3012676b73803163\" label=\"Abstract\"\u003eThe Arena Stage records consist of material that spans the theater's history from its beginnings in 1950 to the present, including production notebooks, photographs, audiotapes, videotapes, playbills, scrapbooks, scripts, handwritten correspondence, and other production materials, as well as administrative records.\u003c/abstract\u003e"],"abstract_tesim":["The Arena Stage records consist of material that spans the theater's history from its beginnings in 1950 to the present, including production notebooks, photographs, audiotapes, videotapes, playbills, scrapbooks, scripts, handwritten correspondence, and other production materials, as well as administrative records."],"physloc_html_tesm":["\u003cphysloc id=\"aspace_22f8958322c3fdee6366a384bb686980\"\u003e\nR 5, C 1, S 2 - R 9, C 4, S 7 \n\n\nR29, C1, S2\n\nOS R 3, C 2, S 1 - C 3, S 7\nOS R 4, C 5, S 5 \nOS R 5, C 2, S 3\nOS R 5, C 5, S 4\nOS R 6, C 4, S 6 - S 7\nOS R 7, C 1, S 2\nMap Case 9.1, 11.5\u003c/physloc\u003e"],"physloc_tesim":["\nR 5, C 1, S 2 - R 9, C 4, S 7 \n\n\nR29, C1, S2\n\nOS R 3, C 2, S 1 - C 3, S 7\nOS R 4, C 5, S 5 \nOS R 5, C 2, S 3\nOS R 5, C 5, S 4\nOS R 6, C 4, S 6 - S 7\nOS R 7, C 1, S 2\nMap Case 9.1, 11.5"],"names_ssim":["George Mason University. Libraries. Special Collections Research Center","Arena Stage (Organization : Washington, D.C.)","Fichandler, Thomas C.","Fichandler, Zelda, 1924-2016"],"corpname_ssim":["George Mason University. Libraries. Special Collections Research Center","Arena Stage (Organization : Washington, D.C.)"],"names_coll_ssim":["Fichandler, Thomas C.","Fichandler, Zelda, 1924-2016"],"persname_ssim":["Fichandler, Thomas C.","Fichandler, Zelda, 1924-2016"],"language_ssim":["English"],"descrules_ssm":["Describing Archives: A Content Standard"],"total_component_count_is":8332,"online_item_count_is":0,"component_level_isim":[0],"sort_isi":0,"timestamp":"2026-05-01T00:23:25.700Z","collection":{"numFound":1,"start":0,"numFoundExact":true,"docs":[{"id":"vifgm_repositories_2_resources_416","ead_ssi":"vifgm_repositories_2_resources_416","_root_":"vifgm_repositories_2_resources_416","_nest_parent_":"vifgm_repositories_2_resources_416","ead_source_url_ssi":"data/oai/GMU/repositories_2_resources_416.xml","title_ssm":["Arena Stage records"],"title_tesim":["Arena Stage records"],"unitdate_ssm":["1949 - 2010"],"unitdate_inclusive_ssm":["1949 - 2010"],"level_ssm":["collection"],"level_ssim":["Collection"],"unitid_ssm":["C0017","/repositories/2/resources/416"],"text":["C0017","/repositories/2/resources/416","Arena Stage records","Theater -- Washington (D.C.)","Theater","Theater -- United States","Theater programs","Theater -- Production and direction","Performing arts","Video recordings","Sound recordings","Photographic prints","Collection is open to research. Some personnel records in Series 1 Subseries 3 Sub-subseries 2: Personnel, staff contain Social Security Numbers and must be screened by SCRC staff before researchers can view them.","Accruals to this collection are expected.","The collection is arranged into five series, each of which is further divided into subseries:","Series Series 1: Administrative records, 1949-2007 (Boxes 1-196) Series 2: Production files, 1950-2010 (Boxes 197-588, 654-663) Series 3: Photographs, 1950-1991 (Boxes 589-639) Series 4: Oversize materials, 1949-late 2000s (Boxes 640-720) Series 5: Audiovisual materials, 1970-2007 (Boxes 721-739)",""," Maslon, Lawrence, editor. \"The Arena Adventure: The First 40 Years.\" Washington, DC: Arena Stage, 1990.","","From its opening on August 16, 1950, the Arena Stage has dedicated itself to being a space of imagination and innovation, a tool of \"civilization,\" and Washington, D.C.'s preeminent regional theater. Founded by Zelda Fichandler, with assistance from her husband Thomas C. Fichandler and partner Edward Mangum, the Arena Stage began as a for-profit theater under Arena Enterprises, Inc. The original Hippodrome Theatre, located on Ninth and New York N.W. in D.C., was revolutionary amongst regional theatres for its theatre-in-the-round construction and would provide the blueprint for all future Arena locations.","Arena began its long and successful life with Oliver Goldsmith's  She Stoops to Conquer.  Arena owed its early successes in the 1950s to its fluid play schedule organization and its willingness to put on works that were not commercial successes on Broadway. In November of 1956, after a year's hiatus, the company relocated to a temporary home at the Old Heurich Brewery, dubbed the Old Vat by company members. The move was facilitated in part by the commitment and drive of Board members J. Burke Knapp, Albert M. Berkowitz, Israel Convisser, Leslie Amouri, and Henry J. Danilowicz. However, financial issues would continue to trouble Arena Enterprises, Inc., eventually leading to its dissolution in 1959, and the creation of Arena's new, non-profit parent organization, the Washington Drama Society.","During the 1960s, Arena garnered international renown in its new space: the Arena Stage Theatre. The new building, located at Sixth Street and Maine Avenue SW, was the first playhouse built in Washington since 1895. Chicago architect Harry Weese designed the space to be as innovative as possible while still maintaining the theater-in-the-round layout. Now a non-profit theater, Arena drew much of its funding during this time from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) and generous donations from both the Ford Foundation and the Rockefeller Foundations.","The Arena Stage began some of its most ambitious work during the 1960s including forming the Living Stage Theatre Company, further integrating its cast, and staging its most ambitious and acclaimed work to date:  The Great White Hope. The Great White Hope  included twenty five additional guest actors, including James Earl Jones, and was an enormous success, both critically and financially, for Arena. It was the first major resident theater production to be exported to Broadway. Fichandler also began to experiment with casting African American actors in traditionally white roles during the 1968 season after she published the paper \"Towards a Deepening Aesthetic.\" Fichandler experimented with non-traditional casting in plays like  King Lear  and  The Threepenny Opera , but unfortunately these plays were met with critical confusion and disappointing ticket sales. Arena Stage was incredibly successful in the 1970s, garnering awards and critical approval, and international recognition. Not content with the current Arena Stage configuration, Fichandler and others worked diligently to acquire another stage facility that would collaborate, not compete, with the current Stage. Generosity on the part of David Lloyd Kreeger, and others, led to the construction of the new Kreeger Theater which opened on January 15, 1971.","In 1973 Arena would have the opportunity to take two of its plays,  Our Town  and  Inherit the Wind  to the U.S.S.R. This was the first ever trip to the Soviet Union undertaken by a resident theater group. The trip was a wild success with Russian audiences giving the cast a standing ovation following their performance of  Inherit the Wind  at the Moscow Art Theatre. In April 1976 the American Theatre Critics Association bestowed upon the Arena Stage a special Tony Award for resident theaters. The ATCA cited Arena's qualities as a \"trailblazer\" in theatrical arts and representative of other theaters that had followed its lead.","The early 1980s were a difficult time for theater, but, in spite of this, Arena continued to push the limits of conventional residential theater. The 1982 production of  K2 , for example, saw the construction of a sheer glacial face on the Kreeger stage according to the vision of set designer Ming Cho Lee. In 1986 twenty-three actors and a thirteen member production staff traveled to Jerusalem to perform Zelda's production of  The Crucible  at the Israel Festival.","1989 marked the end of an era as Zelda Fichandler announced that she would step down as Arena's producing director at the end of the 1990-1991 fortieth anniversary season. Douglas C. Wager would succeed her as artistic director. Amid financial difficulties and changing times for theaters everywhere, Arena's resident company of actors was disbanded by the late 1990s. Wager remained at the helm until 1998, when Molly Smith took over the position. Under Smith's leadership, Bing Thom architects completed another major renovation of Arena's existing buildings into the Mead Center for American Theater in 2010. Smith served as Arena's artistic director until 2023, when she retired and was succeeded by current Aristic Director, Hana Sharif.","Many now-famous actors took part in Arena Stage productions during the early part of their careers. Some of them include Robert Prosky, Morgan Freeman, Dianne Wiest, James Earl Jones, Kevin Kline, Christopher Guest, Yeardley Smith, Samuel L. Jackson, Ned Beatty, Jane Alexander, and Ron Perlman. Many other set designers, artists, costume designers, and technical workers owe their early success and experience to the Arena Stage.","The Special Collections Research Center does not have the equipment necessary to film and audio reels, Betacam, or U-matic tapes contained in Series 5.2 and 5.3. Additional time and money may be required to digitize this material for access.","Processed by Harvard Theatre Collection and George Mason University Special Collections Research Center staff. Reprocessed by Greta Suiter, Kerry Mitchell, Elizabeth Beckman, Diane Stancil, and Nick Welsh. EAD markup completed by Elizabeth Beckman in 2016. Finding aid updated by Amanda Menjivar in 2025.","The Special Collections Research Center holds the personal papers of several individuals involved with Arena Stage, including the Zelda Fichandler papers, the Thomas C. Fichandler papers, the Ken Kitch papers, as well as the Living Stage records.","The Arena Stage records consist of material that spans the theater's history from 1949 to 2010, including production notebooks, photographs, audiotapes, videotapes, playbills, scrapbooks, scripts, correspondence, and other production materials, as well as administrative records pertaining to the theater's finances, publicity, buildings, and programs.","Series 1: Administrative records (1949-2007) documents the creation, operation, and maintenance of Arena Stage and its various programs. It is further divided into 6 subseries. Subseries 1.1: Correspondence includes correspondence arranged alphabetically by the correspondent's last name or by organizational name. Some correspondence is further aggregated and then organized alphabetically, such as \"Play Correspondence\" or \"Audience Response.\" Of particular note are letters from President Bill Clinton, Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and King Kong star Fay Wray. Subseries 1.2: Programs, policies, and procedures, includes records of Arena's programs, such as the \"Arena Angels\" volunteer program and fellowship programs, policies, such as bylaws, diversity policies, and handbooks, and planning, including season planning and long-range plans. This subseries is broken up into four sub-subseries. Sub-subseries 1.3.1: Financial papers documents Arena's finances and includes stockholder documents from its beginnings as a for-profit theater, grant-related documentation after the theater transitioned to a non-profit in the late 1950s, and records of the theater's development office, some of which were kept by department director Elspeth Udvarhelyi. Sub-subseries 1.3.2: Personnel records includes information on staff at Arena Stage arranged alphabetically. Of particular interest are headshots and/or resumes of a number of well-known actors, including James Earl Jones, Morgan Freeman, Henry Winkler, Edward Hermann, Yeardley Smith, Jane Alexander, Swoosie Kurtz, Victor Garber, Ron Perlman, Annette Benning, Olympia Dukakis, John Lithgow, John Voigt, Sigourney Weaver, and Rosemary Harris. Sub-subseries 1.3.3: Casting information contains notes on casting for productions arranged alphabetically by play. Sub-subseries 1.3.4: Production contracts includes official agreements between Arena and others arranged alphabetically by play. Subseries 1.4: Meeting minutes contains meeting minutes from Arena's Board of Trustees, staff, and other subgroups within the organization. Subseries 1.5: Communications and events, is also divided into four sub-subseries. Sub-subseries 1.5.1: Events documents special events held by Arena Stage, including anniversaries, galas, benefits, openings and press events. Sub-subseries 1.5.2: Communications and Marketing includes records produced by the Communications and Marketing departments, including meeting minutes, planning, research, and correspondence. Sub-subseries 1.5.3: Printed Material includes subscriber materials, mailings, brochures, reviews collected and arranged by play title, and programs organized chronologically. Sub-subseries 1.5.4: Theater Communications Group contains correspondence, reports, and other information generated from Arena's association with the Theater Communications Group, an organization of theaters around the United States. Subseries 1.6: Buildings and facilities includes information about and architectural plans for Arena's various buildings over the years, including the Hippodrome, the Old Vat, the 1960 permanent building, and the Kreeger Theater addition.","Series 2: Production Files (1950-2010) is comprised of records related to the artistic development and performance of Arena's plays. It is divided into 6 subseries. Subseries 2.1: Dramaturgical files documents literary, historical and background research done by Arena's literary department for various plays, including articles, research packets, actor's packets, and scripts. It is generally organized alphabetically by play. Subseries 2.2: Playwright subject files contains research on various playwrights, both living and dead, whose work has been performed at Arena. It is organized alphabetically by playwright's last name. Subseries 2.3: Production files includes scripts, blocking information, correspondence, and other material related to the production of Arena's plays. It is arranged alphabetically by play title. Subseries 2.4: Stage manager's reports includes daily reports by the stage manager of productions for the entire runs of many of Arena's plays from the late 1960s to the mid-1990s. The reports include running times, incident reports, and other commentary on the audience and the performance. Subseries 2.5: Wrap files contains documents collected from throughout the runs of various productions, including reviews that reflect the wider response to the play. Subseries 2.6: Producing director's files contains documents from Arena's second Producing director after Zelda Fichandler, Doug Wager, who served from 1991-1998. It includes pre-production speeches given by Wager, as well as planning files.","Series 3: Photographs (1950-1991)is divided into 3 subseries. Subseries 3.1: Production photographs includes photos of scenes from Arena's productions arranged alphabetically by play. Subseries 3.2: Production books includes production photos collected in books, many of which are by professional photographer George de Vincent. Subseries 3.3: Buildings, staff, and events includes photographs of Arena's buildings, staff and cast portraits, and event photographs, such as prints from Arena's 30th anniversary celebration and from Arena's Soviet Union and Israel tours. Subseries 3.4: Negatives and slides includes slides and negatives of Arena's staff and events, as well as some buildings, sets, and production-related images.","Series 4: Oversize (1949-late 2000s) is divided into 3 subseries and contains a variety of oversize material. Subseries 4.1: Braille programs contains programs in Braille for various Arena productions from the 1990s and early 2000s. Subseries 4.2: Miscellaneous artwork and programs includes posters from Arena productions and events, enlarged photos, costume sketches, and other oversized material, such as a large model of the Mead Center for American Theater. Subseries 4.3: Scrapbooks contains scrapbooks created for each of Arena's seasons up until 1988. It also includes scrapbooks for Arena's tour of the Soviet Union and of visitors to Arena.","Series 5: Audiovisual (1970-2007) contains several types of formats and is divided into 3 subseries. Series 5.1: Performances on VHS contains VHS tapes (a few of which have associated DVDs) of performances at Arena arranged alphabetically by play title. Series 5.2: Reel-to-reel contains production and event footage on reel-to-reel film. Series 5.3: Other audiovisual formats and VHS tapes contains footage of events and productions on audiocassette, Betacam, and U-matic tapes. ","The copyright and related rights status of this collection have not been evaluated (See http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/CNE/1.0/)","The Arena Stage records consist of material that spans the theater's history from its beginnings in 1950 to the present, including production notebooks, photographs, audiotapes, videotapes, playbills, scrapbooks, scripts, handwritten correspondence, and other production materials, as well as administrative records.","\nR 5, C 1, S 2 - R 9, C 4, S 7 \n\n\nR29, C1, S2\n\nOS R 3, C 2, S 1 - C 3, S 7\nOS R 4, C 5, S 5 \nOS R 5, C 2, S 3\nOS R 5, C 5, S 4\nOS R 6, C 4, S 6 - S 7\nOS R 7, C 1, S 2\nMap Case 9.1, 11.5","George Mason University. Libraries. Special Collections Research Center","Arena Stage (Organization : Washington, D.C.)","Fichandler, Thomas C.","Fichandler, Zelda, 1924-2016","English"],"unitid_tesim":["C0017","/repositories/2/resources/416"],"normalized_title_ssm":["Arena Stage records"],"collection_title_tesim":["Arena Stage records"],"collection_ssim":["Arena Stage records"],"repository_ssm":["George Mason University"],"repository_ssim":["George Mason University"],"creator_ssm":["Arena Stage (Organization : Washington, D.C.)"],"creator_ssim":["Arena Stage (Organization : Washington, D.C.)"],"creator_corpname_ssim":["Arena Stage (Organization : Washington, D.C.)"],"creators_ssim":["Arena Stage (Organization : Washington, D.C.)"],"access_terms_ssm":["The copyright and related rights status of this collection have not been evaluated (See http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/CNE/1.0/)"],"acqinfo_ssim":["Donated by Arena Stage in 2000-2024.","This collection has additional unprocessed accessions 2023.040-C and 2024.088-C, and therefore this finding aid may not be fully up to date. Please contact SCRC for more information."],"access_subjects_ssim":["Theater -- Washington (D.C.)","Theater","Theater -- United States","Theater programs","Theater -- Production and direction","Performing arts","Video recordings","Sound recordings","Photographic prints"],"access_subjects_ssm":["Theater -- Washington (D.C.)","Theater","Theater -- United States","Theater programs","Theater -- Production and direction","Performing arts","Video recordings","Sound recordings","Photographic prints"],"has_online_content_ssim":["false"],"extent_ssm":["369.5 Linear Feet 739 boxes"],"extent_tesim":["369.5 Linear Feet 739 boxes"],"genreform_ssim":["Video recordings","Sound recordings","Photographic prints"],"date_range_isim":[1949,1950,1951,1952,1953,1954,1955,1956,1957,1958,1959,1960,1961,1962,1963,1964,1965,1966,1967,1968,1969,1970,1971,1972,1973,1974,1975,1976,1977,1978,1979,1980,1981,1982,1983,1984,1985,1986,1987,1988,1989,1990,1991,1992,1993,1994,1995,1996,1997,1998,1999,2000,2001,2002,2003,2004,2005,2006,2007,2008,2009,2010],"accessrestrict_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eCollection is open to research. Some personnel records in Series 1 Subseries 3 Sub-subseries 2: Personnel, staff contain Social Security Numbers and must be screened by SCRC staff before researchers can view them.\u003c/p\u003e"],"accessrestrict_heading_ssm":["Access Restrictions"],"accessrestrict_tesim":["Collection is open to research. Some personnel records in Series 1 Subseries 3 Sub-subseries 2: Personnel, staff contain Social Security Numbers and must be screened by SCRC staff before researchers can view them."],"accruals_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eAccruals to this collection are expected.\u003c/p\u003e"],"accruals_heading_ssm":["Accruals"],"accruals_tesim":["Accruals to this collection are expected."],"arrangement_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eThe collection is arranged into five series, each of which is further divided into subseries:\u003c/p\u003e","\u003clist type=\"ordered\"\u003e\n      \u003chead\u003eSeries\u003c/head\u003e\n      \u003citem\u003eSeries 1: Administrative records, 1949-2007 (Boxes 1-196)\u003c/item\u003e\n      \u003citem\u003eSeries 2: Production files, 1950-2010 (Boxes 197-588, 654-663)\u003c/item\u003e\n      \u003citem\u003eSeries 3: Photographs, 1950-1991 (Boxes 589-639)\u003c/item\u003e\n      \u003citem\u003eSeries 4: Oversize materials, 1949-late 2000s (Boxes 640-720)\u003c/item\u003e\n      \u003citem\u003eSeries 5: Audiovisual materials, 1970-2007 (Boxes 721-739)\u003c/item\u003e\n    \u003c/list\u003e"],"arrangement_heading_ssm":["Arrangement"],"arrangement_tesim":["The collection is arranged into five series, each of which is further divided into subseries:","Series Series 1: Administrative records, 1949-2007 (Boxes 1-196) Series 2: Production files, 1950-2010 (Boxes 197-588, 654-663) Series 3: Photographs, 1950-1991 (Boxes 589-639) Series 4: Oversize materials, 1949-late 2000s (Boxes 640-720) Series 5: Audiovisual materials, 1970-2007 (Boxes 721-739)"],"bibliography_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003e\u003cextptr href=\"http://www.arenastage.org/plan-your-visit/the-mead-center/\" title=\"'Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater.' Arena Stage. Accessed February 3, 2016.\" show=\"new\"\u003e\u003c/extptr\u003e \u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003e Maslon, Lawrence, editor. \"The Arena Adventure: The First 40 Years.\" Washington, DC: Arena Stage, 1990.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003e \u003cextptr href=\"http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/style/theater/features/arena51205.htm\" title=\"Richards, David. 'For Arena Stage, a Pioneering Selection.' Washington Post. December 5, 1997\" show=\"new\"\u003e\u003c/extptr\u003e \u003c/p\u003e"],"bibliography_heading_ssm":["Bibliography"],"bibliography_tesim":[""," Maslon, Lawrence, editor. \"The Arena Adventure: The First 40 Years.\" Washington, DC: Arena Stage, 1990.",""],"bioghist_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eFrom its opening on August 16, 1950, the Arena Stage has dedicated itself to being a space of imagination and innovation, a tool of \"civilization,\" and Washington, D.C.'s preeminent regional theater. Founded by Zelda Fichandler, with assistance from her husband Thomas C. Fichandler and partner Edward Mangum, the Arena Stage began as a for-profit theater under Arena Enterprises, Inc. The original Hippodrome Theatre, located on Ninth and New York N.W. in D.C., was revolutionary amongst regional theatres for its theatre-in-the-round construction and would provide the blueprint for all future Arena locations.\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eArena began its long and successful life with Oliver Goldsmith's \u003citalic\u003eShe Stoops to Conquer.\u003c/italic\u003e Arena owed its early successes in the 1950s to its fluid play schedule organization and its willingness to put on works that were not commercial successes on Broadway. In November of 1956, after a year's hiatus, the company relocated to a temporary home at the Old Heurich Brewery, dubbed the Old Vat by company members. The move was facilitated in part by the commitment and drive of Board members J. Burke Knapp, Albert M. Berkowitz, Israel Convisser, Leslie Amouri, and Henry J. Danilowicz. However, financial issues would continue to trouble Arena Enterprises, Inc., eventually leading to its dissolution in 1959, and the creation of Arena's new, non-profit parent organization, the Washington Drama Society.\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eDuring the 1960s, Arena garnered international renown in its new space: the Arena Stage Theatre. The new building, located at Sixth Street and Maine Avenue SW, was the first playhouse built in Washington since 1895. Chicago architect Harry Weese designed the space to be as innovative as possible while still maintaining the theater-in-the-round layout. Now a non-profit theater, Arena drew much of its funding during this time from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) and generous donations from both the Ford Foundation and the Rockefeller Foundations.\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eThe Arena Stage began some of its most ambitious work during the 1960s including forming the Living Stage Theatre Company, further integrating its cast, and staging its most ambitious and acclaimed work to date: \u003citalic\u003eThe Great White Hope.\u003c/italic\u003e \u003citalic\u003eThe Great White Hope\u003c/italic\u003e included twenty five additional guest actors, including James Earl Jones, and was an enormous success, both critically and financially, for Arena. It was the first major resident theater production to be exported to Broadway. Fichandler also began to experiment with casting African American actors in traditionally white roles during the 1968 season after she published the paper \"Towards a Deepening Aesthetic.\" Fichandler experimented with non-traditional casting in plays like \u003citalic\u003eKing Lear\u003c/italic\u003e and \u003citalic\u003eThe Threepenny Opera\u003c/italic\u003e, but unfortunately these plays were met with critical confusion and disappointing ticket sales. Arena Stage was incredibly successful in the 1970s, garnering awards and critical approval, and international recognition. Not content with the current Arena Stage configuration, Fichandler and others worked diligently to acquire another stage facility that would collaborate, not compete, with the current Stage. Generosity on the part of David Lloyd Kreeger, and others, led to the construction of the new Kreeger Theater which opened on January 15, 1971.\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eIn 1973 Arena would have the opportunity to take two of its plays, \u003citalic\u003eOur Town\u003c/italic\u003e and \u003citalic\u003eInherit the Wind\u003c/italic\u003e to the U.S.S.R. This was the first ever trip to the Soviet Union undertaken by a resident theater group. The trip was a wild success with Russian audiences giving the cast a standing ovation following their performance of \u003citalic\u003eInherit the Wind\u003c/italic\u003e at the Moscow Art Theatre. In April 1976 the American Theatre Critics Association bestowed upon the Arena Stage a special Tony Award for resident theaters. The ATCA cited Arena's qualities as a \"trailblazer\" in theatrical arts and representative of other theaters that had followed its lead.\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eThe early 1980s were a difficult time for theater, but, in spite of this, Arena continued to push the limits of conventional residential theater. The 1982 production of \u003citalic\u003eK2\u003c/italic\u003e, for example, saw the construction of a sheer glacial face on the Kreeger stage according to the vision of set designer Ming Cho Lee. In 1986 twenty-three actors and a thirteen member production staff traveled to Jerusalem to perform Zelda's production of \u003citalic\u003eThe Crucible\u003c/italic\u003e at the Israel Festival.\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003e1989 marked the end of an era as Zelda Fichandler announced that she would step down as Arena's producing director at the end of the 1990-1991 fortieth anniversary season. Douglas C. Wager would succeed her as artistic director. Amid financial difficulties and changing times for theaters everywhere, Arena's resident company of actors was disbanded by the late 1990s. Wager remained at the helm until 1998, when Molly Smith took over the position. Under Smith's leadership, Bing Thom architects completed another major renovation of Arena's existing buildings into the Mead Center for American Theater in 2010. Smith served as Arena's artistic director until 2023, when she retired and was succeeded by current Aristic Director, Hana Sharif.\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eMany now-famous actors took part in Arena Stage productions during the early part of their careers. Some of them include Robert Prosky, Morgan Freeman, Dianne Wiest, James Earl Jones, Kevin Kline, Christopher Guest, Yeardley Smith, Samuel L. Jackson, Ned Beatty, Jane Alexander, and Ron Perlman. Many other set designers, artists, costume designers, and technical workers owe their early success and experience to the Arena Stage.\u003c/p\u003e"],"bioghist_heading_ssm":["Historical Information"],"bioghist_tesim":["From its opening on August 16, 1950, the Arena Stage has dedicated itself to being a space of imagination and innovation, a tool of \"civilization,\" and Washington, D.C.'s preeminent regional theater. Founded by Zelda Fichandler, with assistance from her husband Thomas C. Fichandler and partner Edward Mangum, the Arena Stage began as a for-profit theater under Arena Enterprises, Inc. The original Hippodrome Theatre, located on Ninth and New York N.W. in D.C., was revolutionary amongst regional theatres for its theatre-in-the-round construction and would provide the blueprint for all future Arena locations.","Arena began its long and successful life with Oliver Goldsmith's  She Stoops to Conquer.  Arena owed its early successes in the 1950s to its fluid play schedule organization and its willingness to put on works that were not commercial successes on Broadway. In November of 1956, after a year's hiatus, the company relocated to a temporary home at the Old Heurich Brewery, dubbed the Old Vat by company members. The move was facilitated in part by the commitment and drive of Board members J. Burke Knapp, Albert M. Berkowitz, Israel Convisser, Leslie Amouri, and Henry J. Danilowicz. However, financial issues would continue to trouble Arena Enterprises, Inc., eventually leading to its dissolution in 1959, and the creation of Arena's new, non-profit parent organization, the Washington Drama Society.","During the 1960s, Arena garnered international renown in its new space: the Arena Stage Theatre. The new building, located at Sixth Street and Maine Avenue SW, was the first playhouse built in Washington since 1895. Chicago architect Harry Weese designed the space to be as innovative as possible while still maintaining the theater-in-the-round layout. Now a non-profit theater, Arena drew much of its funding during this time from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) and generous donations from both the Ford Foundation and the Rockefeller Foundations.","The Arena Stage began some of its most ambitious work during the 1960s including forming the Living Stage Theatre Company, further integrating its cast, and staging its most ambitious and acclaimed work to date:  The Great White Hope. The Great White Hope  included twenty five additional guest actors, including James Earl Jones, and was an enormous success, both critically and financially, for Arena. It was the first major resident theater production to be exported to Broadway. Fichandler also began to experiment with casting African American actors in traditionally white roles during the 1968 season after she published the paper \"Towards a Deepening Aesthetic.\" Fichandler experimented with non-traditional casting in plays like  King Lear  and  The Threepenny Opera , but unfortunately these plays were met with critical confusion and disappointing ticket sales. Arena Stage was incredibly successful in the 1970s, garnering awards and critical approval, and international recognition. Not content with the current Arena Stage configuration, Fichandler and others worked diligently to acquire another stage facility that would collaborate, not compete, with the current Stage. Generosity on the part of David Lloyd Kreeger, and others, led to the construction of the new Kreeger Theater which opened on January 15, 1971.","In 1973 Arena would have the opportunity to take two of its plays,  Our Town  and  Inherit the Wind  to the U.S.S.R. This was the first ever trip to the Soviet Union undertaken by a resident theater group. The trip was a wild success with Russian audiences giving the cast a standing ovation following their performance of  Inherit the Wind  at the Moscow Art Theatre. In April 1976 the American Theatre Critics Association bestowed upon the Arena Stage a special Tony Award for resident theaters. The ATCA cited Arena's qualities as a \"trailblazer\" in theatrical arts and representative of other theaters that had followed its lead.","The early 1980s were a difficult time for theater, but, in spite of this, Arena continued to push the limits of conventional residential theater. The 1982 production of  K2 , for example, saw the construction of a sheer glacial face on the Kreeger stage according to the vision of set designer Ming Cho Lee. In 1986 twenty-three actors and a thirteen member production staff traveled to Jerusalem to perform Zelda's production of  The Crucible  at the Israel Festival.","1989 marked the end of an era as Zelda Fichandler announced that she would step down as Arena's producing director at the end of the 1990-1991 fortieth anniversary season. Douglas C. Wager would succeed her as artistic director. Amid financial difficulties and changing times for theaters everywhere, Arena's resident company of actors was disbanded by the late 1990s. Wager remained at the helm until 1998, when Molly Smith took over the position. Under Smith's leadership, Bing Thom architects completed another major renovation of Arena's existing buildings into the Mead Center for American Theater in 2010. Smith served as Arena's artistic director until 2023, when she retired and was succeeded by current Aristic Director, Hana Sharif.","Many now-famous actors took part in Arena Stage productions during the early part of their careers. Some of them include Robert Prosky, Morgan Freeman, Dianne Wiest, James Earl Jones, Kevin Kline, Christopher Guest, Yeardley Smith, Samuel L. Jackson, Ned Beatty, Jane Alexander, and Ron Perlman. Many other set designers, artists, costume designers, and technical workers owe their early success and experience to the Arena Stage."],"phystech_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eThe Special Collections Research Center does not have the equipment necessary to film and audio reels, Betacam, or U-matic tapes contained in Series 5.2 and 5.3. Additional time and money may be required to digitize this material for access.\u003c/p\u003e"],"phystech_heading_ssm":["Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements"],"phystech_tesim":["The Special Collections Research Center does not have the equipment necessary to film and audio reels, Betacam, or U-matic tapes contained in Series 5.2 and 5.3. Additional time and money may be required to digitize this material for access."],"prefercite_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eArena Stage records, C0017, Special Collections Research Center, George Mason University Libraries.\u003c/p\u003e"],"prefercite_tesim":["Arena Stage records, C0017, Special Collections Research Center, George Mason University Libraries."],"processinfo_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eProcessed by Harvard Theatre Collection and George Mason University Special Collections Research Center staff. Reprocessed by Greta Suiter, Kerry Mitchell, Elizabeth Beckman, Diane Stancil, and Nick Welsh. EAD markup completed by Elizabeth Beckman in 2016. Finding aid updated by Amanda Menjivar in 2025.\u003c/p\u003e"],"processinfo_heading_ssm":["Processing Information"],"processinfo_tesim":["Processed by Harvard Theatre Collection and George Mason University Special Collections Research Center staff. Reprocessed by Greta Suiter, Kerry Mitchell, Elizabeth Beckman, Diane Stancil, and Nick Welsh. EAD markup completed by Elizabeth Beckman in 2016. Finding aid updated by Amanda Menjivar in 2025."],"relatedmaterial_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eThe Special Collections Research Center holds the personal papers of several individuals involved with Arena Stage, including the Zelda Fichandler papers, the Thomas C. Fichandler papers, the Ken Kitch papers, as well as the Living Stage records.\u003c/p\u003e"],"relatedmaterial_heading_ssm":["Related Material"],"relatedmaterial_tesim":["The Special Collections Research Center holds the personal papers of several individuals involved with Arena Stage, including the Zelda Fichandler papers, the Thomas C. Fichandler papers, the Ken Kitch papers, as well as the Living Stage records."],"scopecontent_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eThe Arena Stage records consist of material that spans the theater's history from 1949 to 2010, including production notebooks, photographs, audiotapes, videotapes, playbills, scrapbooks, scripts, correspondence, and other production materials, as well as administrative records pertaining to the theater's finances, publicity, buildings, and programs.\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eSeries 1: Administrative records (1949-2007) documents the creation, operation, and maintenance of Arena Stage and its various programs. It is further divided into 6 subseries. Subseries 1.1: Correspondence includes correspondence arranged alphabetically by the correspondent's last name or by organizational name. Some correspondence is further aggregated and then organized alphabetically, such as \"Play Correspondence\" or \"Audience Response.\" Of particular note are letters from President Bill Clinton, Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and King Kong star Fay Wray. Subseries 1.2: Programs, policies, and procedures, includes records of Arena's programs, such as the \"Arena Angels\" volunteer program and fellowship programs, policies, such as bylaws, diversity policies, and handbooks, and planning, including season planning and long-range plans. This subseries is broken up into four sub-subseries. Sub-subseries 1.3.1: Financial papers documents Arena's finances and includes stockholder documents from its beginnings as a for-profit theater, grant-related documentation after the theater transitioned to a non-profit in the late 1950s, and records of the theater's development office, some of which were kept by department director Elspeth Udvarhelyi. Sub-subseries 1.3.2: Personnel records includes information on staff at Arena Stage arranged alphabetically. Of particular interest are headshots and/or resumes of a number of well-known actors, including James Earl Jones, Morgan Freeman, Henry Winkler, Edward Hermann, Yeardley Smith, Jane Alexander, Swoosie Kurtz, Victor Garber, Ron Perlman, Annette Benning, Olympia Dukakis, John Lithgow, John Voigt, Sigourney Weaver, and Rosemary Harris. Sub-subseries 1.3.3: Casting information contains notes on casting for productions arranged alphabetically by play. Sub-subseries 1.3.4: Production contracts includes official agreements between Arena and others arranged alphabetically by play. Subseries 1.4: Meeting minutes contains meeting minutes from Arena's Board of Trustees, staff, and other subgroups within the organization. Subseries 1.5: Communications and events, is also divided into four sub-subseries. Sub-subseries 1.5.1: Events documents special events held by Arena Stage, including anniversaries, galas, benefits, openings and press events. Sub-subseries 1.5.2: Communications and Marketing includes records produced by the Communications and Marketing departments, including meeting minutes, planning, research, and correspondence. Sub-subseries 1.5.3: Printed Material includes subscriber materials, mailings, brochures, reviews collected and arranged by play title, and programs organized chronologically. Sub-subseries 1.5.4: Theater Communications Group contains correspondence, reports, and other information generated from Arena's association with the Theater Communications Group, an organization of theaters around the United States. Subseries 1.6: Buildings and facilities includes information about and architectural plans for Arena's various buildings over the years, including the Hippodrome, the Old Vat, the 1960 permanent building, and the Kreeger Theater addition.\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eSeries 2: Production Files (1950-2010) is comprised of records related to the artistic development and performance of Arena's plays. It is divided into 6 subseries. Subseries 2.1: Dramaturgical files documents literary, historical and background research done by Arena's literary department for various plays, including articles, research packets, actor's packets, and scripts. It is generally organized alphabetically by play. Subseries 2.2: Playwright subject files contains research on various playwrights, both living and dead, whose work has been performed at Arena. It is organized alphabetically by playwright's last name. Subseries 2.3: Production files includes scripts, blocking information, correspondence, and other material related to the production of Arena's plays. It is arranged alphabetically by play title. Subseries 2.4: Stage manager's reports includes daily reports by the stage manager of productions for the entire runs of many of Arena's plays from the late 1960s to the mid-1990s. The reports include running times, incident reports, and other commentary on the audience and the performance. Subseries 2.5: Wrap files contains documents collected from throughout the runs of various productions, including reviews that reflect the wider response to the play. Subseries 2.6: Producing director's files contains documents from Arena's second Producing director after Zelda Fichandler, Doug Wager, who served from 1991-1998. It includes pre-production speeches given by Wager, as well as planning files.\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eSeries 3: Photographs (1950-1991)is divided into 3 subseries. Subseries 3.1: Production photographs includes photos of scenes from Arena's productions arranged alphabetically by play. Subseries 3.2: Production books includes production photos collected in books, many of which are by professional photographer George de Vincent. Subseries 3.3: Buildings, staff, and events includes photographs of Arena's buildings, staff and cast portraits, and event photographs, such as prints from Arena's 30th anniversary celebration and from Arena's Soviet Union and Israel tours. Subseries 3.4: Negatives and slides includes slides and negatives of Arena's staff and events, as well as some buildings, sets, and production-related images.\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eSeries 4: Oversize (1949-late 2000s) is divided into 3 subseries and contains a variety of oversize material. Subseries 4.1: Braille programs contains programs in Braille for various Arena productions from the 1990s and early 2000s. Subseries 4.2: Miscellaneous artwork and programs includes posters from Arena productions and events, enlarged photos, costume sketches, and other oversized material, such as a large model of the Mead Center for American Theater. Subseries 4.3: Scrapbooks contains scrapbooks created for each of Arena's seasons up until 1988. It also includes scrapbooks for Arena's tour of the Soviet Union and of visitors to Arena.\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eSeries 5: Audiovisual (1970-2007) contains several types of formats and is divided into 3 subseries. Series 5.1: Performances on VHS contains VHS tapes (a few of which have associated DVDs) of performances at Arena arranged alphabetically by play title. Series 5.2: Reel-to-reel contains production and event footage on reel-to-reel film. Series 5.3: Other audiovisual formats and VHS tapes contains footage of events and productions on audiocassette, Betacam, and U-matic tapes. \u003c/p\u003e"],"scopecontent_heading_ssm":["Scope and Content"],"scopecontent_tesim":["The Arena Stage records consist of material that spans the theater's history from 1949 to 2010, including production notebooks, photographs, audiotapes, videotapes, playbills, scrapbooks, scripts, correspondence, and other production materials, as well as administrative records pertaining to the theater's finances, publicity, buildings, and programs.","Series 1: Administrative records (1949-2007) documents the creation, operation, and maintenance of Arena Stage and its various programs. It is further divided into 6 subseries. Subseries 1.1: Correspondence includes correspondence arranged alphabetically by the correspondent's last name or by organizational name. Some correspondence is further aggregated and then organized alphabetically, such as \"Play Correspondence\" or \"Audience Response.\" Of particular note are letters from President Bill Clinton, Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and King Kong star Fay Wray. Subseries 1.2: Programs, policies, and procedures, includes records of Arena's programs, such as the \"Arena Angels\" volunteer program and fellowship programs, policies, such as bylaws, diversity policies, and handbooks, and planning, including season planning and long-range plans. This subseries is broken up into four sub-subseries. Sub-subseries 1.3.1: Financial papers documents Arena's finances and includes stockholder documents from its beginnings as a for-profit theater, grant-related documentation after the theater transitioned to a non-profit in the late 1950s, and records of the theater's development office, some of which were kept by department director Elspeth Udvarhelyi. Sub-subseries 1.3.2: Personnel records includes information on staff at Arena Stage arranged alphabetically. Of particular interest are headshots and/or resumes of a number of well-known actors, including James Earl Jones, Morgan Freeman, Henry Winkler, Edward Hermann, Yeardley Smith, Jane Alexander, Swoosie Kurtz, Victor Garber, Ron Perlman, Annette Benning, Olympia Dukakis, John Lithgow, John Voigt, Sigourney Weaver, and Rosemary Harris. Sub-subseries 1.3.3: Casting information contains notes on casting for productions arranged alphabetically by play. Sub-subseries 1.3.4: Production contracts includes official agreements between Arena and others arranged alphabetically by play. Subseries 1.4: Meeting minutes contains meeting minutes from Arena's Board of Trustees, staff, and other subgroups within the organization. Subseries 1.5: Communications and events, is also divided into four sub-subseries. Sub-subseries 1.5.1: Events documents special events held by Arena Stage, including anniversaries, galas, benefits, openings and press events. Sub-subseries 1.5.2: Communications and Marketing includes records produced by the Communications and Marketing departments, including meeting minutes, planning, research, and correspondence. Sub-subseries 1.5.3: Printed Material includes subscriber materials, mailings, brochures, reviews collected and arranged by play title, and programs organized chronologically. Sub-subseries 1.5.4: Theater Communications Group contains correspondence, reports, and other information generated from Arena's association with the Theater Communications Group, an organization of theaters around the United States. Subseries 1.6: Buildings and facilities includes information about and architectural plans for Arena's various buildings over the years, including the Hippodrome, the Old Vat, the 1960 permanent building, and the Kreeger Theater addition.","Series 2: Production Files (1950-2010) is comprised of records related to the artistic development and performance of Arena's plays. It is divided into 6 subseries. Subseries 2.1: Dramaturgical files documents literary, historical and background research done by Arena's literary department for various plays, including articles, research packets, actor's packets, and scripts. It is generally organized alphabetically by play. Subseries 2.2: Playwright subject files contains research on various playwrights, both living and dead, whose work has been performed at Arena. It is organized alphabetically by playwright's last name. Subseries 2.3: Production files includes scripts, blocking information, correspondence, and other material related to the production of Arena's plays. It is arranged alphabetically by play title. Subseries 2.4: Stage manager's reports includes daily reports by the stage manager of productions for the entire runs of many of Arena's plays from the late 1960s to the mid-1990s. The reports include running times, incident reports, and other commentary on the audience and the performance. Subseries 2.5: Wrap files contains documents collected from throughout the runs of various productions, including reviews that reflect the wider response to the play. Subseries 2.6: Producing director's files contains documents from Arena's second Producing director after Zelda Fichandler, Doug Wager, who served from 1991-1998. It includes pre-production speeches given by Wager, as well as planning files.","Series 3: Photographs (1950-1991)is divided into 3 subseries. Subseries 3.1: Production photographs includes photos of scenes from Arena's productions arranged alphabetically by play. Subseries 3.2: Production books includes production photos collected in books, many of which are by professional photographer George de Vincent. Subseries 3.3: Buildings, staff, and events includes photographs of Arena's buildings, staff and cast portraits, and event photographs, such as prints from Arena's 30th anniversary celebration and from Arena's Soviet Union and Israel tours. Subseries 3.4: Negatives and slides includes slides and negatives of Arena's staff and events, as well as some buildings, sets, and production-related images.","Series 4: Oversize (1949-late 2000s) is divided into 3 subseries and contains a variety of oversize material. Subseries 4.1: Braille programs contains programs in Braille for various Arena productions from the 1990s and early 2000s. Subseries 4.2: Miscellaneous artwork and programs includes posters from Arena productions and events, enlarged photos, costume sketches, and other oversized material, such as a large model of the Mead Center for American Theater. Subseries 4.3: Scrapbooks contains scrapbooks created for each of Arena's seasons up until 1988. It also includes scrapbooks for Arena's tour of the Soviet Union and of visitors to Arena.","Series 5: Audiovisual (1970-2007) contains several types of formats and is divided into 3 subseries. Series 5.1: Performances on VHS contains VHS tapes (a few of which have associated DVDs) of performances at Arena arranged alphabetically by play title. Series 5.2: Reel-to-reel contains production and event footage on reel-to-reel film. Series 5.3: Other audiovisual formats and VHS tapes contains footage of events and productions on audiocassette, Betacam, and U-matic tapes. "],"userestrict_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eThe copyright and related rights status of this collection have not been evaluated (See http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/CNE/1.0/)\u003c/p\u003e"],"userestrict_heading_ssm":["Use Restrictions"],"userestrict_tesim":["The copyright and related rights status of this collection have not been evaluated (See http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/CNE/1.0/)"],"abstract_html_tesm":["\u003cabstract id=\"aspace_ec96c412f915842d3012676b73803163\" label=\"Abstract\"\u003eThe Arena Stage records consist of material that spans the theater's history from its beginnings in 1950 to the present, including production notebooks, photographs, audiotapes, videotapes, playbills, scrapbooks, scripts, handwritten correspondence, and other production materials, as well as administrative records.\u003c/abstract\u003e"],"abstract_tesim":["The Arena Stage records consist of material that spans the theater's history from its beginnings in 1950 to the present, including production notebooks, photographs, audiotapes, videotapes, playbills, scrapbooks, scripts, handwritten correspondence, and other production materials, as well as administrative records."],"physloc_html_tesm":["\u003cphysloc id=\"aspace_22f8958322c3fdee6366a384bb686980\"\u003e\nR 5, C 1, S 2 - R 9, C 4, S 7 \n\n\nR29, C1, S2\n\nOS R 3, C 2, S 1 - C 3, S 7\nOS R 4, C 5, S 5 \nOS R 5, C 2, S 3\nOS R 5, C 5, S 4\nOS R 6, C 4, S 6 - S 7\nOS R 7, C 1, S 2\nMap Case 9.1, 11.5\u003c/physloc\u003e"],"physloc_tesim":["\nR 5, C 1, S 2 - R 9, C 4, S 7 \n\n\nR29, C1, S2\n\nOS R 3, C 2, S 1 - C 3, S 7\nOS R 4, C 5, S 5 \nOS R 5, C 2, S 3\nOS R 5, C 5, S 4\nOS R 6, C 4, S 6 - S 7\nOS R 7, C 1, S 2\nMap Case 9.1, 11.5"],"names_ssim":["George Mason University. Libraries. Special Collections Research Center","Arena Stage (Organization : Washington, D.C.)","Fichandler, Thomas C.","Fichandler, Zelda, 1924-2016"],"corpname_ssim":["George Mason University. Libraries. Special Collections Research Center","Arena Stage (Organization : Washington, D.C.)"],"names_coll_ssim":["Fichandler, Thomas C.","Fichandler, Zelda, 1924-2016"],"persname_ssim":["Fichandler, Thomas C.","Fichandler, Zelda, 1924-2016"],"language_ssim":["English"],"descrules_ssm":["Describing Archives: A Content Standard"],"total_component_count_is":8332,"online_item_count_is":0,"component_level_isim":[0],"sort_isi":0,"timestamp":"2026-05-01T00:23:25.700Z"}]}},"label":"Breadcrumbs"}}},"links":{"self":"https://search.arvasarchive.org/catalog/vifgm_repositories_2_resources_416"}},{"id":"vifgm_repositories_2_resources_762","type":"collection","attributes":{"title":"Edward Payson Call Arena Stage papers","creator":{"id":"https://search.arvasarchive.org/catalog/vifgm_repositories_2_resources_762#creator","type":"document_value","attributes":{"value":"Call, Edward Payson","label":"Creator"}},"abstract_or_scope":{"id":"https://search.arvasarchive.org/catalog/vifgm_repositories_2_resources_762#abstract_or_scope","type":"document_value","attributes":{"value":"Materials collected and created by director Edward Payson Call while directing productions of \u003cspan\u003eThe Front Page\u003c/span\u003e, \u003cspan\u003eThe Tot Family\u003c/span\u003e, and \u003cspan\u003eCatsplay\u003c/span\u003e at Arena Stage in the 1970s.","label":"Abstract Or Scope"}},"breadcrumbs":{"id":"https://search.arvasarchive.org/catalog/vifgm_repositories_2_resources_762#breadcrumbs","type":"document_value","attributes":{"value":{"id":"vifgm_repositories_2_resources_762","ead_ssi":"vifgm_repositories_2_resources_762","_root_":"vifgm_repositories_2_resources_762","_nest_parent_":"vifgm_repositories_2_resources_762","ead_source_url_ssi":"data/oai/GMU/repositories_2_resources_762.xml","title_filing_ssi":"Edward Payson Call Arena Stage papers","title_ssm":["Edward Payson Call Arena Stage papers"],"title_tesim":["Edward Payson Call Arena Stage papers"],"unitdate_ssm":["1974-1977"],"unitdate_inclusive_ssm":["1974-1977"],"level_ssm":["collection"],"level_ssim":["Collection"],"unitid_ssm":["C0559","/repositories/2/resources/762"],"text":["C0559","/repositories/2/resources/762","Edward Payson Call Arena Stage papers","Theater","Performing arts","Theater -- Washington (D.C.)","Theater -- United States","Theater -- Production and direction","There are no access restrictions.","This collection is arranged chronologically and by production title and then by material type or function.","\"Arena Stage: Production History.\" n.d. Accessed December 3, 2025. https://www.arenastage.org/contentassets/bdb18ac78fb64b658344bd50f91e0e37/production-history.pdf.","Emmick Family Funeral \u0026 Cremation Services. n.d. \"Edward Payson Call Obituary.\" Accessed December 3, 2025. https://www.emmickfunerals.com/obituaries/edward-call.","Edward Payson Call was born on August 10, 1928 and spent over 50 years working in the theatre, beginning his career in New York City in the late 1950s working as a Broadway stage manager. In 1963, he joined the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis, Minnesota as a member of the inaugural artistic staff working alongside namesake director Tyrone Guthrie. Throughout the 1960s-1970s, Payson Call worked as a director at numerous regional theatres across the country, including three productions at Arena Stage in the mid-late 1970s.  The Front Page  initially ran from December 1974 – January 1975 and again from April – June 1976 as part of the \"All American Repertory\" along with  Death of a Salesman  directed by Zelda Fichandler and  Our Town  directed by Alan Schneider.  The Tot Family  ran from January – February 1976 and his final directing credit at Arena Stage,  Catsplay , ran from March – April 1977. In 1980, he was appointed as the founding Artistic Director of the Denver Center Theatre Company in Colorado, a position he held for five years. In the 1990s, after moving to Seattle, Washington, he continued working as a freelance director and teacher in numerous locations across the country, and in 1992 founded Seattle's Young Shakespeare Workshop. He passed away on February 1, 2023 at the age of 94.","One of the first not-for-profit theatres in the United States, as well as a pioneer of the regional theatre movement, Arena Stage was the first regional theatre to transfer a production to Broadway ( The Great White Hope , 1967), the first invited by the U.S. State Department to tour the Soviet Union, and the first to receive a Tony Award. During the 1960s, Arena garnered international renown in its new space: the Arena Stage Theatre. The new building, located at Sixth Street and Maine Avenue SW, was the first playhouse built in Washington, D.C. since 1895. Generosity on the part of David Lloyd Kreeger, and others, led to the construction of the new \"Kreeger Theatre,\" which opened formally on January 15, 1971. Today, Arena Stage performs to over 250,000 patrons during a September to June season and employs nearly 200 theatre professionals.","Processing completed by Meghan Glasbrenner in October 2025. Inventory assistance provided by Chance Jimenez. Finding aid completed by Meghan Glasbrenner in December 2025.","The Special Collections Research Center holds other collections related to  Arena Stage , including the  Arena Stage records  and the  Zelda Fichandler papers .","A collection of materials, including notes, set designs, scripts, photographs, reviews, programs, and correspondence, collected and created by director Edward Payson Call. Materials relate to Payson Call's work as a director at Arean Stage on three productions:  The Front Page ,  The Tot Family , and  Catsplay . The bulk of the materials cover his work on  The Tot Family , which includes several early script drafts by different translators and with different title variations.","The copyright and related rights status of this collection have not been evaluated (See http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/CNE/1.0/)","Materials collected and created by director Edward Payson Call while directing productions of  The Front Page ,  The Tot Family , and  Catsplay  at Arena Stage in the 1970s.","R 73, C 2, S 3\n\nMap Case 27.2","George Mason University. Libraries. Special Collections Research Center","Arena Stage (Organization : Washington, D.C.)","Call, Edward Payson","Fichandler, Zelda, 1924-2016","English"],"unitid_tesim":["C0559","/repositories/2/resources/762"],"normalized_title_ssm":["Edward Payson Call Arena Stage papers"],"collection_title_tesim":["Edward Payson Call Arena Stage papers"],"collection_ssim":["Edward Payson Call Arena Stage papers"],"repository_ssm":["George Mason University"],"repository_ssim":["George Mason University"],"creator_ssm":["Call, Edward Payson"],"creator_ssim":["Call, Edward Payson"],"creator_persname_ssim":["Call, Edward Payson"],"creators_ssim":["Call, Edward Payson"],"access_terms_ssm":["The copyright and related rights status of this collection have not been evaluated (See http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/CNE/1.0/)"],"acqinfo_ssim":["Collection donation facilitated by Alison Irvin of Arena Stage. Original donor was Marcia Carter."],"access_subjects_ssim":["Theater","Performing arts","Theater -- Washington (D.C.)","Theater -- United States","Theater -- Production and direction"],"access_subjects_ssm":["Theater","Performing arts","Theater -- Washington (D.C.)","Theater -- United States","Theater -- Production and direction"],"has_online_content_ssim":["false"],"extent_ssm":[".75 Linear Feet 2 boxes, 1 map case"],"extent_tesim":[".75 Linear Feet 2 boxes, 1 map case"],"date_range_isim":[1974,1975,1976,1977],"accessrestrict_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eThere are no access restrictions.\u003c/p\u003e"],"accessrestrict_heading_ssm":["Access Restrictions"],"accessrestrict_tesim":["There are no access restrictions."],"arrangement_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eThis collection is arranged chronologically and by production title and then by material type or function.\u003c/p\u003e"],"arrangement_heading_ssm":["Arrangement"],"arrangement_tesim":["This collection is arranged chronologically and by production title and then by material type or function."],"bibliography_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003e\"Arena Stage: Production History.\" n.d. Accessed December 3, 2025. https://www.arenastage.org/contentassets/bdb18ac78fb64b658344bd50f91e0e37/production-history.pdf.\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eEmmick Family Funeral \u0026amp; Cremation Services. n.d. \"Edward Payson Call Obituary.\" Accessed December 3, 2025. https://www.emmickfunerals.com/obituaries/edward-call.\u003c/p\u003e"],"bibliography_heading_ssm":["Bibliography"],"bibliography_tesim":["\"Arena Stage: Production History.\" n.d. Accessed December 3, 2025. https://www.arenastage.org/contentassets/bdb18ac78fb64b658344bd50f91e0e37/production-history.pdf.","Emmick Family Funeral \u0026 Cremation Services. n.d. \"Edward Payson Call Obituary.\" Accessed December 3, 2025. https://www.emmickfunerals.com/obituaries/edward-call."],"bioghist_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eEdward Payson Call was born on August 10, 1928 and spent over 50 years working in the theatre, beginning his career in New York City in the late 1950s working as a Broadway stage manager. In 1963, he joined the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis, Minnesota as a member of the inaugural artistic staff working alongside namesake director Tyrone Guthrie. Throughout the 1960s-1970s, Payson Call worked as a director at numerous regional theatres across the country, including three productions at Arena Stage in the mid-late 1970s. \u003ctitle\u003eThe Front Page\u003c/title\u003e initially ran from December 1974 – January 1975 and again from April – June 1976 as part of the \"All American Repertory\" along with \u003ctitle\u003eDeath of a Salesman\u003c/title\u003e directed by Zelda Fichandler and \u003ctitle\u003eOur Town\u003c/title\u003e directed by Alan Schneider. \u003ctitle\u003eThe Tot Family\u003c/title\u003e ran from January – February 1976 and his final directing credit at Arena Stage, \u003ctitle\u003eCatsplay\u003c/title\u003e, ran from March – April 1977. In 1980, he was appointed as the founding Artistic Director of the Denver Center Theatre Company in Colorado, a position he held for five years. In the 1990s, after moving to Seattle, Washington, he continued working as a freelance director and teacher in numerous locations across the country, and in 1992 founded Seattle's Young Shakespeare Workshop. He passed away on February 1, 2023 at the age of 94.\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eOne of the first not-for-profit theatres in the United States, as well as a pioneer of the regional theatre movement, Arena Stage was the first regional theatre to transfer a production to Broadway (\u003ctitle\u003eThe Great White Hope\u003c/title\u003e, 1967), the first invited by the U.S. State Department to tour the Soviet Union, and the first to receive a Tony Award. During the 1960s, Arena garnered international renown in its new space: the Arena Stage Theatre. The new building, located at Sixth Street and Maine Avenue SW, was the first playhouse built in Washington, D.C. since 1895. Generosity on the part of David Lloyd Kreeger, and others, led to the construction of the new \"Kreeger Theatre,\" which opened formally on January 15, 1971. Today, Arena Stage performs to over 250,000 patrons during a September to June season and employs nearly 200 theatre professionals.\u003c/p\u003e"],"bioghist_heading_ssm":["Biographical and Historical Information"],"bioghist_tesim":["Edward Payson Call was born on August 10, 1928 and spent over 50 years working in the theatre, beginning his career in New York City in the late 1950s working as a Broadway stage manager. In 1963, he joined the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis, Minnesota as a member of the inaugural artistic staff working alongside namesake director Tyrone Guthrie. Throughout the 1960s-1970s, Payson Call worked as a director at numerous regional theatres across the country, including three productions at Arena Stage in the mid-late 1970s.  The Front Page  initially ran from December 1974 – January 1975 and again from April – June 1976 as part of the \"All American Repertory\" along with  Death of a Salesman  directed by Zelda Fichandler and  Our Town  directed by Alan Schneider.  The Tot Family  ran from January – February 1976 and his final directing credit at Arena Stage,  Catsplay , ran from March – April 1977. In 1980, he was appointed as the founding Artistic Director of the Denver Center Theatre Company in Colorado, a position he held for five years. In the 1990s, after moving to Seattle, Washington, he continued working as a freelance director and teacher in numerous locations across the country, and in 1992 founded Seattle's Young Shakespeare Workshop. He passed away on February 1, 2023 at the age of 94.","One of the first not-for-profit theatres in the United States, as well as a pioneer of the regional theatre movement, Arena Stage was the first regional theatre to transfer a production to Broadway ( The Great White Hope , 1967), the first invited by the U.S. State Department to tour the Soviet Union, and the first to receive a Tony Award. During the 1960s, Arena garnered international renown in its new space: the Arena Stage Theatre. The new building, located at Sixth Street and Maine Avenue SW, was the first playhouse built in Washington, D.C. since 1895. Generosity on the part of David Lloyd Kreeger, and others, led to the construction of the new \"Kreeger Theatre,\" which opened formally on January 15, 1971. Today, Arena Stage performs to over 250,000 patrons during a September to June season and employs nearly 200 theatre professionals."],"prefercite_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eEdward Payson Call Arena Stage papers, C0559, Special Collections Research Center, George Mason University Libraries\u003c/p\u003e"],"prefercite_tesim":["Edward Payson Call Arena Stage papers, C0559, Special Collections Research Center, George Mason University Libraries"],"processinfo_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eProcessing completed by Meghan Glasbrenner in October 2025. Inventory assistance provided by Chance Jimenez. Finding aid completed by Meghan Glasbrenner in December 2025.\u003c/p\u003e"],"processinfo_heading_ssm":["Processing Information"],"processinfo_tesim":["Processing completed by Meghan Glasbrenner in October 2025. Inventory assistance provided by Chance Jimenez. Finding aid completed by Meghan Glasbrenner in December 2025."],"relatedmaterial_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eThe Special Collections Research Center holds other collections related to \u003ca href=\"https://aspace.gmu.edu/agents/corporate_entities/522\"\u003eArena Stage\u003c/a\u003e, including the \u003ca href=\"https://aspace.gmu.edu/resources/c0017\"\u003eArena Stage records\u003c/a\u003e and the \u003ca href=\"https://aspace.gmu.edu/resources/c0010\"\u003eZelda Fichandler papers\u003c/a\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e"],"relatedmaterial_heading_ssm":["Related Materials"],"relatedmaterial_tesim":["The Special Collections Research Center holds other collections related to  Arena Stage , including the  Arena Stage records  and the  Zelda Fichandler papers ."],"scopecontent_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eA collection of materials, including notes, set designs, scripts, photographs, reviews, programs, and correspondence, collected and created by director Edward Payson Call. Materials relate to Payson Call's work as a director at Arean Stage on three productions: \u003ctitle\u003eThe Front Page\u003c/title\u003e, \u003ctitle\u003eThe Tot Family\u003c/title\u003e, and \u003ctitle\u003eCatsplay\u003c/title\u003e. The bulk of the materials cover his work on \u003ctitle\u003eThe Tot Family\u003c/title\u003e, which includes several early script drafts by different translators and with different title variations.\u003c/p\u003e"],"scopecontent_heading_ssm":["Scope and Content"],"scopecontent_tesim":["A collection of materials, including notes, set designs, scripts, photographs, reviews, programs, and correspondence, collected and created by director Edward Payson Call. Materials relate to Payson Call's work as a director at Arean Stage on three productions:  The Front Page ,  The Tot Family , and  Catsplay . The bulk of the materials cover his work on  The Tot Family , which includes several early script drafts by different translators and with different title variations."],"userestrict_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eThe copyright and related rights status of this collection have not been evaluated (See http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/CNE/1.0/)\u003c/p\u003e"],"userestrict_heading_ssm":["Use Restrictions"],"userestrict_tesim":["The copyright and related rights status of this collection have not been evaluated (See http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/CNE/1.0/)"],"abstract_html_tesm":["\u003cabstract id=\"aspace_df84002ce9585b66123b01c6cb60ccf2\"\u003eMaterials collected and created by director Edward Payson Call while directing productions of \u003ctitle\u003eThe Front Page\u003c/title\u003e, \u003ctitle\u003eThe Tot Family\u003c/title\u003e, and \u003ctitle\u003eCatsplay\u003c/title\u003e at Arena Stage in the 1970s.\u003c/abstract\u003e"],"abstract_tesim":["Materials collected and created by director Edward Payson Call while directing productions of  The Front Page ,  The Tot Family , and  Catsplay  at Arena Stage in the 1970s."],"physloc_html_tesm":["\u003cphysloc id=\"aspace_820795954d0ad6de7c4d9b78603270c6\"\u003eR 73, C 2, S 3\n\nMap Case 27.2\u003c/physloc\u003e"],"physloc_tesim":["R 73, C 2, S 3\n\nMap Case 27.2"],"names_coll_ssim":["Arena Stage (Organization : Washington, D.C.)","Fichandler, Zelda, 1924-2016"],"names_ssim":["George Mason University. Libraries. Special Collections Research Center","Arena Stage (Organization : Washington, D.C.)","Call, Edward Payson","Fichandler, Zelda, 1924-2016"],"corpname_ssim":["George Mason University. Libraries. Special Collections Research Center","Arena Stage (Organization : Washington, D.C.)"],"persname_ssim":["Call, Edward Payson","Fichandler, Zelda, 1924-2016"],"language_ssim":["English"],"descrules_ssm":["Describing Archives: A Content Standard"],"total_component_count_is":23,"online_item_count_is":0,"component_level_isim":[0],"sort_isi":0,"timestamp":"2026-05-01T00:18:28.281Z","collection":{"numFound":1,"start":0,"numFoundExact":true,"docs":[{"id":"vifgm_repositories_2_resources_762","ead_ssi":"vifgm_repositories_2_resources_762","_root_":"vifgm_repositories_2_resources_762","_nest_parent_":"vifgm_repositories_2_resources_762","ead_source_url_ssi":"data/oai/GMU/repositories_2_resources_762.xml","title_filing_ssi":"Edward Payson Call Arena Stage papers","title_ssm":["Edward Payson Call Arena Stage papers"],"title_tesim":["Edward Payson Call Arena Stage papers"],"unitdate_ssm":["1974-1977"],"unitdate_inclusive_ssm":["1974-1977"],"level_ssm":["collection"],"level_ssim":["Collection"],"unitid_ssm":["C0559","/repositories/2/resources/762"],"text":["C0559","/repositories/2/resources/762","Edward Payson Call Arena Stage papers","Theater","Performing arts","Theater -- Washington (D.C.)","Theater -- United States","Theater -- Production and direction","There are no access restrictions.","This collection is arranged chronologically and by production title and then by material type or function.","\"Arena Stage: Production History.\" n.d. Accessed December 3, 2025. https://www.arenastage.org/contentassets/bdb18ac78fb64b658344bd50f91e0e37/production-history.pdf.","Emmick Family Funeral \u0026 Cremation Services. n.d. \"Edward Payson Call Obituary.\" Accessed December 3, 2025. https://www.emmickfunerals.com/obituaries/edward-call.","Edward Payson Call was born on August 10, 1928 and spent over 50 years working in the theatre, beginning his career in New York City in the late 1950s working as a Broadway stage manager. In 1963, he joined the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis, Minnesota as a member of the inaugural artistic staff working alongside namesake director Tyrone Guthrie. Throughout the 1960s-1970s, Payson Call worked as a director at numerous regional theatres across the country, including three productions at Arena Stage in the mid-late 1970s.  The Front Page  initially ran from December 1974 – January 1975 and again from April – June 1976 as part of the \"All American Repertory\" along with  Death of a Salesman  directed by Zelda Fichandler and  Our Town  directed by Alan Schneider.  The Tot Family  ran from January – February 1976 and his final directing credit at Arena Stage,  Catsplay , ran from March – April 1977. In 1980, he was appointed as the founding Artistic Director of the Denver Center Theatre Company in Colorado, a position he held for five years. In the 1990s, after moving to Seattle, Washington, he continued working as a freelance director and teacher in numerous locations across the country, and in 1992 founded Seattle's Young Shakespeare Workshop. He passed away on February 1, 2023 at the age of 94.","One of the first not-for-profit theatres in the United States, as well as a pioneer of the regional theatre movement, Arena Stage was the first regional theatre to transfer a production to Broadway ( The Great White Hope , 1967), the first invited by the U.S. State Department to tour the Soviet Union, and the first to receive a Tony Award. During the 1960s, Arena garnered international renown in its new space: the Arena Stage Theatre. The new building, located at Sixth Street and Maine Avenue SW, was the first playhouse built in Washington, D.C. since 1895. Generosity on the part of David Lloyd Kreeger, and others, led to the construction of the new \"Kreeger Theatre,\" which opened formally on January 15, 1971. Today, Arena Stage performs to over 250,000 patrons during a September to June season and employs nearly 200 theatre professionals.","Processing completed by Meghan Glasbrenner in October 2025. Inventory assistance provided by Chance Jimenez. Finding aid completed by Meghan Glasbrenner in December 2025.","The Special Collections Research Center holds other collections related to  Arena Stage , including the  Arena Stage records  and the  Zelda Fichandler papers .","A collection of materials, including notes, set designs, scripts, photographs, reviews, programs, and correspondence, collected and created by director Edward Payson Call. Materials relate to Payson Call's work as a director at Arean Stage on three productions:  The Front Page ,  The Tot Family , and  Catsplay . The bulk of the materials cover his work on  The Tot Family , which includes several early script drafts by different translators and with different title variations.","The copyright and related rights status of this collection have not been evaluated (See http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/CNE/1.0/)","Materials collected and created by director Edward Payson Call while directing productions of  The Front Page ,  The Tot Family , and  Catsplay  at Arena Stage in the 1970s.","R 73, C 2, S 3\n\nMap Case 27.2","George Mason University. Libraries. Special Collections Research Center","Arena Stage (Organization : Washington, D.C.)","Call, Edward Payson","Fichandler, Zelda, 1924-2016","English"],"unitid_tesim":["C0559","/repositories/2/resources/762"],"normalized_title_ssm":["Edward Payson Call Arena Stage papers"],"collection_title_tesim":["Edward Payson Call Arena Stage papers"],"collection_ssim":["Edward Payson Call Arena Stage papers"],"repository_ssm":["George Mason University"],"repository_ssim":["George Mason University"],"creator_ssm":["Call, Edward Payson"],"creator_ssim":["Call, Edward Payson"],"creator_persname_ssim":["Call, Edward Payson"],"creators_ssim":["Call, Edward Payson"],"access_terms_ssm":["The copyright and related rights status of this collection have not been evaluated (See http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/CNE/1.0/)"],"acqinfo_ssim":["Collection donation facilitated by Alison Irvin of Arena Stage. Original donor was Marcia Carter."],"access_subjects_ssim":["Theater","Performing arts","Theater -- Washington (D.C.)","Theater -- United States","Theater -- Production and direction"],"access_subjects_ssm":["Theater","Performing arts","Theater -- Washington (D.C.)","Theater -- United States","Theater -- Production and direction"],"has_online_content_ssim":["false"],"extent_ssm":[".75 Linear Feet 2 boxes, 1 map case"],"extent_tesim":[".75 Linear Feet 2 boxes, 1 map case"],"date_range_isim":[1974,1975,1976,1977],"accessrestrict_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eThere are no access restrictions.\u003c/p\u003e"],"accessrestrict_heading_ssm":["Access Restrictions"],"accessrestrict_tesim":["There are no access restrictions."],"arrangement_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eThis collection is arranged chronologically and by production title and then by material type or function.\u003c/p\u003e"],"arrangement_heading_ssm":["Arrangement"],"arrangement_tesim":["This collection is arranged chronologically and by production title and then by material type or function."],"bibliography_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003e\"Arena Stage: Production History.\" n.d. Accessed December 3, 2025. https://www.arenastage.org/contentassets/bdb18ac78fb64b658344bd50f91e0e37/production-history.pdf.\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eEmmick Family Funeral \u0026amp; Cremation Services. n.d. \"Edward Payson Call Obituary.\" Accessed December 3, 2025. https://www.emmickfunerals.com/obituaries/edward-call.\u003c/p\u003e"],"bibliography_heading_ssm":["Bibliography"],"bibliography_tesim":["\"Arena Stage: Production History.\" n.d. Accessed December 3, 2025. https://www.arenastage.org/contentassets/bdb18ac78fb64b658344bd50f91e0e37/production-history.pdf.","Emmick Family Funeral \u0026 Cremation Services. n.d. \"Edward Payson Call Obituary.\" Accessed December 3, 2025. https://www.emmickfunerals.com/obituaries/edward-call."],"bioghist_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eEdward Payson Call was born on August 10, 1928 and spent over 50 years working in the theatre, beginning his career in New York City in the late 1950s working as a Broadway stage manager. In 1963, he joined the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis, Minnesota as a member of the inaugural artistic staff working alongside namesake director Tyrone Guthrie. Throughout the 1960s-1970s, Payson Call worked as a director at numerous regional theatres across the country, including three productions at Arena Stage in the mid-late 1970s. \u003ctitle\u003eThe Front Page\u003c/title\u003e initially ran from December 1974 – January 1975 and again from April – June 1976 as part of the \"All American Repertory\" along with \u003ctitle\u003eDeath of a Salesman\u003c/title\u003e directed by Zelda Fichandler and \u003ctitle\u003eOur Town\u003c/title\u003e directed by Alan Schneider. \u003ctitle\u003eThe Tot Family\u003c/title\u003e ran from January – February 1976 and his final directing credit at Arena Stage, \u003ctitle\u003eCatsplay\u003c/title\u003e, ran from March – April 1977. In 1980, he was appointed as the founding Artistic Director of the Denver Center Theatre Company in Colorado, a position he held for five years. In the 1990s, after moving to Seattle, Washington, he continued working as a freelance director and teacher in numerous locations across the country, and in 1992 founded Seattle's Young Shakespeare Workshop. He passed away on February 1, 2023 at the age of 94.\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eOne of the first not-for-profit theatres in the United States, as well as a pioneer of the regional theatre movement, Arena Stage was the first regional theatre to transfer a production to Broadway (\u003ctitle\u003eThe Great White Hope\u003c/title\u003e, 1967), the first invited by the U.S. State Department to tour the Soviet Union, and the first to receive a Tony Award. During the 1960s, Arena garnered international renown in its new space: the Arena Stage Theatre. The new building, located at Sixth Street and Maine Avenue SW, was the first playhouse built in Washington, D.C. since 1895. Generosity on the part of David Lloyd Kreeger, and others, led to the construction of the new \"Kreeger Theatre,\" which opened formally on January 15, 1971. Today, Arena Stage performs to over 250,000 patrons during a September to June season and employs nearly 200 theatre professionals.\u003c/p\u003e"],"bioghist_heading_ssm":["Biographical and Historical Information"],"bioghist_tesim":["Edward Payson Call was born on August 10, 1928 and spent over 50 years working in the theatre, beginning his career in New York City in the late 1950s working as a Broadway stage manager. In 1963, he joined the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis, Minnesota as a member of the inaugural artistic staff working alongside namesake director Tyrone Guthrie. Throughout the 1960s-1970s, Payson Call worked as a director at numerous regional theatres across the country, including three productions at Arena Stage in the mid-late 1970s.  The Front Page  initially ran from December 1974 – January 1975 and again from April – June 1976 as part of the \"All American Repertory\" along with  Death of a Salesman  directed by Zelda Fichandler and  Our Town  directed by Alan Schneider.  The Tot Family  ran from January – February 1976 and his final directing credit at Arena Stage,  Catsplay , ran from March – April 1977. In 1980, he was appointed as the founding Artistic Director of the Denver Center Theatre Company in Colorado, a position he held for five years. In the 1990s, after moving to Seattle, Washington, he continued working as a freelance director and teacher in numerous locations across the country, and in 1992 founded Seattle's Young Shakespeare Workshop. He passed away on February 1, 2023 at the age of 94.","One of the first not-for-profit theatres in the United States, as well as a pioneer of the regional theatre movement, Arena Stage was the first regional theatre to transfer a production to Broadway ( The Great White Hope , 1967), the first invited by the U.S. State Department to tour the Soviet Union, and the first to receive a Tony Award. During the 1960s, Arena garnered international renown in its new space: the Arena Stage Theatre. The new building, located at Sixth Street and Maine Avenue SW, was the first playhouse built in Washington, D.C. since 1895. Generosity on the part of David Lloyd Kreeger, and others, led to the construction of the new \"Kreeger Theatre,\" which opened formally on January 15, 1971. Today, Arena Stage performs to over 250,000 patrons during a September to June season and employs nearly 200 theatre professionals."],"prefercite_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eEdward Payson Call Arena Stage papers, C0559, Special Collections Research Center, George Mason University Libraries\u003c/p\u003e"],"prefercite_tesim":["Edward Payson Call Arena Stage papers, C0559, Special Collections Research Center, George Mason University Libraries"],"processinfo_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eProcessing completed by Meghan Glasbrenner in October 2025. Inventory assistance provided by Chance Jimenez. Finding aid completed by Meghan Glasbrenner in December 2025.\u003c/p\u003e"],"processinfo_heading_ssm":["Processing Information"],"processinfo_tesim":["Processing completed by Meghan Glasbrenner in October 2025. Inventory assistance provided by Chance Jimenez. Finding aid completed by Meghan Glasbrenner in December 2025."],"relatedmaterial_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eThe Special Collections Research Center holds other collections related to \u003ca href=\"https://aspace.gmu.edu/agents/corporate_entities/522\"\u003eArena Stage\u003c/a\u003e, including the \u003ca href=\"https://aspace.gmu.edu/resources/c0017\"\u003eArena Stage records\u003c/a\u003e and the \u003ca href=\"https://aspace.gmu.edu/resources/c0010\"\u003eZelda Fichandler papers\u003c/a\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e"],"relatedmaterial_heading_ssm":["Related Materials"],"relatedmaterial_tesim":["The Special Collections Research Center holds other collections related to  Arena Stage , including the  Arena Stage records  and the  Zelda Fichandler papers ."],"scopecontent_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eA collection of materials, including notes, set designs, scripts, photographs, reviews, programs, and correspondence, collected and created by director Edward Payson Call. Materials relate to Payson Call's work as a director at Arean Stage on three productions: \u003ctitle\u003eThe Front Page\u003c/title\u003e, \u003ctitle\u003eThe Tot Family\u003c/title\u003e, and \u003ctitle\u003eCatsplay\u003c/title\u003e. The bulk of the materials cover his work on \u003ctitle\u003eThe Tot Family\u003c/title\u003e, which includes several early script drafts by different translators and with different title variations.\u003c/p\u003e"],"scopecontent_heading_ssm":["Scope and Content"],"scopecontent_tesim":["A collection of materials, including notes, set designs, scripts, photographs, reviews, programs, and correspondence, collected and created by director Edward Payson Call. Materials relate to Payson Call's work as a director at Arean Stage on three productions:  The Front Page ,  The Tot Family , and  Catsplay . The bulk of the materials cover his work on  The Tot Family , which includes several early script drafts by different translators and with different title variations."],"userestrict_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eThe copyright and related rights status of this collection have not been evaluated (See http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/CNE/1.0/)\u003c/p\u003e"],"userestrict_heading_ssm":["Use Restrictions"],"userestrict_tesim":["The copyright and related rights status of this collection have not been evaluated (See http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/CNE/1.0/)"],"abstract_html_tesm":["\u003cabstract id=\"aspace_df84002ce9585b66123b01c6cb60ccf2\"\u003eMaterials collected and created by director Edward Payson Call while directing productions of \u003ctitle\u003eThe Front Page\u003c/title\u003e, \u003ctitle\u003eThe Tot Family\u003c/title\u003e, and \u003ctitle\u003eCatsplay\u003c/title\u003e at Arena Stage in the 1970s.\u003c/abstract\u003e"],"abstract_tesim":["Materials collected and created by director Edward Payson Call while directing productions of  The Front Page ,  The Tot Family , and  Catsplay  at Arena Stage in the 1970s."],"physloc_html_tesm":["\u003cphysloc id=\"aspace_820795954d0ad6de7c4d9b78603270c6\"\u003eR 73, C 2, S 3\n\nMap Case 27.2\u003c/physloc\u003e"],"physloc_tesim":["R 73, C 2, S 3\n\nMap Case 27.2"],"names_coll_ssim":["Arena Stage (Organization : Washington, D.C.)","Fichandler, Zelda, 1924-2016"],"names_ssim":["George Mason University. Libraries. Special Collections Research Center","Arena Stage (Organization : Washington, D.C.)","Call, Edward Payson","Fichandler, Zelda, 1924-2016"],"corpname_ssim":["George Mason University. Libraries. Special Collections Research Center","Arena Stage (Organization : Washington, D.C.)"],"persname_ssim":["Call, Edward Payson","Fichandler, Zelda, 1924-2016"],"language_ssim":["English"],"descrules_ssm":["Describing Archives: A Content Standard"],"total_component_count_is":23,"online_item_count_is":0,"component_level_isim":[0],"sort_isi":0,"timestamp":"2026-05-01T00:18:28.281Z"}]}},"label":"Breadcrumbs"}}},"links":{"self":"https://search.arvasarchive.org/catalog/vifgm_repositories_2_resources_762"}},{"id":"vifgm_repositories_2_resources_331","type":"collection","attributes":{"title":"Federal Theatre Project collection","creator":{"id":"https://search.arvasarchive.org/catalog/vifgm_repositories_2_resources_331#creator","type":"document_value","attributes":{"value":"Federal Theatre Project (U.S.)","label":"Creator"}},"abstract_or_scope":{"id":"https://search.arvasarchive.org/catalog/vifgm_repositories_2_resources_331#abstract_or_scope","type":"document_value","attributes":{"value":"The Federal Theatre Project collection contains administrative records, play service and research records, library records, production records, and costumes created or collected by the Federal Theatre Project from 1935 to 1939. A few items in the collection were created before or after this time period but directly relate to the 1930s material. This collection consists of original materials with some duplicates and photocopies.","label":"Abstract Or Scope"}},"breadcrumbs":{"id":"https://search.arvasarchive.org/catalog/vifgm_repositories_2_resources_331#breadcrumbs","type":"document_value","attributes":{"value":{"id":"vifgm_repositories_2_resources_331","ead_ssi":"vifgm_repositories_2_resources_331","_root_":"vifgm_repositories_2_resources_331","_nest_parent_":"vifgm_repositories_2_resources_331","ead_source_url_ssi":"data/oai/GMU/repositories_2_resources_331.xml","title_filing_ssi":"Federal Theatre Project collection","title_ssm":["Federal Theatre Project collection"],"title_tesim":["Federal Theatre Project collection"],"unitdate_ssm":["circa 1885-1986","1935-1939"],"unitdate_bulk_ssim":["1935-1939"],"unitdate_inclusive_ssm":["circa 1885-1986"],"level_ssm":["collection"],"level_ssim":["Collection"],"unitid_ssm":["C0002","/repositories/2/resources/331"],"text":["C0002","/repositories/2/resources/331","Federal Theatre Project collection","Children's theater","New Deal, 1933-1939","Political plays, American","Radio and theater","Theater programs","Theater -- United States","Theater","Theater -- Production and direction","Performing arts","Playscript","There are no access restrictions.","The scripts are also available as a series in the   in the Mason Archival Repository Service.\nThere are additional documents from this and other GMU FTP collections   .","Arranged into five series.","Series Series 1: Administrative Records, 1935-1939 (Boxes 1-5, 361, 365-366, 368) Series 2: Play Service and Research Records, 1935-1939 (Boxes 5-105) Series 3: Library Records, 1885-1986 (Boxes 106-306) Series 4: Production Records, 193-193 (Boxes 307-363, 366-367) Series 5: Costumes, circa 1935-1939 (Boxes 369-371)","The Federal Theatre Project was a division of the Works Progress Administration (WPA), which provided employment for large numbers of artists, writers, and performers during the Great Depression (1929-1939). The Federal Theatre began in 1935 and, until its end in 1939, flourished as the first and only federally sponsored and subsidized theater program in the United States. Directed by Hallie Flanagan (1880-1969), it was a way for theatrical professionals to gain employment during the Depression. Jobs were provided for many people, including actors, playwrights, scene designers, scene builders, seamstresses, lighting experts, ushers, box-office men, and stagehands.","Like many New Deal programs implemented by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, the Federal Theatre Project was intended not only to benefit its participants, but also to enrich the condition of the nation. Theater was a distinguished part of American popular culture, but the economic downturn of the Depression had bankrupted the entire theater industry. As the theater houses closed down, the nation was left without an outlet for theatrical creativity. According to Hallie Flanagan, this hurt the nation as much as it hurt the theater industry - indeed, the nation was their audience and the theater could provide entertaining distractions from the effects of Depression as well as offer commentary on present conditions.","But it was not enough to simply return to the pre-Depression concept of theater. In the first meeting with her staff Flanagan expressed her willingness to follow Roosevelt's experimental approach to public policy: \"In a changing world, a world of experiment, the stage too must experiment - with ideas, with the psychological relationship of men and women, with color and light.... The theatre must grow up.\"","Flanagan pursued her ideal of developing the relationship between the Federal Theatre and the federal government: \"Any theatre sponsored by the government of the United States should do no plays of a cheap, trivial, outworn or vulgar nature, but only such plays as the Government can stand proudly behind in a planned theatrical program, national in scope, regional in emphasis, and American in democratic attitude.\" To Flanagan, it was imperative that this new theater should be progressive and experimental, yet within a patriotic and informative framework.","The productions that best embodied Flanagan's views on theater were the Living Newspapers. These hard-hitting, poignant plays dealt with contemporary factual material, dramatizing issues such as housing, agriculture, labor, and destitution. Always ending on an upbeat note, Living Newspapers underscored the importance of hard work and morality in overcoming difficult times. Living Newspaper titles include: Triple A Plowed Under, Injunction Granted, One Third of a Nation, and Spirocheta.","The Federal Theatre was noted for employing Black Americans at a time when the Federal Government did not actively protect the rights of marginalized communities. This unit was called \"The Negro Unit,\" which at the time was a socially acceptable term used to describe people of African descent. All-Black theatre companies were an established industry before the Depression. As a result, the inclusion of this unit greatly contributed to the success of the Federal Theatre Project. Some of the most spectacular productions were put on by Black theater professionals, for example: Macbeth, Haiti, Turpentine, Run Little Chillun, and The Trial of Dr. Beck.","Processed by Special Collections Research Center staff. Reprocessed and EAD completed in 2012 by Greta Kuriger. Finding aid updated by Robert Vay in February 2023.","The Special Collections Research Center also holds the Federal Theatre Project photograph collection, the Federal Theatre Project personal papers, the Arnold Sungaard papers, and the Works Progress Administration oral histories collection.","The scripts are also available as a series in the  . ","Content Warning: Some materials contain racist language and slurs, including play titles.","The Federal Theatre Project collection contains administrative records, play service and research records, library records, production records, and costumes created or collected by the Federal Theatre Project from 1935 to 1939. A few items in the collection were created before or after this time period but directly relate to the 1930s material. This collection consists of original materials with some duplicates and photocopies.","Series 1 contains correspondence, memoranda, reports, inventories, reorganization plans, briefs, and speeches relating to the background organization, policies, services, and procedures of the Federal Theatre Project (FTP). Publications featuring articles on productions and organizational activities such as Federal Theatre are included in this series. Personnel file information such as biographical and employee tests are also included, as is research studies of the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), Federal Art Project (FAP) and the Historical Records Survey (HRS). This series is arranged alphabetically.","Series 2 is titled Play Service and Research Records and comprises two subseries. Subseries 2.1 contains research on drama, theatre technique, and theatre operations. This subseries is arranged alphabetically. Subseries 2.2 is titled Play Reader Reports and contains thousands of reports completed by the Federal Theatre for possible production or inclusion in play lists. This subseries is loosely arranged alphabetically by play title. Some duplicate material.","Series 3 is titled Library Records and consists of three subseries: Playscripts, Radio scripts, and Play lists. Subseries 3.1 includes hundreds of playscripts from over 900 productions performed or considered for production from around the United States. Most of the scripts are in English but some are in Yiddish or Italian. Some duplicate material. Arranged alphabetically by title. Subseries 3.2 includes radio scripts. Series of shows include topics such as art, children's shows, mysteries, health, music, history, and science. Arranged alphabetically by series and single broadcast title. Subseries 3.3 consists of play lists. These lists were created to aid play selection among the various units of the Federal Theatre. Lists are arranged alphabetically by subject categories such as children's plays, historical drama, holidays, minstrel shows, operettas, puppet plays, and vaudeville.","Series 4 is titled Production Records and consists of three subseries: Production Title File, Playbills and Programs, and Music File. Subseries 4.1 includes memoranda, production bulletins, publicity, and reports relating to play productions. Each production bulletin contains some or all of the following: synopsis, director's report, set and costume designs, lighting scheme, blueprints, photographs, program, reviews, royalty information, and a script. Arranged alphabetically by title. Subseries 4.2 includes programs, heralds, handbills, and other announcements of FTP productions on different sized and colored paper. The first section of this subseries is arranged alphabetically by state in which the performance was produced and then it is arranged alphabetically by play title. The second section is arranged alphabetically by play title. There may be duplicates between the two arrangements. Subseries 4.3 includes manuscript scores and parts for multiple Federal Theatre productions. Resource material used for reference purposes for play productions and Federal Theatre units and regions throughout the United States consists of mostly printed music and is found under \"miscellaneous\". Chiefly arranged alphabetically by title and then according to standard orchestral instrument order. Some duplicates.","Series 5 is titled Costumes and includes two coats and two pairs of pants created and used by the Federal Theatre Project.","The copyright and related rights status of this collection have not been evaluated (See http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/CNE/1.0/).","The Federal Theatre Project collection contains administrative records, play service and research records, library records, production records, and costumes created or collected by the Federal Theatre Project from 1935 to 1939. A few items in the collection were created before or after this time period but directly relate to the 1930s material. This collection consists of original materials with some duplicates and photocopies.","\nR 1, C 8, S 6 - C 9, S 7\n\nR 2, C 1, S 1 - C 8, S 3\nOS R 7, C 1, S1\nOS R 3, C 5, S 5 - S 6\nMap Case 9.1, 11.1, 11.3-11.5, 21.2","George Mason University. Libraries. Special Collections Research Center","Federal Theatre Project (U.S.)","English"],"unitid_tesim":["C0002","/repositories/2/resources/331"],"normalized_title_ssm":["Federal Theatre Project collection"],"collection_title_tesim":["Federal Theatre Project collection"],"collection_ssim":["Federal Theatre Project collection"],"repository_ssm":["George Mason University"],"repository_ssim":["George Mason University"],"creator_ssm":["Federal Theatre Project (U.S.)"],"creator_ssim":["Federal Theatre Project (U.S.)"],"creator_corpname_ssim":["Federal Theatre Project (U.S.)"],"creators_ssim":["Federal Theatre Project (U.S.)"],"access_terms_ssm":["The copyright and related rights status of this collection have not been evaluated (See http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/CNE/1.0/)."],"acqinfo_ssim":["Donated by the Library of Congress."],"access_subjects_ssim":["Children's theater","New Deal, 1933-1939","Political plays, American","Radio and theater","Theater programs","Theater -- United States","Theater","Theater -- Production and direction","Performing arts","Playscript"],"access_subjects_ssm":["Children's theater","New Deal, 1933-1939","Political plays, American","Radio and theater","Theater programs","Theater -- United States","Theater","Theater -- Production and direction","Performing arts","Playscript"],"has_online_content_ssim":["false"],"extent_ssm":["185 Linear Feet 371 boxes"],"extent_tesim":["185 Linear Feet 371 boxes"],"genreform_ssim":["Playscript"],"date_range_isim":[1885,1886,1887,1888,1889,1890,1891,1892,1893,1894,1895,1896,1897,1898,1899,1900,1901,1902,1903,1904,1905,1906,1907,1908,1909,1910,1911,1912,1913,1914,1915,1916,1917,1918,1919,1920,1921,1922,1923,1924,1925,1926,1927,1928,1929,1930,1931,1932,1933,1934,1935,1936,1937,1938,1939,1940,1941,1942,1943,1944,1945,1946,1947,1948,1949,1950,1951,1952,1953,1954,1955,1956,1957,1958,1959,1960,1961,1962,1963,1964,1965,1966,1967,1968,1969,1970,1971,1972,1973,1974,1975,1976,1977,1978,1979,1980,1981,1982,1983,1984,1985,1986],"accessrestrict_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eThere are no access restrictions.\u003c/p\u003e"],"accessrestrict_heading_ssm":["Access Restrictions"],"accessrestrict_tesim":["There are no access restrictions."],"altformavail_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eThe scripts are also available as a series in the \u003cextptr href=\"https://mars.gmu.edu/handle/1920/3478\" title=\"Federal Theatre Project Materials Collection\" show=\"new\"\u003e\u003c/extptr\u003e in the Mason Archival Repository Service.\nThere are additional documents from this and other GMU FTP collections  \u003cextptr href=\"http://images.gmu.edu/luna/servlet/GMUDPSdps~23~23\" title=\"available here\" show=\"new\"\u003e\u003c/extptr\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e"],"altformavail_heading_ssm":["Alternative Form Available"],"altformavail_tesim":["The scripts are also available as a series in the   in the Mason Archival Repository Service.\nThere are additional documents from this and other GMU FTP collections   ."],"arrangement_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eArranged into five series.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003clist type=\"ordered\"\u003e\n      \u003chead\u003eSeries\u003c/head\u003e\n      \u003citem\u003eSeries 1: Administrative Records, 1935-1939 (Boxes 1-5, 361, 365-366, 368)\u003c/item\u003e\n      \u003citem\u003eSeries 2: Play Service and Research Records, 1935-1939 (Boxes 5-105)\u003c/item\u003e\n      \u003citem\u003eSeries 3: Library Records, 1885-1986 (Boxes 106-306)\u003c/item\u003e\n      \u003citem\u003eSeries 4: Production Records, 193-193 (Boxes 307-363, 366-367)\u003c/item\u003e\n      \u003citem\u003eSeries 5: Costumes, circa 1935-1939 (Boxes 369-371)\u003c/item\u003e\n    \u003c/list\u003e"],"arrangement_heading_ssm":["Arrangement"],"arrangement_tesim":["Arranged into five series.","Series Series 1: Administrative Records, 1935-1939 (Boxes 1-5, 361, 365-366, 368) Series 2: Play Service and Research Records, 1935-1939 (Boxes 5-105) Series 3: Library Records, 1885-1986 (Boxes 106-306) Series 4: Production Records, 193-193 (Boxes 307-363, 366-367) Series 5: Costumes, circa 1935-1939 (Boxes 369-371)"],"bioghist_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eThe Federal Theatre Project was a division of the Works Progress Administration (WPA), which provided employment for large numbers of artists, writers, and performers during the Great Depression (1929-1939). The Federal Theatre began in 1935 and, until its end in 1939, flourished as the first and only federally sponsored and subsidized theater program in the United States. Directed by Hallie Flanagan (1880-1969), it was a way for theatrical professionals to gain employment during the Depression. Jobs were provided for many people, including actors, playwrights, scene designers, scene builders, seamstresses, lighting experts, ushers, box-office men, and stagehands.\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eLike many New Deal programs implemented by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, the Federal Theatre Project was intended not only to benefit its participants, but also to enrich the condition of the nation. Theater was a distinguished part of American popular culture, but the economic downturn of the Depression had bankrupted the entire theater industry. As the theater houses closed down, the nation was left without an outlet for theatrical creativity. According to Hallie Flanagan, this hurt the nation as much as it hurt the theater industry - indeed, the nation was their audience and the theater could provide entertaining distractions from the effects of Depression as well as offer commentary on present conditions.\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eBut it was not enough to simply return to the pre-Depression concept of theater. In the first meeting with her staff Flanagan expressed her willingness to follow Roosevelt's experimental approach to public policy: \"In a changing world, a world of experiment, the stage too must experiment - with ideas, with the psychological relationship of men and women, with color and light.... The theatre must grow up.\"\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eFlanagan pursued her ideal of developing the relationship between the Federal Theatre and the federal government: \"Any theatre sponsored by the government of the United States should do no plays of a cheap, trivial, outworn or vulgar nature, but only such plays as the Government can stand proudly behind in a planned theatrical program, national in scope, regional in emphasis, and American in democratic attitude.\" To Flanagan, it was imperative that this new theater should be progressive and experimental, yet within a patriotic and informative framework.\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eThe productions that best embodied Flanagan's views on theater were the Living Newspapers. These hard-hitting, poignant plays dealt with contemporary factual material, dramatizing issues such as housing, agriculture, labor, and destitution. Always ending on an upbeat note, Living Newspapers underscored the importance of hard work and morality in overcoming difficult times. Living Newspaper titles include: Triple A Plowed Under, Injunction Granted, One Third of a Nation, and Spirocheta.\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eThe Federal Theatre was noted for employing Black Americans at a time when the Federal Government did not actively protect the rights of marginalized communities. This unit was called \"The Negro Unit,\" which at the time was a socially acceptable term used to describe people of African descent. All-Black theatre companies were an established industry before the Depression. As a result, the inclusion of this unit greatly contributed to the success of the Federal Theatre Project. Some of the most spectacular productions were put on by Black theater professionals, for example: Macbeth, Haiti, Turpentine, Run Little Chillun, and The Trial of Dr. Beck.\u003c/p\u003e"],"bioghist_heading_ssm":["Historical Information"],"bioghist_tesim":["The Federal Theatre Project was a division of the Works Progress Administration (WPA), which provided employment for large numbers of artists, writers, and performers during the Great Depression (1929-1939). The Federal Theatre began in 1935 and, until its end in 1939, flourished as the first and only federally sponsored and subsidized theater program in the United States. Directed by Hallie Flanagan (1880-1969), it was a way for theatrical professionals to gain employment during the Depression. Jobs were provided for many people, including actors, playwrights, scene designers, scene builders, seamstresses, lighting experts, ushers, box-office men, and stagehands.","Like many New Deal programs implemented by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, the Federal Theatre Project was intended not only to benefit its participants, but also to enrich the condition of the nation. Theater was a distinguished part of American popular culture, but the economic downturn of the Depression had bankrupted the entire theater industry. As the theater houses closed down, the nation was left without an outlet for theatrical creativity. According to Hallie Flanagan, this hurt the nation as much as it hurt the theater industry - indeed, the nation was their audience and the theater could provide entertaining distractions from the effects of Depression as well as offer commentary on present conditions.","But it was not enough to simply return to the pre-Depression concept of theater. In the first meeting with her staff Flanagan expressed her willingness to follow Roosevelt's experimental approach to public policy: \"In a changing world, a world of experiment, the stage too must experiment - with ideas, with the psychological relationship of men and women, with color and light.... The theatre must grow up.\"","Flanagan pursued her ideal of developing the relationship between the Federal Theatre and the federal government: \"Any theatre sponsored by the government of the United States should do no plays of a cheap, trivial, outworn or vulgar nature, but only such plays as the Government can stand proudly behind in a planned theatrical program, national in scope, regional in emphasis, and American in democratic attitude.\" To Flanagan, it was imperative that this new theater should be progressive and experimental, yet within a patriotic and informative framework.","The productions that best embodied Flanagan's views on theater were the Living Newspapers. These hard-hitting, poignant plays dealt with contemporary factual material, dramatizing issues such as housing, agriculture, labor, and destitution. Always ending on an upbeat note, Living Newspapers underscored the importance of hard work and morality in overcoming difficult times. Living Newspaper titles include: Triple A Plowed Under, Injunction Granted, One Third of a Nation, and Spirocheta.","The Federal Theatre was noted for employing Black Americans at a time when the Federal Government did not actively protect the rights of marginalized communities. This unit was called \"The Negro Unit,\" which at the time was a socially acceptable term used to describe people of African descent. All-Black theatre companies were an established industry before the Depression. As a result, the inclusion of this unit greatly contributed to the success of the Federal Theatre Project. Some of the most spectacular productions were put on by Black theater professionals, for example: Macbeth, Haiti, Turpentine, Run Little Chillun, and The Trial of Dr. Beck."],"prefercite_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eFederal Theatre Project collection, C0002, Special Collections Research Center, George Mason University Libraries.\u003c/p\u003e"],"prefercite_tesim":["Federal Theatre Project collection, C0002, Special Collections Research Center, George Mason University Libraries."],"processinfo_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eProcessed by Special Collections Research Center staff. Reprocessed and EAD completed in 2012 by Greta Kuriger. Finding aid updated by Robert Vay in February 2023.\u003c/p\u003e"],"processinfo_heading_ssm":["Processing Information"],"processinfo_tesim":["Processed by Special Collections Research Center staff. Reprocessed and EAD completed in 2012 by Greta Kuriger. Finding aid updated by Robert Vay in February 2023."],"relatedmaterial_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eThe Special Collections Research Center also holds the Federal Theatre Project photograph collection, the Federal Theatre Project personal papers, the Arnold Sungaard papers, and the Works Progress Administration oral histories collection.\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eThe scripts are also available as a series in the \u003cextptr show=\"new\" title=\"FTP digital collection\" href=\"https://mars.gmu.edu/handle/1920/3478\"\u003e\u003c/extptr\u003e. \u003c/p\u003e"],"relatedmaterial_heading_ssm":["Related Material"],"relatedmaterial_tesim":["The Special Collections Research Center also holds the Federal Theatre Project photograph collection, the Federal Theatre Project personal papers, the Arnold Sungaard papers, and the Works Progress Administration oral histories collection.","The scripts are also available as a series in the  . "],"scopecontent_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eContent Warning: Some materials contain racist language and slurs, including play titles.\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eThe Federal Theatre Project collection contains administrative records, play service and research records, library records, production records, and costumes created or collected by the Federal Theatre Project from 1935 to 1939. A few items in the collection were created before or after this time period but directly relate to the 1930s material. This collection consists of original materials with some duplicates and photocopies.\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eSeries 1 contains correspondence, memoranda, reports, inventories, reorganization plans, briefs, and speeches relating to the background organization, policies, services, and procedures of the Federal Theatre Project (FTP). Publications featuring articles on productions and organizational activities such as Federal Theatre are included in this series. Personnel file information such as biographical and employee tests are also included, as is research studies of the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), Federal Art Project (FAP) and the Historical Records Survey (HRS). This series is arranged alphabetically.\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eSeries 2 is titled Play Service and Research Records and comprises two subseries. Subseries 2.1 contains research on drama, theatre technique, and theatre operations. This subseries is arranged alphabetically. Subseries 2.2 is titled Play Reader Reports and contains thousands of reports completed by the Federal Theatre for possible production or inclusion in play lists. This subseries is loosely arranged alphabetically by play title. Some duplicate material.\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eSeries 3 is titled Library Records and consists of three subseries: Playscripts, Radio scripts, and Play lists. Subseries 3.1 includes hundreds of playscripts from over 900 productions performed or considered for production from around the United States. Most of the scripts are in English but some are in Yiddish or Italian. Some duplicate material. Arranged alphabetically by title. Subseries 3.2 includes radio scripts. Series of shows include topics such as art, children's shows, mysteries, health, music, history, and science. Arranged alphabetically by series and single broadcast title. Subseries 3.3 consists of play lists. These lists were created to aid play selection among the various units of the Federal Theatre. Lists are arranged alphabetically by subject categories such as children's plays, historical drama, holidays, minstrel shows, operettas, puppet plays, and vaudeville.\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eSeries 4 is titled Production Records and consists of three subseries: Production Title File, Playbills and Programs, and Music File. Subseries 4.1 includes memoranda, production bulletins, publicity, and reports relating to play productions. Each production bulletin contains some or all of the following: synopsis, director's report, set and costume designs, lighting scheme, blueprints, photographs, program, reviews, royalty information, and a script. Arranged alphabetically by title. Subseries 4.2 includes programs, heralds, handbills, and other announcements of FTP productions on different sized and colored paper. The first section of this subseries is arranged alphabetically by state in which the performance was produced and then it is arranged alphabetically by play title. The second section is arranged alphabetically by play title. There may be duplicates between the two arrangements. Subseries 4.3 includes manuscript scores and parts for multiple Federal Theatre productions. Resource material used for reference purposes for play productions and Federal Theatre units and regions throughout the United States consists of mostly printed music and is found under \"miscellaneous\". Chiefly arranged alphabetically by title and then according to standard orchestral instrument order. Some duplicates.\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eSeries 5 is titled Costumes and includes two coats and two pairs of pants created and used by the Federal Theatre Project.\u003c/p\u003e"],"scopecontent_heading_ssm":["Scope and Content"],"scopecontent_tesim":["Content Warning: Some materials contain racist language and slurs, including play titles.","The Federal Theatre Project collection contains administrative records, play service and research records, library records, production records, and costumes created or collected by the Federal Theatre Project from 1935 to 1939. A few items in the collection were created before or after this time period but directly relate to the 1930s material. This collection consists of original materials with some duplicates and photocopies.","Series 1 contains correspondence, memoranda, reports, inventories, reorganization plans, briefs, and speeches relating to the background organization, policies, services, and procedures of the Federal Theatre Project (FTP). Publications featuring articles on productions and organizational activities such as Federal Theatre are included in this series. Personnel file information such as biographical and employee tests are also included, as is research studies of the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), Federal Art Project (FAP) and the Historical Records Survey (HRS). This series is arranged alphabetically.","Series 2 is titled Play Service and Research Records and comprises two subseries. Subseries 2.1 contains research on drama, theatre technique, and theatre operations. This subseries is arranged alphabetically. Subseries 2.2 is titled Play Reader Reports and contains thousands of reports completed by the Federal Theatre for possible production or inclusion in play lists. This subseries is loosely arranged alphabetically by play title. Some duplicate material.","Series 3 is titled Library Records and consists of three subseries: Playscripts, Radio scripts, and Play lists. Subseries 3.1 includes hundreds of playscripts from over 900 productions performed or considered for production from around the United States. Most of the scripts are in English but some are in Yiddish or Italian. Some duplicate material. Arranged alphabetically by title. Subseries 3.2 includes radio scripts. Series of shows include topics such as art, children's shows, mysteries, health, music, history, and science. Arranged alphabetically by series and single broadcast title. Subseries 3.3 consists of play lists. These lists were created to aid play selection among the various units of the Federal Theatre. Lists are arranged alphabetically by subject categories such as children's plays, historical drama, holidays, minstrel shows, operettas, puppet plays, and vaudeville.","Series 4 is titled Production Records and consists of three subseries: Production Title File, Playbills and Programs, and Music File. Subseries 4.1 includes memoranda, production bulletins, publicity, and reports relating to play productions. Each production bulletin contains some or all of the following: synopsis, director's report, set and costume designs, lighting scheme, blueprints, photographs, program, reviews, royalty information, and a script. Arranged alphabetically by title. Subseries 4.2 includes programs, heralds, handbills, and other announcements of FTP productions on different sized and colored paper. The first section of this subseries is arranged alphabetically by state in which the performance was produced and then it is arranged alphabetically by play title. The second section is arranged alphabetically by play title. There may be duplicates between the two arrangements. Subseries 4.3 includes manuscript scores and parts for multiple Federal Theatre productions. Resource material used for reference purposes for play productions and Federal Theatre units and regions throughout the United States consists of mostly printed music and is found under \"miscellaneous\". Chiefly arranged alphabetically by title and then according to standard orchestral instrument order. Some duplicates.","Series 5 is titled Costumes and includes two coats and two pairs of pants created and used by the Federal Theatre Project."],"userestrict_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eThe copyright and related rights status of this collection have not been evaluated (See http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/CNE/1.0/).\u003c/p\u003e"],"userestrict_heading_ssm":["Use Restrictions"],"userestrict_tesim":["The copyright and related rights status of this collection have not been evaluated (See http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/CNE/1.0/)."],"abstract_html_tesm":["\u003cabstract id=\"aspace_0f4707cda45d410e12f09ae2a350510a\" label=\"Abstract\"\u003eThe Federal Theatre Project collection contains administrative records, play service and research records, library records, production records, and costumes created or collected by the Federal Theatre Project from 1935 to 1939. A few items in the collection were created before or after this time period but directly relate to the 1930s material. This collection consists of original materials with some duplicates and photocopies.\u003c/abstract\u003e"],"abstract_tesim":["The Federal Theatre Project collection contains administrative records, play service and research records, library records, production records, and costumes created or collected by the Federal Theatre Project from 1935 to 1939. A few items in the collection were created before or after this time period but directly relate to the 1930s material. This collection consists of original materials with some duplicates and photocopies."],"physloc_html_tesm":["\u003cphysloc id=\"aspace_d65479dc2ffe44debbb5af464a6479da\"\u003e\nR 1, C 8, S 6 - C 9, S 7\n\nR 2, C 1, S 1 - C 8, S 3\nOS R 7, C 1, S1\nOS R 3, C 5, S 5 - S 6\nMap Case 9.1, 11.1, 11.3-11.5, 21.2\u003c/physloc\u003e"],"physloc_tesim":["\nR 1, C 8, S 6 - C 9, S 7\n\nR 2, C 1, S 1 - C 8, S 3\nOS R 7, C 1, S1\nOS R 3, C 5, S 5 - S 6\nMap Case 9.1, 11.1, 11.3-11.5, 21.2"],"names_ssim":["George Mason University. Libraries. Special Collections Research Center","Federal Theatre Project (U.S.)"],"corpname_ssim":["George Mason University. Libraries. Special Collections Research Center","Federal Theatre Project (U.S.)"],"language_ssim":["English"],"descrules_ssm":["Describing Archives: A Content Standard"],"total_component_count_is":3180,"online_item_count_is":0,"component_level_isim":[0],"sort_isi":0,"timestamp":"2026-05-07T07:19:07.641Z","collection":{"numFound":1,"start":0,"numFoundExact":true,"docs":[{"id":"vifgm_repositories_2_resources_331","ead_ssi":"vifgm_repositories_2_resources_331","_root_":"vifgm_repositories_2_resources_331","_nest_parent_":"vifgm_repositories_2_resources_331","ead_source_url_ssi":"data/oai/GMU/repositories_2_resources_331.xml","title_filing_ssi":"Federal Theatre Project collection","title_ssm":["Federal Theatre Project collection"],"title_tesim":["Federal Theatre Project collection"],"unitdate_ssm":["circa 1885-1986","1935-1939"],"unitdate_bulk_ssim":["1935-1939"],"unitdate_inclusive_ssm":["circa 1885-1986"],"level_ssm":["collection"],"level_ssim":["Collection"],"unitid_ssm":["C0002","/repositories/2/resources/331"],"text":["C0002","/repositories/2/resources/331","Federal Theatre Project collection","Children's theater","New Deal, 1933-1939","Political plays, American","Radio and theater","Theater programs","Theater -- United States","Theater","Theater -- Production and direction","Performing arts","Playscript","There are no access restrictions.","The scripts are also available as a series in the   in the Mason Archival Repository Service.\nThere are additional documents from this and other GMU FTP collections   .","Arranged into five series.","Series Series 1: Administrative Records, 1935-1939 (Boxes 1-5, 361, 365-366, 368) Series 2: Play Service and Research Records, 1935-1939 (Boxes 5-105) Series 3: Library Records, 1885-1986 (Boxes 106-306) Series 4: Production Records, 193-193 (Boxes 307-363, 366-367) Series 5: Costumes, circa 1935-1939 (Boxes 369-371)","The Federal Theatre Project was a division of the Works Progress Administration (WPA), which provided employment for large numbers of artists, writers, and performers during the Great Depression (1929-1939). The Federal Theatre began in 1935 and, until its end in 1939, flourished as the first and only federally sponsored and subsidized theater program in the United States. Directed by Hallie Flanagan (1880-1969), it was a way for theatrical professionals to gain employment during the Depression. Jobs were provided for many people, including actors, playwrights, scene designers, scene builders, seamstresses, lighting experts, ushers, box-office men, and stagehands.","Like many New Deal programs implemented by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, the Federal Theatre Project was intended not only to benefit its participants, but also to enrich the condition of the nation. Theater was a distinguished part of American popular culture, but the economic downturn of the Depression had bankrupted the entire theater industry. As the theater houses closed down, the nation was left without an outlet for theatrical creativity. According to Hallie Flanagan, this hurt the nation as much as it hurt the theater industry - indeed, the nation was their audience and the theater could provide entertaining distractions from the effects of Depression as well as offer commentary on present conditions.","But it was not enough to simply return to the pre-Depression concept of theater. In the first meeting with her staff Flanagan expressed her willingness to follow Roosevelt's experimental approach to public policy: \"In a changing world, a world of experiment, the stage too must experiment - with ideas, with the psychological relationship of men and women, with color and light.... The theatre must grow up.\"","Flanagan pursued her ideal of developing the relationship between the Federal Theatre and the federal government: \"Any theatre sponsored by the government of the United States should do no plays of a cheap, trivial, outworn or vulgar nature, but only such plays as the Government can stand proudly behind in a planned theatrical program, national in scope, regional in emphasis, and American in democratic attitude.\" To Flanagan, it was imperative that this new theater should be progressive and experimental, yet within a patriotic and informative framework.","The productions that best embodied Flanagan's views on theater were the Living Newspapers. These hard-hitting, poignant plays dealt with contemporary factual material, dramatizing issues such as housing, agriculture, labor, and destitution. Always ending on an upbeat note, Living Newspapers underscored the importance of hard work and morality in overcoming difficult times. Living Newspaper titles include: Triple A Plowed Under, Injunction Granted, One Third of a Nation, and Spirocheta.","The Federal Theatre was noted for employing Black Americans at a time when the Federal Government did not actively protect the rights of marginalized communities. This unit was called \"The Negro Unit,\" which at the time was a socially acceptable term used to describe people of African descent. All-Black theatre companies were an established industry before the Depression. As a result, the inclusion of this unit greatly contributed to the success of the Federal Theatre Project. Some of the most spectacular productions were put on by Black theater professionals, for example: Macbeth, Haiti, Turpentine, Run Little Chillun, and The Trial of Dr. Beck.","Processed by Special Collections Research Center staff. Reprocessed and EAD completed in 2012 by Greta Kuriger. Finding aid updated by Robert Vay in February 2023.","The Special Collections Research Center also holds the Federal Theatre Project photograph collection, the Federal Theatre Project personal papers, the Arnold Sungaard papers, and the Works Progress Administration oral histories collection.","The scripts are also available as a series in the  . ","Content Warning: Some materials contain racist language and slurs, including play titles.","The Federal Theatre Project collection contains administrative records, play service and research records, library records, production records, and costumes created or collected by the Federal Theatre Project from 1935 to 1939. A few items in the collection were created before or after this time period but directly relate to the 1930s material. This collection consists of original materials with some duplicates and photocopies.","Series 1 contains correspondence, memoranda, reports, inventories, reorganization plans, briefs, and speeches relating to the background organization, policies, services, and procedures of the Federal Theatre Project (FTP). Publications featuring articles on productions and organizational activities such as Federal Theatre are included in this series. Personnel file information such as biographical and employee tests are also included, as is research studies of the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), Federal Art Project (FAP) and the Historical Records Survey (HRS). This series is arranged alphabetically.","Series 2 is titled Play Service and Research Records and comprises two subseries. Subseries 2.1 contains research on drama, theatre technique, and theatre operations. This subseries is arranged alphabetically. Subseries 2.2 is titled Play Reader Reports and contains thousands of reports completed by the Federal Theatre for possible production or inclusion in play lists. This subseries is loosely arranged alphabetically by play title. Some duplicate material.","Series 3 is titled Library Records and consists of three subseries: Playscripts, Radio scripts, and Play lists. Subseries 3.1 includes hundreds of playscripts from over 900 productions performed or considered for production from around the United States. Most of the scripts are in English but some are in Yiddish or Italian. Some duplicate material. Arranged alphabetically by title. Subseries 3.2 includes radio scripts. Series of shows include topics such as art, children's shows, mysteries, health, music, history, and science. Arranged alphabetically by series and single broadcast title. Subseries 3.3 consists of play lists. These lists were created to aid play selection among the various units of the Federal Theatre. Lists are arranged alphabetically by subject categories such as children's plays, historical drama, holidays, minstrel shows, operettas, puppet plays, and vaudeville.","Series 4 is titled Production Records and consists of three subseries: Production Title File, Playbills and Programs, and Music File. Subseries 4.1 includes memoranda, production bulletins, publicity, and reports relating to play productions. Each production bulletin contains some or all of the following: synopsis, director's report, set and costume designs, lighting scheme, blueprints, photographs, program, reviews, royalty information, and a script. Arranged alphabetically by title. Subseries 4.2 includes programs, heralds, handbills, and other announcements of FTP productions on different sized and colored paper. The first section of this subseries is arranged alphabetically by state in which the performance was produced and then it is arranged alphabetically by play title. The second section is arranged alphabetically by play title. There may be duplicates between the two arrangements. Subseries 4.3 includes manuscript scores and parts for multiple Federal Theatre productions. Resource material used for reference purposes for play productions and Federal Theatre units and regions throughout the United States consists of mostly printed music and is found under \"miscellaneous\". Chiefly arranged alphabetically by title and then according to standard orchestral instrument order. Some duplicates.","Series 5 is titled Costumes and includes two coats and two pairs of pants created and used by the Federal Theatre Project.","The copyright and related rights status of this collection have not been evaluated (See http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/CNE/1.0/).","The Federal Theatre Project collection contains administrative records, play service and research records, library records, production records, and costumes created or collected by the Federal Theatre Project from 1935 to 1939. A few items in the collection were created before or after this time period but directly relate to the 1930s material. This collection consists of original materials with some duplicates and photocopies.","\nR 1, C 8, S 6 - C 9, S 7\n\nR 2, C 1, S 1 - C 8, S 3\nOS R 7, C 1, S1\nOS R 3, C 5, S 5 - S 6\nMap Case 9.1, 11.1, 11.3-11.5, 21.2","George Mason University. Libraries. Special Collections Research Center","Federal Theatre Project (U.S.)","English"],"unitid_tesim":["C0002","/repositories/2/resources/331"],"normalized_title_ssm":["Federal Theatre Project collection"],"collection_title_tesim":["Federal Theatre Project collection"],"collection_ssim":["Federal Theatre Project collection"],"repository_ssm":["George Mason University"],"repository_ssim":["George Mason University"],"creator_ssm":["Federal Theatre Project (U.S.)"],"creator_ssim":["Federal Theatre Project (U.S.)"],"creator_corpname_ssim":["Federal Theatre Project (U.S.)"],"creators_ssim":["Federal Theatre Project (U.S.)"],"access_terms_ssm":["The copyright and related rights status of this collection have not been evaluated (See http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/CNE/1.0/)."],"acqinfo_ssim":["Donated by the Library of Congress."],"access_subjects_ssim":["Children's theater","New Deal, 1933-1939","Political plays, American","Radio and theater","Theater programs","Theater -- United States","Theater","Theater -- Production and direction","Performing arts","Playscript"],"access_subjects_ssm":["Children's theater","New Deal, 1933-1939","Political plays, American","Radio and theater","Theater programs","Theater -- United States","Theater","Theater -- Production and direction","Performing arts","Playscript"],"has_online_content_ssim":["false"],"extent_ssm":["185 Linear Feet 371 boxes"],"extent_tesim":["185 Linear Feet 371 boxes"],"genreform_ssim":["Playscript"],"date_range_isim":[1885,1886,1887,1888,1889,1890,1891,1892,1893,1894,1895,1896,1897,1898,1899,1900,1901,1902,1903,1904,1905,1906,1907,1908,1909,1910,1911,1912,1913,1914,1915,1916,1917,1918,1919,1920,1921,1922,1923,1924,1925,1926,1927,1928,1929,1930,1931,1932,1933,1934,1935,1936,1937,1938,1939,1940,1941,1942,1943,1944,1945,1946,1947,1948,1949,1950,1951,1952,1953,1954,1955,1956,1957,1958,1959,1960,1961,1962,1963,1964,1965,1966,1967,1968,1969,1970,1971,1972,1973,1974,1975,1976,1977,1978,1979,1980,1981,1982,1983,1984,1985,1986],"accessrestrict_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eThere are no access restrictions.\u003c/p\u003e"],"accessrestrict_heading_ssm":["Access Restrictions"],"accessrestrict_tesim":["There are no access restrictions."],"altformavail_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eThe scripts are also available as a series in the \u003cextptr href=\"https://mars.gmu.edu/handle/1920/3478\" title=\"Federal Theatre Project Materials Collection\" show=\"new\"\u003e\u003c/extptr\u003e in the Mason Archival Repository Service.\nThere are additional documents from this and other GMU FTP collections  \u003cextptr href=\"http://images.gmu.edu/luna/servlet/GMUDPSdps~23~23\" title=\"available here\" show=\"new\"\u003e\u003c/extptr\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e"],"altformavail_heading_ssm":["Alternative Form Available"],"altformavail_tesim":["The scripts are also available as a series in the   in the Mason Archival Repository Service.\nThere are additional documents from this and other GMU FTP collections   ."],"arrangement_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eArranged into five series.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003clist type=\"ordered\"\u003e\n      \u003chead\u003eSeries\u003c/head\u003e\n      \u003citem\u003eSeries 1: Administrative Records, 1935-1939 (Boxes 1-5, 361, 365-366, 368)\u003c/item\u003e\n      \u003citem\u003eSeries 2: Play Service and Research Records, 1935-1939 (Boxes 5-105)\u003c/item\u003e\n      \u003citem\u003eSeries 3: Library Records, 1885-1986 (Boxes 106-306)\u003c/item\u003e\n      \u003citem\u003eSeries 4: Production Records, 193-193 (Boxes 307-363, 366-367)\u003c/item\u003e\n      \u003citem\u003eSeries 5: Costumes, circa 1935-1939 (Boxes 369-371)\u003c/item\u003e\n    \u003c/list\u003e"],"arrangement_heading_ssm":["Arrangement"],"arrangement_tesim":["Arranged into five series.","Series Series 1: Administrative Records, 1935-1939 (Boxes 1-5, 361, 365-366, 368) Series 2: Play Service and Research Records, 1935-1939 (Boxes 5-105) Series 3: Library Records, 1885-1986 (Boxes 106-306) Series 4: Production Records, 193-193 (Boxes 307-363, 366-367) Series 5: Costumes, circa 1935-1939 (Boxes 369-371)"],"bioghist_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eThe Federal Theatre Project was a division of the Works Progress Administration (WPA), which provided employment for large numbers of artists, writers, and performers during the Great Depression (1929-1939). The Federal Theatre began in 1935 and, until its end in 1939, flourished as the first and only federally sponsored and subsidized theater program in the United States. Directed by Hallie Flanagan (1880-1969), it was a way for theatrical professionals to gain employment during the Depression. Jobs were provided for many people, including actors, playwrights, scene designers, scene builders, seamstresses, lighting experts, ushers, box-office men, and stagehands.\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eLike many New Deal programs implemented by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, the Federal Theatre Project was intended not only to benefit its participants, but also to enrich the condition of the nation. Theater was a distinguished part of American popular culture, but the economic downturn of the Depression had bankrupted the entire theater industry. As the theater houses closed down, the nation was left without an outlet for theatrical creativity. According to Hallie Flanagan, this hurt the nation as much as it hurt the theater industry - indeed, the nation was their audience and the theater could provide entertaining distractions from the effects of Depression as well as offer commentary on present conditions.\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eBut it was not enough to simply return to the pre-Depression concept of theater. In the first meeting with her staff Flanagan expressed her willingness to follow Roosevelt's experimental approach to public policy: \"In a changing world, a world of experiment, the stage too must experiment - with ideas, with the psychological relationship of men and women, with color and light.... The theatre must grow up.\"\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eFlanagan pursued her ideal of developing the relationship between the Federal Theatre and the federal government: \"Any theatre sponsored by the government of the United States should do no plays of a cheap, trivial, outworn or vulgar nature, but only such plays as the Government can stand proudly behind in a planned theatrical program, national in scope, regional in emphasis, and American in democratic attitude.\" To Flanagan, it was imperative that this new theater should be progressive and experimental, yet within a patriotic and informative framework.\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eThe productions that best embodied Flanagan's views on theater were the Living Newspapers. These hard-hitting, poignant plays dealt with contemporary factual material, dramatizing issues such as housing, agriculture, labor, and destitution. Always ending on an upbeat note, Living Newspapers underscored the importance of hard work and morality in overcoming difficult times. Living Newspaper titles include: Triple A Plowed Under, Injunction Granted, One Third of a Nation, and Spirocheta.\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eThe Federal Theatre was noted for employing Black Americans at a time when the Federal Government did not actively protect the rights of marginalized communities. This unit was called \"The Negro Unit,\" which at the time was a socially acceptable term used to describe people of African descent. All-Black theatre companies were an established industry before the Depression. As a result, the inclusion of this unit greatly contributed to the success of the Federal Theatre Project. Some of the most spectacular productions were put on by Black theater professionals, for example: Macbeth, Haiti, Turpentine, Run Little Chillun, and The Trial of Dr. Beck.\u003c/p\u003e"],"bioghist_heading_ssm":["Historical Information"],"bioghist_tesim":["The Federal Theatre Project was a division of the Works Progress Administration (WPA), which provided employment for large numbers of artists, writers, and performers during the Great Depression (1929-1939). The Federal Theatre began in 1935 and, until its end in 1939, flourished as the first and only federally sponsored and subsidized theater program in the United States. Directed by Hallie Flanagan (1880-1969), it was a way for theatrical professionals to gain employment during the Depression. Jobs were provided for many people, including actors, playwrights, scene designers, scene builders, seamstresses, lighting experts, ushers, box-office men, and stagehands.","Like many New Deal programs implemented by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, the Federal Theatre Project was intended not only to benefit its participants, but also to enrich the condition of the nation. Theater was a distinguished part of American popular culture, but the economic downturn of the Depression had bankrupted the entire theater industry. As the theater houses closed down, the nation was left without an outlet for theatrical creativity. According to Hallie Flanagan, this hurt the nation as much as it hurt the theater industry - indeed, the nation was their audience and the theater could provide entertaining distractions from the effects of Depression as well as offer commentary on present conditions.","But it was not enough to simply return to the pre-Depression concept of theater. In the first meeting with her staff Flanagan expressed her willingness to follow Roosevelt's experimental approach to public policy: \"In a changing world, a world of experiment, the stage too must experiment - with ideas, with the psychological relationship of men and women, with color and light.... The theatre must grow up.\"","Flanagan pursued her ideal of developing the relationship between the Federal Theatre and the federal government: \"Any theatre sponsored by the government of the United States should do no plays of a cheap, trivial, outworn or vulgar nature, but only such plays as the Government can stand proudly behind in a planned theatrical program, national in scope, regional in emphasis, and American in democratic attitude.\" To Flanagan, it was imperative that this new theater should be progressive and experimental, yet within a patriotic and informative framework.","The productions that best embodied Flanagan's views on theater were the Living Newspapers. These hard-hitting, poignant plays dealt with contemporary factual material, dramatizing issues such as housing, agriculture, labor, and destitution. Always ending on an upbeat note, Living Newspapers underscored the importance of hard work and morality in overcoming difficult times. Living Newspaper titles include: Triple A Plowed Under, Injunction Granted, One Third of a Nation, and Spirocheta.","The Federal Theatre was noted for employing Black Americans at a time when the Federal Government did not actively protect the rights of marginalized communities. This unit was called \"The Negro Unit,\" which at the time was a socially acceptable term used to describe people of African descent. All-Black theatre companies were an established industry before the Depression. As a result, the inclusion of this unit greatly contributed to the success of the Federal Theatre Project. Some of the most spectacular productions were put on by Black theater professionals, for example: Macbeth, Haiti, Turpentine, Run Little Chillun, and The Trial of Dr. Beck."],"prefercite_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eFederal Theatre Project collection, C0002, Special Collections Research Center, George Mason University Libraries.\u003c/p\u003e"],"prefercite_tesim":["Federal Theatre Project collection, C0002, Special Collections Research Center, George Mason University Libraries."],"processinfo_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eProcessed by Special Collections Research Center staff. Reprocessed and EAD completed in 2012 by Greta Kuriger. Finding aid updated by Robert Vay in February 2023.\u003c/p\u003e"],"processinfo_heading_ssm":["Processing Information"],"processinfo_tesim":["Processed by Special Collections Research Center staff. Reprocessed and EAD completed in 2012 by Greta Kuriger. Finding aid updated by Robert Vay in February 2023."],"relatedmaterial_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eThe Special Collections Research Center also holds the Federal Theatre Project photograph collection, the Federal Theatre Project personal papers, the Arnold Sungaard papers, and the Works Progress Administration oral histories collection.\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eThe scripts are also available as a series in the \u003cextptr show=\"new\" title=\"FTP digital collection\" href=\"https://mars.gmu.edu/handle/1920/3478\"\u003e\u003c/extptr\u003e. \u003c/p\u003e"],"relatedmaterial_heading_ssm":["Related Material"],"relatedmaterial_tesim":["The Special Collections Research Center also holds the Federal Theatre Project photograph collection, the Federal Theatre Project personal papers, the Arnold Sungaard papers, and the Works Progress Administration oral histories collection.","The scripts are also available as a series in the  . "],"scopecontent_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eContent Warning: Some materials contain racist language and slurs, including play titles.\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eThe Federal Theatre Project collection contains administrative records, play service and research records, library records, production records, and costumes created or collected by the Federal Theatre Project from 1935 to 1939. A few items in the collection were created before or after this time period but directly relate to the 1930s material. This collection consists of original materials with some duplicates and photocopies.\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eSeries 1 contains correspondence, memoranda, reports, inventories, reorganization plans, briefs, and speeches relating to the background organization, policies, services, and procedures of the Federal Theatre Project (FTP). Publications featuring articles on productions and organizational activities such as Federal Theatre are included in this series. Personnel file information such as biographical and employee tests are also included, as is research studies of the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), Federal Art Project (FAP) and the Historical Records Survey (HRS). This series is arranged alphabetically.\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eSeries 2 is titled Play Service and Research Records and comprises two subseries. Subseries 2.1 contains research on drama, theatre technique, and theatre operations. This subseries is arranged alphabetically. Subseries 2.2 is titled Play Reader Reports and contains thousands of reports completed by the Federal Theatre for possible production or inclusion in play lists. This subseries is loosely arranged alphabetically by play title. Some duplicate material.\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eSeries 3 is titled Library Records and consists of three subseries: Playscripts, Radio scripts, and Play lists. Subseries 3.1 includes hundreds of playscripts from over 900 productions performed or considered for production from around the United States. Most of the scripts are in English but some are in Yiddish or Italian. Some duplicate material. Arranged alphabetically by title. Subseries 3.2 includes radio scripts. Series of shows include topics such as art, children's shows, mysteries, health, music, history, and science. Arranged alphabetically by series and single broadcast title. Subseries 3.3 consists of play lists. These lists were created to aid play selection among the various units of the Federal Theatre. Lists are arranged alphabetically by subject categories such as children's plays, historical drama, holidays, minstrel shows, operettas, puppet plays, and vaudeville.\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eSeries 4 is titled Production Records and consists of three subseries: Production Title File, Playbills and Programs, and Music File. Subseries 4.1 includes memoranda, production bulletins, publicity, and reports relating to play productions. Each production bulletin contains some or all of the following: synopsis, director's report, set and costume designs, lighting scheme, blueprints, photographs, program, reviews, royalty information, and a script. Arranged alphabetically by title. Subseries 4.2 includes programs, heralds, handbills, and other announcements of FTP productions on different sized and colored paper. The first section of this subseries is arranged alphabetically by state in which the performance was produced and then it is arranged alphabetically by play title. The second section is arranged alphabetically by play title. There may be duplicates between the two arrangements. Subseries 4.3 includes manuscript scores and parts for multiple Federal Theatre productions. Resource material used for reference purposes for play productions and Federal Theatre units and regions throughout the United States consists of mostly printed music and is found under \"miscellaneous\". Chiefly arranged alphabetically by title and then according to standard orchestral instrument order. Some duplicates.\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eSeries 5 is titled Costumes and includes two coats and two pairs of pants created and used by the Federal Theatre Project.\u003c/p\u003e"],"scopecontent_heading_ssm":["Scope and Content"],"scopecontent_tesim":["Content Warning: Some materials contain racist language and slurs, including play titles.","The Federal Theatre Project collection contains administrative records, play service and research records, library records, production records, and costumes created or collected by the Federal Theatre Project from 1935 to 1939. A few items in the collection were created before or after this time period but directly relate to the 1930s material. This collection consists of original materials with some duplicates and photocopies.","Series 1 contains correspondence, memoranda, reports, inventories, reorganization plans, briefs, and speeches relating to the background organization, policies, services, and procedures of the Federal Theatre Project (FTP). Publications featuring articles on productions and organizational activities such as Federal Theatre are included in this series. Personnel file information such as biographical and employee tests are also included, as is research studies of the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), Federal Art Project (FAP) and the Historical Records Survey (HRS). This series is arranged alphabetically.","Series 2 is titled Play Service and Research Records and comprises two subseries. Subseries 2.1 contains research on drama, theatre technique, and theatre operations. This subseries is arranged alphabetically. Subseries 2.2 is titled Play Reader Reports and contains thousands of reports completed by the Federal Theatre for possible production or inclusion in play lists. This subseries is loosely arranged alphabetically by play title. Some duplicate material.","Series 3 is titled Library Records and consists of three subseries: Playscripts, Radio scripts, and Play lists. Subseries 3.1 includes hundreds of playscripts from over 900 productions performed or considered for production from around the United States. Most of the scripts are in English but some are in Yiddish or Italian. Some duplicate material. Arranged alphabetically by title. Subseries 3.2 includes radio scripts. Series of shows include topics such as art, children's shows, mysteries, health, music, history, and science. Arranged alphabetically by series and single broadcast title. Subseries 3.3 consists of play lists. These lists were created to aid play selection among the various units of the Federal Theatre. Lists are arranged alphabetically by subject categories such as children's plays, historical drama, holidays, minstrel shows, operettas, puppet plays, and vaudeville.","Series 4 is titled Production Records and consists of three subseries: Production Title File, Playbills and Programs, and Music File. Subseries 4.1 includes memoranda, production bulletins, publicity, and reports relating to play productions. Each production bulletin contains some or all of the following: synopsis, director's report, set and costume designs, lighting scheme, blueprints, photographs, program, reviews, royalty information, and a script. Arranged alphabetically by title. Subseries 4.2 includes programs, heralds, handbills, and other announcements of FTP productions on different sized and colored paper. The first section of this subseries is arranged alphabetically by state in which the performance was produced and then it is arranged alphabetically by play title. The second section is arranged alphabetically by play title. There may be duplicates between the two arrangements. Subseries 4.3 includes manuscript scores and parts for multiple Federal Theatre productions. Resource material used for reference purposes for play productions and Federal Theatre units and regions throughout the United States consists of mostly printed music and is found under \"miscellaneous\". Chiefly arranged alphabetically by title and then according to standard orchestral instrument order. Some duplicates.","Series 5 is titled Costumes and includes two coats and two pairs of pants created and used by the Federal Theatre Project."],"userestrict_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eThe copyright and related rights status of this collection have not been evaluated (See http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/CNE/1.0/).\u003c/p\u003e"],"userestrict_heading_ssm":["Use Restrictions"],"userestrict_tesim":["The copyright and related rights status of this collection have not been evaluated (See http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/CNE/1.0/)."],"abstract_html_tesm":["\u003cabstract id=\"aspace_0f4707cda45d410e12f09ae2a350510a\" label=\"Abstract\"\u003eThe Federal Theatre Project collection contains administrative records, play service and research records, library records, production records, and costumes created or collected by the Federal Theatre Project from 1935 to 1939. A few items in the collection were created before or after this time period but directly relate to the 1930s material. This collection consists of original materials with some duplicates and photocopies.\u003c/abstract\u003e"],"abstract_tesim":["The Federal Theatre Project collection contains administrative records, play service and research records, library records, production records, and costumes created or collected by the Federal Theatre Project from 1935 to 1939. A few items in the collection were created before or after this time period but directly relate to the 1930s material. This collection consists of original materials with some duplicates and photocopies."],"physloc_html_tesm":["\u003cphysloc id=\"aspace_d65479dc2ffe44debbb5af464a6479da\"\u003e\nR 1, C 8, S 6 - C 9, S 7\n\nR 2, C 1, S 1 - C 8, S 3\nOS R 7, C 1, S1\nOS R 3, C 5, S 5 - S 6\nMap Case 9.1, 11.1, 11.3-11.5, 21.2\u003c/physloc\u003e"],"physloc_tesim":["\nR 1, C 8, S 6 - C 9, S 7\n\nR 2, C 1, S 1 - C 8, S 3\nOS R 7, C 1, S1\nOS R 3, C 5, S 5 - S 6\nMap Case 9.1, 11.1, 11.3-11.5, 21.2"],"names_ssim":["George Mason University. Libraries. Special Collections Research Center","Federal Theatre Project (U.S.)"],"corpname_ssim":["George Mason University. Libraries. Special Collections Research Center","Federal Theatre Project (U.S.)"],"language_ssim":["English"],"descrules_ssm":["Describing Archives: A Content Standard"],"total_component_count_is":3180,"online_item_count_is":0,"component_level_isim":[0],"sort_isi":0,"timestamp":"2026-05-07T07:19:07.641Z"}]}},"label":"Breadcrumbs"}}},"links":{"self":"https://search.arvasarchive.org/catalog/vifgm_repositories_2_resources_331"}},{"id":"vifgm_repositories_2_resources_135","type":"collection","attributes":{"title":"Frank Mack papers","creator":{"id":"https://search.arvasarchive.org/catalog/vifgm_repositories_2_resources_135#creator","type":"document_value","attributes":{"value":"Mack, Frank","label":"Creator"}},"abstract_or_scope":{"id":"https://search.arvasarchive.org/catalog/vifgm_repositories_2_resources_135#abstract_or_scope","type":"document_value","attributes":{"value":"Collection contains correspondence, memos, reports and other papers generated by Frank Mack.","label":"Abstract Or Scope"}},"breadcrumbs":{"id":"https://search.arvasarchive.org/catalog/vifgm_repositories_2_resources_135#breadcrumbs","type":"document_value","attributes":{"value":{"id":"vifgm_repositories_2_resources_135","ead_ssi":"vifgm_repositories_2_resources_135","_root_":"vifgm_repositories_2_resources_135","_nest_parent_":"vifgm_repositories_2_resources_135","ead_source_url_ssi":"data/oai/GMU/repositories_2_resources_135.xml","title_filing_ssi":"Frank Mack papers","title_ssm":["Frank Mack papers"],"title_tesim":["Frank Mack papers"],"unitdate_ssm":["1980s-1990s"],"unitdate_inclusive_ssm":["1980s-1990s"],"level_ssm":["collection"],"level_ssim":["Collection"],"unitid_ssm":["C0058","/repositories/2/resources/135"],"text":["C0058","/repositories/2/resources/135","Frank Mack papers","Theater -- Washington (D.C.)","Performing arts","Theater","Theater -- Production and direction","Theater -- United States","Correspondence","There are no access restrictions.","Organized by subject.","Arena Stage was an early leader in the resident theater movement. One of the first not-for-profit theaters in the United States as well as a pioneer of the regional theater movement the Arena Stage was the first regional theater to transfer a production to Broadway, the first invited by the U.S. State Department to tour behind the Iron Curtain and the first to receive a Tony Award. Co-founded in 1950 by Edward Mangum a teacher from the George Washington University, and Zelda Fichandler one of his students, Arena Stage was opened in Washington D.C. to fill the void left by the closing of the National Theater in 1948. Deriving it's name from the idea of \"theater in the round,\" Arena Stage became one of the first resident theaters in the United States, beginning with a company of only eight actors. Today, Arena performs to over 250,000 patrons during a September to June season and employs nearly 200 theater professionals and craftpersons, who are responsible for all the costumes and scenery seen on stage. Many now- famous actors took part in Arena Stage productions during the early part of their careers. Some of them include Robert Prosky, Morgan Freeman, Dianne Weist, James Earl Jones, Kevin Kline, Christopher Guest, Yeardly Smith and Samuel L. Jackson. ","A native of Kansas, Mr. Mack graduated from the University of Kansas in Lawrence in 1985 with a bachelor's degree in theatre arts then earned an MFA in directing from Virginia Tech in Blacksburg in 1988. Mr. Mack was awarded a grant from the North Carolina Arts Council, which enabled him to work in community arts administration at Durham Arts Council, Inc. He then accepted a position at Arena Stage in Washington DC as Project Manager where, in addition to general administrative duties, he worked on a three-year new play project with Anna Deavere Smith that resulted in the fall 1997 premiere of House Arrest, First Edition. Mr. Mack was then named Managing Director of the California Shakespeare Theatre in Berkeley where he helped lead a financial turn-around based on a doubling of contributed income and a substantial increase in ticket sales. Mr. Mack then served as Managing Director of Geva Theatre in Rochester, NY, a LORT B theatre before he became Managing Director of the NJ Shakespeare Festival in Madison, NJ, where he worked for one year before coming to CRT. Mr. Mack served as an institutional planning consultant for the Contemporary American Theatre Festival in Shepherdstown, WV and as a panelist for the Connecticut Commission for the Arts, and is currently serving as a facilities and business plan consultant to the African Continuum Theatre Company in Washington, D.C. He lives in Mansfield Center with his wife, Sarah Delia, and their two children Jason, Rebecca and their dog Chili. ","Processed by Special Collections Research Center staff.","The Special Collections Research Center holds the Arena Stage records.","Collection contains correspondence, memos, reports and other papers generated by Frank Mack.","The copyright and related rights status of this collection have not been evaluated (See http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/CNE/1.0/)","Collection contains correspondence, memos, reports and other papers generated by Frank Mack.","George Mason University. Libraries. Special Collections Research Center","Arena Stage (Organization : Washington, D.C.)","Mack, Frank","English"],"unitid_tesim":["C0058","/repositories/2/resources/135"],"normalized_title_ssm":["Frank Mack papers"],"collection_title_tesim":["Frank Mack papers"],"collection_ssim":["Frank Mack papers"],"repository_ssm":["George Mason University"],"repository_ssim":["George Mason University"],"creator_ssm":["Mack, Frank"],"creator_ssim":["Mack, Frank"],"creator_persname_ssim":["Mack, Frank"],"creators_ssim":["Mack, Frank"],"access_terms_ssm":["The copyright and related rights status of this collection have not been evaluated (See http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/CNE/1.0/)"],"acqinfo_ssim":["Donated by Arena Stage in 2000."],"access_subjects_ssim":["Theater -- Washington (D.C.)","Performing arts","Theater","Theater -- Production and direction","Theater -- United States","Correspondence"],"access_subjects_ssm":["Theater -- Washington (D.C.)","Performing arts","Theater","Theater -- Production and direction","Theater -- United States","Correspondence"],"has_online_content_ssim":["false"],"extent_ssm":["4.5 Linear Feet 9 boxes"],"extent_tesim":["4.5 Linear Feet 9 boxes"],"genreform_ssim":["Correspondence"],"date_range_isim":[1980,1981,1982,1983,1984,1985,1986,1987,1988,1989,1990],"accessrestrict_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eThere are no access restrictions.\u003c/p\u003e"],"accessrestrict_heading_ssm":["Access Restrictions"],"accessrestrict_tesim":["There are no access restrictions."],"arrangement_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eOrganized by subject.\u003c/p\u003e"],"arrangement_heading_ssm":["Arrangement"],"arrangement_tesim":["Organized by subject."],"bioghist_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eArena Stage was an early leader in the resident theater movement. One of the first not-for-profit theaters in the United States as well as a pioneer of the regional theater movement the Arena Stage was the first regional theater to transfer a production to Broadway, the first invited by the U.S. State Department to tour behind the Iron Curtain and the first to receive a Tony Award. Co-founded in 1950 by Edward Mangum a teacher from the George Washington University, and Zelda Fichandler one of his students, Arena Stage was opened in Washington D.C. to fill the void left by the closing of the National Theater in 1948. Deriving it's name from the idea of \"theater in the round,\" Arena Stage became one of the first resident theaters in the United States, beginning with a company of only eight actors. Today, Arena performs to over 250,000 patrons during a September to June season and employs nearly 200 theater professionals and craftpersons, who are responsible for all the costumes and scenery seen on stage. Many now- famous actors took part in Arena Stage productions during the early part of their careers. Some of them include Robert Prosky, Morgan Freeman, Dianne Weist, James Earl Jones, Kevin Kline, Christopher Guest, Yeardly Smith and Samuel L. Jackson. \u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eA native of Kansas, Mr. Mack graduated from the University of Kansas in Lawrence in 1985 with a bachelor's degree in theatre arts then earned an MFA in directing from Virginia Tech in Blacksburg in 1988. Mr. Mack was awarded a grant from the North Carolina Arts Council, which enabled him to work in community arts administration at Durham Arts Council, Inc. He then accepted a position at Arena Stage in Washington DC as Project Manager where, in addition to general administrative duties, he worked on a three-year new play project with Anna Deavere Smith that resulted in the fall 1997 premiere of House Arrest, First Edition. Mr. Mack was then named Managing Director of the California Shakespeare Theatre in Berkeley where he helped lead a financial turn-around based on a doubling of contributed income and a substantial increase in ticket sales. Mr. Mack then served as Managing Director of Geva Theatre in Rochester, NY, a LORT B theatre before he became Managing Director of the NJ Shakespeare Festival in Madison, NJ, where he worked for one year before coming to CRT. Mr. Mack served as an institutional planning consultant for the Contemporary American Theatre Festival in Shepherdstown, WV and as a panelist for the Connecticut Commission for the Arts, and is currently serving as a facilities and business plan consultant to the African Continuum Theatre Company in Washington, D.C. He lives in Mansfield Center with his wife, Sarah Delia, and their two children Jason, Rebecca and their dog Chili. \u003c/p\u003e"],"bioghist_heading_ssm":["Historical Information"],"bioghist_tesim":["Arena Stage was an early leader in the resident theater movement. One of the first not-for-profit theaters in the United States as well as a pioneer of the regional theater movement the Arena Stage was the first regional theater to transfer a production to Broadway, the first invited by the U.S. State Department to tour behind the Iron Curtain and the first to receive a Tony Award. Co-founded in 1950 by Edward Mangum a teacher from the George Washington University, and Zelda Fichandler one of his students, Arena Stage was opened in Washington D.C. to fill the void left by the closing of the National Theater in 1948. Deriving it's name from the idea of \"theater in the round,\" Arena Stage became one of the first resident theaters in the United States, beginning with a company of only eight actors. Today, Arena performs to over 250,000 patrons during a September to June season and employs nearly 200 theater professionals and craftpersons, who are responsible for all the costumes and scenery seen on stage. Many now- famous actors took part in Arena Stage productions during the early part of their careers. Some of them include Robert Prosky, Morgan Freeman, Dianne Weist, James Earl Jones, Kevin Kline, Christopher Guest, Yeardly Smith and Samuel L. Jackson. ","A native of Kansas, Mr. Mack graduated from the University of Kansas in Lawrence in 1985 with a bachelor's degree in theatre arts then earned an MFA in directing from Virginia Tech in Blacksburg in 1988. Mr. Mack was awarded a grant from the North Carolina Arts Council, which enabled him to work in community arts administration at Durham Arts Council, Inc. He then accepted a position at Arena Stage in Washington DC as Project Manager where, in addition to general administrative duties, he worked on a three-year new play project with Anna Deavere Smith that resulted in the fall 1997 premiere of House Arrest, First Edition. Mr. Mack was then named Managing Director of the California Shakespeare Theatre in Berkeley where he helped lead a financial turn-around based on a doubling of contributed income and a substantial increase in ticket sales. Mr. Mack then served as Managing Director of Geva Theatre in Rochester, NY, a LORT B theatre before he became Managing Director of the NJ Shakespeare Festival in Madison, NJ, where he worked for one year before coming to CRT. Mr. Mack served as an institutional planning consultant for the Contemporary American Theatre Festival in Shepherdstown, WV and as a panelist for the Connecticut Commission for the Arts, and is currently serving as a facilities and business plan consultant to the African Continuum Theatre Company in Washington, D.C. He lives in Mansfield Center with his wife, Sarah Delia, and their two children Jason, Rebecca and their dog Chili. "],"prefercite_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eFrank Mack papers, C0017, Special Collections Research Center, George Mason University Libraries.\u003c/p\u003e"],"prefercite_tesim":["Frank Mack papers, C0017, Special Collections Research Center, George Mason University Libraries."],"processinfo_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eProcessed by Special Collections Research Center staff.\u003c/p\u003e"],"processinfo_heading_ssm":["Processing Information"],"processinfo_tesim":["Processed by Special Collections Research Center staff."],"relatedmaterial_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eThe Special Collections Research Center holds the Arena Stage records.\u003c/p\u003e"],"relatedmaterial_heading_ssm":["Related Material"],"relatedmaterial_tesim":["The Special Collections Research Center holds the Arena Stage records."],"scopecontent_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eCollection contains correspondence, memos, reports and other papers generated by Frank Mack.\u003c/p\u003e"],"scopecontent_heading_ssm":["Scope and Content"],"scopecontent_tesim":["Collection contains correspondence, memos, reports and other papers generated by Frank Mack."],"userestrict_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eThe copyright and related rights status of this collection have not been evaluated (See http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/CNE/1.0/)\u003c/p\u003e"],"userestrict_heading_ssm":["Use Restrictions"],"userestrict_tesim":["The copyright and related rights status of this collection have not been evaluated (See http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/CNE/1.0/)"],"abstract_html_tesm":["\u003cabstract id=\"aspace_d7b7a4e5463853a0cdf4a831f6b4818b\" label=\"Abstract\"\u003eCollection contains correspondence, memos, reports and other papers generated by Frank Mack.\u003c/abstract\u003e"],"abstract_tesim":["Collection contains correspondence, memos, reports and other papers generated by Frank Mack."],"names_coll_ssim":["Arena Stage (Organization : Washington, D.C.)"],"names_ssim":["George Mason University. Libraries. Special Collections Research Center","Arena Stage (Organization : Washington, D.C.)","Mack, Frank"],"corpname_ssim":["George Mason University. Libraries. Special Collections Research Center","Arena Stage (Organization : Washington, D.C.)"],"persname_ssim":["Mack, Frank"],"language_ssim":["English"],"descrules_ssm":["Describing Archives: A Content Standard"],"total_component_count_is":197,"online_item_count_is":0,"component_level_isim":[0],"sort_isi":0,"timestamp":"2026-05-08T07:14:33.085Z","collection":{"numFound":1,"start":0,"numFoundExact":true,"docs":[{"id":"vifgm_repositories_2_resources_135","ead_ssi":"vifgm_repositories_2_resources_135","_root_":"vifgm_repositories_2_resources_135","_nest_parent_":"vifgm_repositories_2_resources_135","ead_source_url_ssi":"data/oai/GMU/repositories_2_resources_135.xml","title_filing_ssi":"Frank Mack papers","title_ssm":["Frank Mack papers"],"title_tesim":["Frank Mack papers"],"unitdate_ssm":["1980s-1990s"],"unitdate_inclusive_ssm":["1980s-1990s"],"level_ssm":["collection"],"level_ssim":["Collection"],"unitid_ssm":["C0058","/repositories/2/resources/135"],"text":["C0058","/repositories/2/resources/135","Frank Mack papers","Theater -- Washington (D.C.)","Performing arts","Theater","Theater -- Production and direction","Theater -- United States","Correspondence","There are no access restrictions.","Organized by subject.","Arena Stage was an early leader in the resident theater movement. One of the first not-for-profit theaters in the United States as well as a pioneer of the regional theater movement the Arena Stage was the first regional theater to transfer a production to Broadway, the first invited by the U.S. State Department to tour behind the Iron Curtain and the first to receive a Tony Award. Co-founded in 1950 by Edward Mangum a teacher from the George Washington University, and Zelda Fichandler one of his students, Arena Stage was opened in Washington D.C. to fill the void left by the closing of the National Theater in 1948. Deriving it's name from the idea of \"theater in the round,\" Arena Stage became one of the first resident theaters in the United States, beginning with a company of only eight actors. Today, Arena performs to over 250,000 patrons during a September to June season and employs nearly 200 theater professionals and craftpersons, who are responsible for all the costumes and scenery seen on stage. Many now- famous actors took part in Arena Stage productions during the early part of their careers. Some of them include Robert Prosky, Morgan Freeman, Dianne Weist, James Earl Jones, Kevin Kline, Christopher Guest, Yeardly Smith and Samuel L. Jackson. ","A native of Kansas, Mr. Mack graduated from the University of Kansas in Lawrence in 1985 with a bachelor's degree in theatre arts then earned an MFA in directing from Virginia Tech in Blacksburg in 1988. Mr. Mack was awarded a grant from the North Carolina Arts Council, which enabled him to work in community arts administration at Durham Arts Council, Inc. He then accepted a position at Arena Stage in Washington DC as Project Manager where, in addition to general administrative duties, he worked on a three-year new play project with Anna Deavere Smith that resulted in the fall 1997 premiere of House Arrest, First Edition. Mr. Mack was then named Managing Director of the California Shakespeare Theatre in Berkeley where he helped lead a financial turn-around based on a doubling of contributed income and a substantial increase in ticket sales. Mr. Mack then served as Managing Director of Geva Theatre in Rochester, NY, a LORT B theatre before he became Managing Director of the NJ Shakespeare Festival in Madison, NJ, where he worked for one year before coming to CRT. Mr. Mack served as an institutional planning consultant for the Contemporary American Theatre Festival in Shepherdstown, WV and as a panelist for the Connecticut Commission for the Arts, and is currently serving as a facilities and business plan consultant to the African Continuum Theatre Company in Washington, D.C. He lives in Mansfield Center with his wife, Sarah Delia, and their two children Jason, Rebecca and their dog Chili. ","Processed by Special Collections Research Center staff.","The Special Collections Research Center holds the Arena Stage records.","Collection contains correspondence, memos, reports and other papers generated by Frank Mack.","The copyright and related rights status of this collection have not been evaluated (See http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/CNE/1.0/)","Collection contains correspondence, memos, reports and other papers generated by Frank Mack.","George Mason University. Libraries. 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One of the first not-for-profit theaters in the United States as well as a pioneer of the regional theater movement the Arena Stage was the first regional theater to transfer a production to Broadway, the first invited by the U.S. State Department to tour behind the Iron Curtain and the first to receive a Tony Award. Co-founded in 1950 by Edward Mangum a teacher from the George Washington University, and Zelda Fichandler one of his students, Arena Stage was opened in Washington D.C. to fill the void left by the closing of the National Theater in 1948. Deriving it's name from the idea of \"theater in the round,\" Arena Stage became one of the first resident theaters in the United States, beginning with a company of only eight actors. Today, Arena performs to over 250,000 patrons during a September to June season and employs nearly 200 theater professionals and craftpersons, who are responsible for all the costumes and scenery seen on stage. Many now- famous actors took part in Arena Stage productions during the early part of their careers. Some of them include Robert Prosky, Morgan Freeman, Dianne Weist, James Earl Jones, Kevin Kline, Christopher Guest, Yeardly Smith and Samuel L. Jackson. \u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eA native of Kansas, Mr. Mack graduated from the University of Kansas in Lawrence in 1985 with a bachelor's degree in theatre arts then earned an MFA in directing from Virginia Tech in Blacksburg in 1988. Mr. Mack was awarded a grant from the North Carolina Arts Council, which enabled him to work in community arts administration at Durham Arts Council, Inc. He then accepted a position at Arena Stage in Washington DC as Project Manager where, in addition to general administrative duties, he worked on a three-year new play project with Anna Deavere Smith that resulted in the fall 1997 premiere of House Arrest, First Edition. Mr. Mack was then named Managing Director of the California Shakespeare Theatre in Berkeley where he helped lead a financial turn-around based on a doubling of contributed income and a substantial increase in ticket sales. Mr. Mack then served as Managing Director of Geva Theatre in Rochester, NY, a LORT B theatre before he became Managing Director of the NJ Shakespeare Festival in Madison, NJ, where he worked for one year before coming to CRT. Mr. Mack served as an institutional planning consultant for the Contemporary American Theatre Festival in Shepherdstown, WV and as a panelist for the Connecticut Commission for the Arts, and is currently serving as a facilities and business plan consultant to the African Continuum Theatre Company in Washington, D.C. 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Deriving it's name from the idea of \"theater in the round,\" Arena Stage became one of the first resident theaters in the United States, beginning with a company of only eight actors. Today, Arena performs to over 250,000 patrons during a September to June season and employs nearly 200 theater professionals and craftpersons, who are responsible for all the costumes and scenery seen on stage. Many now- famous actors took part in Arena Stage productions during the early part of their careers. Some of them include Robert Prosky, Morgan Freeman, Dianne Weist, James Earl Jones, Kevin Kline, Christopher Guest, Yeardly Smith and Samuel L. Jackson. ","A native of Kansas, Mr. Mack graduated from the University of Kansas in Lawrence in 1985 with a bachelor's degree in theatre arts then earned an MFA in directing from Virginia Tech in Blacksburg in 1988. Mr. Mack was awarded a grant from the North Carolina Arts Council, which enabled him to work in community arts administration at Durham Arts Council, Inc. He then accepted a position at Arena Stage in Washington DC as Project Manager where, in addition to general administrative duties, he worked on a three-year new play project with Anna Deavere Smith that resulted in the fall 1997 premiere of House Arrest, First Edition. Mr. Mack was then named Managing Director of the California Shakespeare Theatre in Berkeley where he helped lead a financial turn-around based on a doubling of contributed income and a substantial increase in ticket sales. Mr. Mack then served as Managing Director of Geva Theatre in Rochester, NY, a LORT B theatre before he became Managing Director of the NJ Shakespeare Festival in Madison, NJ, where he worked for one year before coming to CRT. Mr. Mack served as an institutional planning consultant for the Contemporary American Theatre Festival in Shepherdstown, WV and as a panelist for the Connecticut Commission for the Arts, and is currently serving as a facilities and business plan consultant to the African Continuum Theatre Company in Washington, D.C. He lives in Mansfield Center with his wife, Sarah Delia, and their two children Jason, Rebecca and their dog Chili. "],"prefercite_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eFrank Mack papers, C0017, Special Collections Research Center, George Mason University Libraries.\u003c/p\u003e"],"prefercite_tesim":["Frank Mack papers, C0017, Special Collections Research Center, George Mason University Libraries."],"processinfo_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eProcessed by Special Collections Research Center staff.\u003c/p\u003e"],"processinfo_heading_ssm":["Processing Information"],"processinfo_tesim":["Processed by Special Collections Research Center staff."],"relatedmaterial_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eThe Special Collections Research Center holds the Arena Stage records.\u003c/p\u003e"],"relatedmaterial_heading_ssm":["Related Material"],"relatedmaterial_tesim":["The Special Collections Research Center holds the Arena Stage records."],"scopecontent_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eCollection contains correspondence, memos, reports and other papers generated by Frank Mack.\u003c/p\u003e"],"scopecontent_heading_ssm":["Scope and Content"],"scopecontent_tesim":["Collection contains correspondence, memos, reports and other papers generated by Frank Mack."],"userestrict_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eThe copyright and related rights status of this collection have not been evaluated (See http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/CNE/1.0/)\u003c/p\u003e"],"userestrict_heading_ssm":["Use Restrictions"],"userestrict_tesim":["The copyright and related rights status of this collection have not been evaluated (See http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/CNE/1.0/)"],"abstract_html_tesm":["\u003cabstract id=\"aspace_d7b7a4e5463853a0cdf4a831f6b4818b\" label=\"Abstract\"\u003eCollection contains correspondence, memos, reports and other papers generated by Frank Mack.\u003c/abstract\u003e"],"abstract_tesim":["Collection contains correspondence, memos, reports and other papers generated by Frank Mack."],"names_coll_ssim":["Arena Stage (Organization : Washington, D.C.)"],"names_ssim":["George Mason University. Libraries. Special Collections Research Center","Arena Stage (Organization : Washington, D.C.)","Mack, Frank"],"corpname_ssim":["George Mason University. Libraries. Special Collections Research Center","Arena Stage (Organization : Washington, D.C.)"],"persname_ssim":["Mack, Frank"],"language_ssim":["English"],"descrules_ssm":["Describing Archives: A Content Standard"],"total_component_count_is":197,"online_item_count_is":0,"component_level_isim":[0],"sort_isi":0,"timestamp":"2026-05-08T07:14:33.085Z"}]}},"label":"Breadcrumbs"}}},"links":{"self":"https://search.arvasarchive.org/catalog/vifgm_repositories_2_resources_135"}},{"id":"vifgm_repositories_2_resources_80","type":"collection","attributes":{"title":"Reston Players collection","creator":{"id":"https://search.arvasarchive.org/catalog/vifgm_repositories_2_resources_80#creator","type":"document_value","attributes":{"value":"Matthews, Frank E.","label":"Creator"}},"abstract_or_scope":{"id":"https://search.arvasarchive.org/catalog/vifgm_repositories_2_resources_80#abstract_or_scope","type":"document_value","attributes":{"value":"The Reston Players collection consists of two boxes of materials. Materials relate to the production \"The Greatest Game in Town,\" a show put on at the theater in the late 1960s, as well as production and financial information. Included are three scrapbooks with newspaper clippings about the company.","label":"Abstract Or Scope"}},"breadcrumbs":{"id":"https://search.arvasarchive.org/catalog/vifgm_repositories_2_resources_80#breadcrumbs","type":"document_value","attributes":{"value":{"id":"vifgm_repositories_2_resources_80","ead_ssi":"vifgm_repositories_2_resources_80","_root_":"vifgm_repositories_2_resources_80","_nest_parent_":"vifgm_repositories_2_resources_80","ead_source_url_ssi":"data/oai/GMU/repositories_2_resources_80.xml","title_filing_ssi":"Reston Players collection","title_ssm":["Reston Players collection"],"title_tesim":["Reston Players collection"],"unitdate_ssm":["1966-1983"],"unitdate_inclusive_ssm":["1966-1983"],"level_ssm":["collection"],"level_ssim":["Collection"],"unitid_ssm":["C0135","/repositories/2/resources/80"],"text":["C0135","/repositories/2/resources/80","Reston Players collection","Reston (Va.)","Theater -- United States","Theater","Theater -- Production and direction","Newspapers","Scrapbooks","Photographs","Sound recordings","There are no access restrictions.","Arranged into two series.","SEries Series 1: \"The Greatest Game in Town\", 1966-1969 (Box 1) Series 2: Scrapbooks, 1979-1983 (Box 2)","Founded in 1966 as a for-profit organization, the group renamed itself the Reston Community Players (RCP) in 1972, a non-profit organization. The RCP continues to perform and bring high quality productions to the Northern Virginia region every year. The RCP performs a variety of productions including classics and original plays, as well as popular Broadway musicals, dramas, mysteries, and comedies.","The Reston Players collection was originally attached to the larger Planned Community  Archives collection currently in the Special Collections Research Center. In 2008 the papers from Reston Players were removed and organized into a separate collection. The old box and folder numbers for each folder are also included as part of the new arrangement. ","Processed in December 2008 by Emily Martin. EAD markup completed in December 2008 by Emily Martin. ","The Special Collections Research Center also holds the Planned Community Archives collections and other personal papers and organizational records that document Reston, Virginia.","The Reston Players collection consists of two boxes of materials. Materials relate to the production \"The Greatest Game in Town,\" a show put on at the theater in the late 1960s, as well as production and financial information. Included are three scrapbooks with newspaper clippings about the company. ","Series 1 is titled \"The Greatest Game in Town\" and is dated from 1966 to 1969. Within the box there are six folders in the series. The information included is an audio tape of the production, a copy of the script, poster from the production signed by cast and crew, production photographs, financial report and an inventory of collage items. ","Series 2 is titled Scrapbooks and is dated from 1979 to 1983. The series has three scrapbooks with newspaper clippings about different shows the Reston Players performed. ","The copyright and related rights status of this collection have not been evaluated (See http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/CNE/1.0/)","The Reston Players collection consists of two boxes of materials. Materials relate to the production \"The Greatest Game in Town,\" a show put on at the theater in the late 1960s, as well as production and financial information. Included are three scrapbooks with newspaper clippings about the company.","George Mason University. Libraries. Special Collections Research Center","Reston Players","Matthews, Frank E.","English"],"unitid_tesim":["C0135","/repositories/2/resources/80"],"normalized_title_ssm":["Reston Players collection"],"collection_title_tesim":["Reston Players collection"],"collection_ssim":["Reston Players collection"],"repository_ssm":["George Mason University"],"repository_ssim":["George Mason University"],"geogname_ssm":["Reston (Va.)"],"geogname_ssim":["Reston (Va.)"],"creator_ssm":["Matthews, Frank E."],"creator_ssim":["Matthews, Frank E."],"creator_persname_ssim":["Matthews, Frank E."],"creators_ssim":["Matthews, Frank E."],"places_ssim":["Reston (Va.)"],"access_terms_ssm":["The copyright and related rights status of this collection have not been evaluated (See http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/CNE/1.0/)"],"acqinfo_ssim":["Donated by Nina and Frank Matthews on February 17, 1989."],"access_subjects_ssim":["Theater -- United States","Theater","Theater -- Production and direction","Newspapers","Scrapbooks","Photographs","Sound recordings"],"access_subjects_ssm":["Theater -- United States","Theater","Theater -- Production and direction","Newspapers","Scrapbooks","Photographs","Sound recordings"],"has_online_content_ssim":["false"],"extent_ssm":["0.75 Linear Feet 2 boxes"],"extent_tesim":["0.75 Linear Feet 2 boxes"],"genreform_ssim":["Newspapers","Scrapbooks","Photographs","Sound recordings"],"date_range_isim":[1966,1967,1968,1969,1970,1971,1972,1973,1974,1975,1976,1977,1978,1979,1980,1981,1982,1983],"accessrestrict_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eThere are no access restrictions.\u003c/p\u003e"],"accessrestrict_heading_ssm":["Access Restrictions"],"accessrestrict_tesim":["There are no access restrictions."],"arrangement_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eArranged into two series.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003clist type=\"ordered\"\u003e\n      \u003chead\u003eSEries\u003c/head\u003e\n      \u003citem\u003eSeries 1: \"The Greatest Game in Town\", 1966-1969 (Box 1)\u003c/item\u003e\n      \u003citem\u003eSeries 2: Scrapbooks, 1979-1983 (Box 2)\u003c/item\u003e\n    \u003c/list\u003e"],"arrangement_heading_ssm":["Arrangement"],"arrangement_tesim":["Arranged into two series.","SEries Series 1: \"The Greatest Game in Town\", 1966-1969 (Box 1) Series 2: Scrapbooks, 1979-1983 (Box 2)"],"bioghist_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eFounded in 1966 as a for-profit organization, the group renamed itself the Reston Community Players (RCP) in 1972, a non-profit organization. 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The RCP performs a variety of productions including classics and original plays, as well as popular Broadway musicals, dramas, mysteries, and comedies."],"prefercite_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eReston Players collection, C0135, Special Collections Research Center, George Mason University Libraries.\u003c/p\u003e"],"prefercite_tesim":["Reston Players collection, C0135, Special Collections Research Center, George Mason University Libraries."],"processinfo_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eThe Reston Players collection was originally attached to the larger Planned Community  Archives collection currently in the Special Collections Research Center. In 2008 the papers from Reston Players were removed and organized into a separate collection. The old box and folder numbers for each folder are also included as part of the new arrangement. \u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eProcessed in December 2008 by Emily Martin. EAD markup completed in December 2008 by Emily Martin. \u003c/p\u003e"],"processinfo_heading_ssm":["Processing Information"],"processinfo_tesim":["The Reston Players collection was originally attached to the larger Planned Community  Archives collection currently in the Special Collections Research Center. In 2008 the papers from Reston Players were removed and organized into a separate collection. The old box and folder numbers for each folder are also included as part of the new arrangement. ","Processed in December 2008 by Emily Martin. EAD markup completed in December 2008 by Emily Martin. "],"relatedmaterial_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eThe Special Collections Research Center also holds the Planned Community Archives collections and other personal papers and organizational records that document Reston, Virginia.\u003c/p\u003e"],"relatedmaterial_heading_ssm":["Related Material"],"relatedmaterial_tesim":["The Special Collections Research Center also holds the Planned Community Archives collections and other personal papers and organizational records that document Reston, Virginia."],"scopecontent_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eThe Reston Players collection consists of two boxes of materials. Materials relate to the production \"The Greatest Game in Town,\" a show put on at the theater in the late 1960s, as well as production and financial information. Included are three scrapbooks with newspaper clippings about the company. \u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eSeries 1 is titled \"The Greatest Game in Town\" and is dated from 1966 to 1969. Within the box there are six folders in the series. The information included is an audio tape of the production, a copy of the script, poster from the production signed by cast and crew, production photographs, financial report and an inventory of collage items. \u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eSeries 2 is titled Scrapbooks and is dated from 1979 to 1983. The series has three scrapbooks with newspaper clippings about different shows the Reston Players performed. \u003c/p\u003e"],"scopecontent_heading_ssm":["Scope and Content"],"scopecontent_tesim":["The Reston Players collection consists of two boxes of materials. Materials relate to the production \"The Greatest Game in Town,\" a show put on at the theater in the late 1960s, as well as production and financial information. Included are three scrapbooks with newspaper clippings about the company. ","Series 1 is titled \"The Greatest Game in Town\" and is dated from 1966 to 1969. Within the box there are six folders in the series. The information included is an audio tape of the production, a copy of the script, poster from the production signed by cast and crew, production photographs, financial report and an inventory of collage items. ","Series 2 is titled Scrapbooks and is dated from 1979 to 1983. The series has three scrapbooks with newspaper clippings about different shows the Reston Players performed. "],"userestrict_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eThe copyright and related rights status of this collection have not been evaluated (See http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/CNE/1.0/)\u003c/p\u003e"],"userestrict_heading_ssm":["Use Restrictions"],"userestrict_tesim":["The copyright and related rights status of this collection have not been evaluated (See http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/CNE/1.0/)"],"abstract_html_tesm":["\u003cabstract id=\"aspace_39999592e4b3e77530e9609980866c37\" label=\"Abstract\"\u003eThe Reston Players collection consists of two boxes of materials. Materials relate to the production \"The Greatest Game in Town,\" a show put on at the theater in the late 1960s, as well as production and financial information. Included are three scrapbooks with newspaper clippings about the company.\u003c/abstract\u003e"],"abstract_tesim":["The Reston Players collection consists of two boxes of materials. Materials relate to the production \"The Greatest Game in Town,\" a show put on at the theater in the late 1960s, as well as production and financial information. Included are three scrapbooks with newspaper clippings about the company."],"names_coll_ssim":["Reston Players"],"names_ssim":["George Mason University. Libraries. Special Collections Research Center","Reston Players","Matthews, Frank E."],"corpname_ssim":["George Mason University. Libraries. Special Collections Research Center","Reston Players"],"persname_ssim":["Matthews, Frank E."],"language_ssim":["English"],"descrules_ssm":["Describing Archives: A Content Standard"],"total_component_count_is":12,"online_item_count_is":0,"component_level_isim":[0],"sort_isi":0,"timestamp":"2026-05-01T00:32:56.393Z","collection":{"numFound":1,"start":0,"numFoundExact":true,"docs":[{"id":"vifgm_repositories_2_resources_80","ead_ssi":"vifgm_repositories_2_resources_80","_root_":"vifgm_repositories_2_resources_80","_nest_parent_":"vifgm_repositories_2_resources_80","ead_source_url_ssi":"data/oai/GMU/repositories_2_resources_80.xml","title_filing_ssi":"Reston Players collection","title_ssm":["Reston Players collection"],"title_tesim":["Reston Players collection"],"unitdate_ssm":["1966-1983"],"unitdate_inclusive_ssm":["1966-1983"],"level_ssm":["collection"],"level_ssim":["Collection"],"unitid_ssm":["C0135","/repositories/2/resources/80"],"text":["C0135","/repositories/2/resources/80","Reston Players collection","Reston (Va.)","Theater -- United States","Theater","Theater -- Production and direction","Newspapers","Scrapbooks","Photographs","Sound recordings","There are no access restrictions.","Arranged into two series.","SEries Series 1: \"The Greatest Game in Town\", 1966-1969 (Box 1) Series 2: Scrapbooks, 1979-1983 (Box 2)","Founded in 1966 as a for-profit organization, the group renamed itself the Reston Community Players (RCP) in 1972, a non-profit organization. The RCP continues to perform and bring high quality productions to the Northern Virginia region every year. The RCP performs a variety of productions including classics and original plays, as well as popular Broadway musicals, dramas, mysteries, and comedies.","The Reston Players collection was originally attached to the larger Planned Community  Archives collection currently in the Special Collections Research Center. In 2008 the papers from Reston Players were removed and organized into a separate collection. The old box and folder numbers for each folder are also included as part of the new arrangement. ","Processed in December 2008 by Emily Martin. EAD markup completed in December 2008 by Emily Martin. ","The Special Collections Research Center also holds the Planned Community Archives collections and other personal papers and organizational records that document Reston, Virginia.","The Reston Players collection consists of two boxes of materials. Materials relate to the production \"The Greatest Game in Town,\" a show put on at the theater in the late 1960s, as well as production and financial information. Included are three scrapbooks with newspaper clippings about the company. ","Series 1 is titled \"The Greatest Game in Town\" and is dated from 1966 to 1969. Within the box there are six folders in the series. The information included is an audio tape of the production, a copy of the script, poster from the production signed by cast and crew, production photographs, financial report and an inventory of collage items. ","Series 2 is titled Scrapbooks and is dated from 1979 to 1983. The series has three scrapbooks with newspaper clippings about different shows the Reston Players performed. ","The copyright and related rights status of this collection have not been evaluated (See http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/CNE/1.0/)","The Reston Players collection consists of two boxes of materials. Materials relate to the production \"The Greatest Game in Town,\" a show put on at the theater in the late 1960s, as well as production and financial information. Included are three scrapbooks with newspaper clippings about the company.","George Mason University. Libraries. Special Collections Research Center","Reston Players","Matthews, Frank E.","English"],"unitid_tesim":["C0135","/repositories/2/resources/80"],"normalized_title_ssm":["Reston Players collection"],"collection_title_tesim":["Reston Players collection"],"collection_ssim":["Reston Players collection"],"repository_ssm":["George Mason University"],"repository_ssim":["George Mason University"],"geogname_ssm":["Reston (Va.)"],"geogname_ssim":["Reston (Va.)"],"creator_ssm":["Matthews, Frank E."],"creator_ssim":["Matthews, Frank E."],"creator_persname_ssim":["Matthews, Frank E."],"creators_ssim":["Matthews, Frank E."],"places_ssim":["Reston (Va.)"],"access_terms_ssm":["The copyright and related rights status of this collection have not been evaluated (See http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/CNE/1.0/)"],"acqinfo_ssim":["Donated by Nina and Frank Matthews on February 17, 1989."],"access_subjects_ssim":["Theater -- United States","Theater","Theater -- Production and direction","Newspapers","Scrapbooks","Photographs","Sound recordings"],"access_subjects_ssm":["Theater -- United States","Theater","Theater -- Production and direction","Newspapers","Scrapbooks","Photographs","Sound recordings"],"has_online_content_ssim":["false"],"extent_ssm":["0.75 Linear Feet 2 boxes"],"extent_tesim":["0.75 Linear Feet 2 boxes"],"genreform_ssim":["Newspapers","Scrapbooks","Photographs","Sound recordings"],"date_range_isim":[1966,1967,1968,1969,1970,1971,1972,1973,1974,1975,1976,1977,1978,1979,1980,1981,1982,1983],"accessrestrict_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eThere are no access restrictions.\u003c/p\u003e"],"accessrestrict_heading_ssm":["Access Restrictions"],"accessrestrict_tesim":["There are no access restrictions."],"arrangement_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eArranged into two series.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003clist type=\"ordered\"\u003e\n      \u003chead\u003eSEries\u003c/head\u003e\n      \u003citem\u003eSeries 1: \"The Greatest Game in Town\", 1966-1969 (Box 1)\u003c/item\u003e\n      \u003citem\u003eSeries 2: Scrapbooks, 1979-1983 (Box 2)\u003c/item\u003e\n    \u003c/list\u003e"],"arrangement_heading_ssm":["Arrangement"],"arrangement_tesim":["Arranged into two series.","SEries Series 1: \"The Greatest Game in Town\", 1966-1969 (Box 1) Series 2: Scrapbooks, 1979-1983 (Box 2)"],"bioghist_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eFounded in 1966 as a for-profit organization, the group renamed itself the Reston Community Players (RCP) in 1972, a non-profit organization. The RCP continues to perform and bring high quality productions to the Northern Virginia region every year. The RCP performs a variety of productions including classics and original plays, as well as popular Broadway musicals, dramas, mysteries, and comedies.\u003c/p\u003e"],"bioghist_heading_ssm":["Historical Information"],"bioghist_tesim":["Founded in 1966 as a for-profit organization, the group renamed itself the Reston Community Players (RCP) in 1972, a non-profit organization. The RCP continues to perform and bring high quality productions to the Northern Virginia region every year. The RCP performs a variety of productions including classics and original plays, as well as popular Broadway musicals, dramas, mysteries, and comedies."],"prefercite_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eReston Players collection, C0135, Special Collections Research Center, George Mason University Libraries.\u003c/p\u003e"],"prefercite_tesim":["Reston Players collection, C0135, Special Collections Research Center, George Mason University Libraries."],"processinfo_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eThe Reston Players collection was originally attached to the larger Planned Community  Archives collection currently in the Special Collections Research Center. In 2008 the papers from Reston Players were removed and organized into a separate collection. The old box and folder numbers for each folder are also included as part of the new arrangement. \u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eProcessed in December 2008 by Emily Martin. EAD markup completed in December 2008 by Emily Martin. \u003c/p\u003e"],"processinfo_heading_ssm":["Processing Information"],"processinfo_tesim":["The Reston Players collection was originally attached to the larger Planned Community  Archives collection currently in the Special Collections Research Center. In 2008 the papers from Reston Players were removed and organized into a separate collection. The old box and folder numbers for each folder are also included as part of the new arrangement. ","Processed in December 2008 by Emily Martin. EAD markup completed in December 2008 by Emily Martin. "],"relatedmaterial_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eThe Special Collections Research Center also holds the Planned Community Archives collections and other personal papers and organizational records that document Reston, Virginia.\u003c/p\u003e"],"relatedmaterial_heading_ssm":["Related Material"],"relatedmaterial_tesim":["The Special Collections Research Center also holds the Planned Community Archives collections and other personal papers and organizational records that document Reston, Virginia."],"scopecontent_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eThe Reston Players collection consists of two boxes of materials. Materials relate to the production \"The Greatest Game in Town,\" a show put on at the theater in the late 1960s, as well as production and financial information. Included are three scrapbooks with newspaper clippings about the company. \u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eSeries 1 is titled \"The Greatest Game in Town\" and is dated from 1966 to 1969. Within the box there are six folders in the series. The information included is an audio tape of the production, a copy of the script, poster from the production signed by cast and crew, production photographs, financial report and an inventory of collage items. \u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eSeries 2 is titled Scrapbooks and is dated from 1979 to 1983. The series has three scrapbooks with newspaper clippings about different shows the Reston Players performed. \u003c/p\u003e"],"scopecontent_heading_ssm":["Scope and Content"],"scopecontent_tesim":["The Reston Players collection consists of two boxes of materials. Materials relate to the production \"The Greatest Game in Town,\" a show put on at the theater in the late 1960s, as well as production and financial information. Included are three scrapbooks with newspaper clippings about the company. ","Series 1 is titled \"The Greatest Game in Town\" and is dated from 1966 to 1969. Within the box there are six folders in the series. The information included is an audio tape of the production, a copy of the script, poster from the production signed by cast and crew, production photographs, financial report and an inventory of collage items. ","Series 2 is titled Scrapbooks and is dated from 1979 to 1983. The series has three scrapbooks with newspaper clippings about different shows the Reston Players performed. "],"userestrict_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eThe copyright and related rights status of this collection have not been evaluated (See http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/CNE/1.0/)\u003c/p\u003e"],"userestrict_heading_ssm":["Use Restrictions"],"userestrict_tesim":["The copyright and related rights status of this collection have not been evaluated (See http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/CNE/1.0/)"],"abstract_html_tesm":["\u003cabstract id=\"aspace_39999592e4b3e77530e9609980866c37\" label=\"Abstract\"\u003eThe Reston Players collection consists of two boxes of materials. Materials relate to the production \"The Greatest Game in Town,\" a show put on at the theater in the late 1960s, as well as production and financial information. Included are three scrapbooks with newspaper clippings about the company.\u003c/abstract\u003e"],"abstract_tesim":["The Reston Players collection consists of two boxes of materials. Materials relate to the production \"The Greatest Game in Town,\" a show put on at the theater in the late 1960s, as well as production and financial information. Included are three scrapbooks with newspaper clippings about the company."],"names_coll_ssim":["Reston Players"],"names_ssim":["George Mason University. Libraries. Special Collections Research Center","Reston Players","Matthews, Frank E."],"corpname_ssim":["George Mason University. Libraries. Special Collections Research Center","Reston Players"],"persname_ssim":["Matthews, Frank E."],"language_ssim":["English"],"descrules_ssm":["Describing Archives: A Content Standard"],"total_component_count_is":12,"online_item_count_is":0,"component_level_isim":[0],"sort_isi":0,"timestamp":"2026-05-01T00:32:56.393Z"}]}},"label":"Breadcrumbs"}}},"links":{"self":"https://search.arvasarchive.org/catalog/vifgm_repositories_2_resources_80"}},{"id":"vifgm_repositories_2_resources_521","type":"collection","attributes":{"title":"Robert and Wilva Breen papers","creator":{"id":"https://search.arvasarchive.org/catalog/vifgm_repositories_2_resources_521#creator","type":"document_value","attributes":{"value":"Breen, Robert","label":"Creator"}},"abstract_or_scope":{"id":"https://search.arvasarchive.org/catalog/vifgm_repositories_2_resources_521#abstract_or_scope","type":"document_value","attributes":{"value":"The Robert and Wilva Breen papers consists of correspondence, memoranda, newsclippings, photographs, notebooks, and audiovisual materials largely related to the creation and running of the American National Theater and Academy (ANTA), as well as Robert and Wilva Breen's long-term involvement with the organization. The bulk of the collection originates from 1933 - 2000s, with an outlier date of 1834 from an antique newspaper.","label":"Abstract Or Scope"}},"breadcrumbs":{"id":"https://search.arvasarchive.org/catalog/vifgm_repositories_2_resources_521#breadcrumbs","type":"document_value","attributes":{"value":{"id":"vifgm_repositories_2_resources_521","ead_ssi":"vifgm_repositories_2_resources_521","_root_":"vifgm_repositories_2_resources_521","_nest_parent_":"vifgm_repositories_2_resources_521","ead_source_url_ssi":"data/oai/GMU/repositories_2_resources_521.xml","title_ssm":["Robert and Wilva Breen papers"],"title_tesim":["Robert and Wilva Breen papers"],"unitdate_ssm":["1834, 1933-2000s"],"unitdate_inclusive_ssm":["1834, 1933-2000s"],"level_ssm":["collection"],"level_ssim":["Collection"],"unitid_ssm":["C0004","/repositories/2/resources/521"],"text":["C0004","/repositories/2/resources/521","Robert and Wilva Breen papers","Helsingør (Denmark)","Broadway (New York, N.Y.)","Ballet","Theater and society","Theater -- Europe -- History -- 20th century","Theater -- New York (State) -- New York","Theater -- United States -- History -- 20th century","Theater -- United States","World War, 1939-1945 -- Theater and the war","Theater programs","Experimental theater -- United States","Theater -- Europe","Theater -- Production and direction","Performing arts","Theater","Theatrical posters","Photographs","Box 35, Folder 12; Box 36, Folder 1; and Box 70, Folder 18 are restricted due to their physical fragility.","Box 89, Folder 8 and 9 are restricted due to personally identifiable information.","There are no other access restrictions.","Selections from the Robert and Wilva Breen papers are also available digitally on ","In 2009 and 2022 many of the audiotape reels found in this collection were converted to digital format and are available for use in the Special Collections Research Center's Reading Room.","The collection was originally arranged by subject and then topic. Additional accessions were added and arranged in the order they arrived in Special Collections Research Center.","Strom, Stephanie. \"Robert Breen, 80, Arts Executive And Theatrical Producer, Is Dead.\" Nytimes.com.   (accessed December 12, 2018).","Oliver, Myrna. \"Robert Breen; Initiated Cultural Exchanges.\" Articles.latimes.com.   (accessed December 12, 2018).","Riedel, Michael. \"This theater's chaotic history includes a Titanic survivor, the 'Tonight' show and porn.\" Nypost.com.   (accessed December 12, 2018).","ANTA West records (Collection 1965). UCLA Library Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research Library, UCLA.   (accessed December 12, 2018).","Robert Breen, born December 26, 1909 in Hibbing, Minnesota, served as the Executive Secretary of the American National Theatre and Academy (ANTA) from 1946-1952, and was instrumental in much of the organization's success, both domestically and internationally. In addition to serving in the U.S. Army Air Corps, Breen had an extensive background in theater. Prior to joining ANTA, Breen founded a theater program at the College of St. Thomas in Saint Paul, Minnesota, as well as established the Chicago unit for the Works Progress Administration's Federal Theatre Project with his wife, Wilva Davis Breen. Wilva herself was instrumental in promoting and guiding ANTA's many and varied operations, and getting the organization off the ground. The Breens' apartment home - situated above the Hudson Theatre in New York City, NY - served as ANTA's early headquarters. Davis Breen served as Breen's constant support and collaborator until he passed away on March 31, 1990."," The American National Theatre and Academy (ANTA) was the United States' first national theater and dance organization, in the tradition of European national theaters. Originating in 1935 with a charter from the U.S. Congress, ANTA continued until 1966 when the National Endowment for the Arts came into being. ANTA was responsible for both the presentation of American theater in the U.S. and abroad."," Although officially formed in 1935, ANTA did not begin actual operation until 1946 due to a variety of factors, including the Great Depression and World War II. During the depression, federal funding was funnelled towards the Works Progress Administration's Federal Theatre Project, another national performing arts program. In addition to these setbacks, the ANTA board, comprised of prominent citizens and business leaders from outside the theater community, could not agree on the goals of ANTA. Eventually, Robert Breen and Robert Porterfield, two men with Army and theater backgrounds, took the reins of ANTA and initiated its revitalization. Porterfield and Breen developed ANTA's \"Foundation Plan,\" with the intention of having ANTA become the foundation for and driving force behind the stimulation of growth of American theater. The plan, successfully undertaken by Breen, Porterfield, and Breen's wife Wilva Davis Breen, called for a National Foundation to make loans and grants, insure theater projects against loss, as well as a National Service Bureau to provide technical assistance for acting companies, as well as a national clearing house for theater information. The plan was adopted by the ANTA Board in 1946."," Under the guidance of Breen, ANTA produced several projects in the U.S. with successful results during the postwar years. From 1946 - 1948, ANTA sponsored a series of plays called the Experimental Theatre. Its goal was to \"present new, interesting plays which would not see production on Broadway due to present high costs.\" Admittedly, the plays were \"not necessarily perfect\" but \"worthy of a trial production in a simplified fashion\" according to an ANTA letter offering subscription to the series, which included high profile playwrights and actors. During the late 1940s and early 1950s ANTA sponsored a number of drama festivals across the U.S., featuring well-known actors. ANTA also featured a televised production of short plays for NBC television. With the intention of promoting theater growth in the U.S. and showcasing new talent, ANTA produced, supported, and promoted theater projects all across the United States."," Internationally, ANTA promoted artistic exchange between the U.S. and Europe, and entertained American troops there. This was initiated with a 1949 tour of William Shakespeare's \"Hamlet\" throughout Europe, produced by and starring Breen in the titular role. This tour famously culminated in a performance at Elsinore Castle in Denmark - the actual setting of the play. Perhaps ANTA's, as well as Breen's, greatest success came with the international tour of George Gershwin's \"Porgy and Bess\" (produced with Blevins Davis), which toured from 1952-1956, visiting 89 cities and 29 countries. The opera's performance in the Soviet Union was considered the first cultural exchange post-World War II between the U.S. and the Soviet Union. ANTA also sponsored the American National Ballet Theatre's tour of Europe in 1950, performing in eighteen cities and eight countries. The tour lasted from August to December of 1950 and played to an audience of over 150,000, and was the first international tour of any American ballet company."," ANTA also produced a number of Broadway plays and musicals out of the formerly named Guild Hall Theatre, renamed the ANTA Theatre in the 1960s and 1970s. ANTA West, which grew out of the Greater Los Angeles Chapter of ANTA in 1957, promoted and facilitated the growth of theater in the Southern California region.","Part of the Robert and Wilva Breen papers was donated to The Ohio State University.","The Special Collections Research Center does not have the equipment necessary to play  obsolete audiovisual material found in the found in the Robert and Wilva Breen papers. Additional time and money may be required to digitize this material for access.","Processed by Special Collections Research Center Staff. EAD markup completed in February 2009 by Jordan Patty. Reprocessed by Amanda Brent from 2017-2018. EAD markup completed by Amanda Brent in December 2018.","Special Collections Research Center also holds the  , the  , the  , and many other "," The Ohio State University Libraries' Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee Theatre Research Institute holds the "," The UCLA Library Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research Library holds the ","The Robert and Wilva Breen papers consists of correspondence, memoranda, newsclippings, photographs, notebooks, and audiovisual materials largely related to the creation and running of the American National Theater and Academy (ANTA), as well as Robert and Wilva Breen's long-term involvement with the organization from 1944 through the 1950s. The collection also contains many photographs of theaters and theatrical performances from across the United States, including from Broadway and Off-Broadway theaters and shows, as well as numerous colleges, universities, high schools, and local children's theaters. The bulk of the collection originates from the 1940s - 2000s, with an outlier date of 1834 from an antique newspaper.","The copyright and related rights status of this collection have not been evaluated (See http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/CNE/1.0/).","The Robert and Wilva Breen papers consists of correspondence, memoranda, newsclippings, photographs, notebooks, and audiovisual materials largely related to the creation and running of the American National Theater and Academy (ANTA), as well as Robert and Wilva Breen's long-term involvement with the organization. The bulk of the collection originates from 1933 - 2000s, with an outlier date of 1834 from an antique newspaper.","R2, C9, S3- C11, S7\nR3 C1 S1 - C2, S5\nOSR3, C4, S4\nMap Case 8.1-8.2, 9.1","George Mason University. Libraries. Special Collections Research Center","American National Ballet Theater","American National Theatre and Academy","ANTA (Organization)","ANTA West (Organization)","Breen, Robert","Breen, Wilva","Porterfield, Robert, 1905-1971","English"],"unitid_tesim":["C0004","/repositories/2/resources/521"],"normalized_title_ssm":["Robert and Wilva Breen papers"],"collection_title_tesim":["Robert and Wilva Breen papers"],"collection_ssim":["Robert and Wilva Breen papers"],"repository_ssm":["George Mason University"],"repository_ssim":["George Mason University"],"geogname_ssm":["Helsingør (Denmark)","Broadway (New York, N.Y.)"],"geogname_ssim":["Helsingør (Denmark)","Broadway (New York, N.Y.)"],"creator_ssm":["Breen, Robert","Breen, Wilva"],"creator_ssim":["Breen, Robert","Breen, Wilva"],"creator_persname_ssim":["Breen, Robert","Breen, Wilva"],"creators_ssim":["Breen, Robert","Breen, Wilva"],"places_ssim":["Helsingør (Denmark)","Broadway (New York, N.Y.)"],"access_terms_ssm":["The copyright and related rights status of this collection have not been evaluated (See http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/CNE/1.0/)."],"acqinfo_ssim":["This collection was donated by the trustees of the Robert and Wilva Breen papers in 1988, and Wilva Breen and The Ohio State University in 1989. There were multiple accessions of materials throughout the 1990s. Additional materials were donated by Diana Lawrence and Mike Timoney in 2011."],"access_subjects_ssim":["Ballet","Theater and society","Theater -- Europe -- History -- 20th century","Theater -- New York (State) -- New York","Theater -- United States -- History -- 20th century","Theater -- United States","World War, 1939-1945 -- Theater and the war","Theater programs","Experimental theater -- United States","Theater -- Europe","Theater -- Production and direction","Performing arts","Theater","Theatrical posters","Photographs"],"access_subjects_ssm":["Ballet","Theater and society","Theater -- Europe -- History -- 20th century","Theater -- New York (State) -- New York","Theater -- United States -- History -- 20th century","Theater -- United States","World War, 1939-1945 -- Theater and the war","Theater programs","Experimental theater -- United States","Theater -- Europe","Theater -- Production and direction","Performing arts","Theater","Theatrical posters","Photographs"],"has_online_content_ssim":["false"],"extent_ssm":["80.5 Linear Feet 207 boxes, 1 map case"],"extent_tesim":["80.5 Linear Feet 207 boxes, 1 map case"],"genreform_ssim":["Theatrical posters","Photographs"],"date_range_isim":[1831,1832,1833,1834,1835,1836,1837,1838,1839,1840,1841,1842,1843,1844,1845,1846,1847,1848,1849,1850,1851,1852,1853,1854,1855,1856,1857,1858,1859,1860,1861,1862,1863,1864,1865,1866,1867,1868,1869,1870,1871,1872,1873,1874,1875,1876,1877,1878,1879,1880,1881,1882,1883,1884,1885,1886,1887,1888,1889,1890,1891,1892,1893,1894,1895,1896,1897,1898,1899,1900,1901,1902,1903,1904,1905,1906,1907,1908,1909,1910,1911,1912,1913,1914,1915,1916,1917,1918,1919,1920,1921,1922,1923,1924,1925,1926,1927,1928,1929,1930,1931,1932,1933,1934,1935,1936,1937,1938,1939,1940,1941,1942,1943,1944,1945,1946,1947,1948,1949,1950,1951,1952,1953,1954,1955,1956,1957,1958,1959,1960,1961,1962,1963,1964,1965,1966,1967,1968,1969,1970,1971,1972,1973,1974,1975,1976,1977,1978,1979,1980,1981,1982,1983,1984,1985,1986,1987,1988,1989,1990,1991,1992,1993,1994,1995,1996,1997,1998,1999,2000],"accessrestrict_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eBox 35, Folder 12; Box 36, Folder 1; and Box 70, Folder 18 are restricted due to their physical fragility.\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eBox 89, Folder 8 and 9 are restricted due to personally identifiable information.\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eThere are no other access restrictions.\u003c/p\u003e"],"accessrestrict_heading_ssm":["Access Restrictions"],"accessrestrict_tesim":["Box 35, Folder 12; Box 36, Folder 1; and Box 70, Folder 18 are restricted due to their physical fragility.","Box 89, Folder 8 and 9 are restricted due to personally identifiable information.","There are no other access restrictions."],"altformavail_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eSelections from the Robert and Wilva Breen papers are also available digitally on \u003cextptr href=\"http://mars.gmu.edu/handle/1920/4609\" title=\"Mason Archival Respository Service (MARS).\" show=\"new\"\u003e\u003c/extptr\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eIn 2009 and 2022 many of the audiotape reels found in this collection were converted to digital format and are available for use in the Special Collections Research Center's Reading Room.\u003c/p\u003e"],"altformavail_heading_ssm":["Alternative Form Available"],"altformavail_tesim":["Selections from the Robert and Wilva Breen papers are also available digitally on ","In 2009 and 2022 many of the audiotape reels found in this collection were converted to digital format and are available for use in the Special Collections Research Center's Reading Room."],"arrangement_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eThe collection was originally arranged by subject and then topic. Additional accessions were added and arranged in the order they arrived in Special Collections Research Center.\u003c/p\u003e"],"arrangement_heading_ssm":["Arrangement"],"arrangement_tesim":["The collection was originally arranged by subject and then topic. Additional accessions were added and arranged in the order they arrived in Special Collections Research Center."],"bibliography_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eStrom, Stephanie. \"Robert Breen, 80, Arts Executive And Theatrical Producer, Is Dead.\" Nytimes.com. \u003cbibref\u003e\u003cextptr href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/1990/04/02/obituaries/robert-breen-80-arts-executive-and-theatrical-producer-is-dead.html\" title=\"https://www.nytimes.com/1990/04/02/obituaries/robert-breen-80-arts-executive-and-theatrical-producer-is-dead.html\" show=\"new\"\u003e\u003c/extptr\u003e\u003c/bibref\u003e (accessed December 12, 2018).\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eOliver, Myrna. \"Robert Breen; Initiated Cultural Exchanges.\" Articles.latimes.com. \u003cbibref\u003e\u003cextptr href=\"http://articles.latimes.com/1990-04-05/news/mn-617_1_robert-breen\" title=\"http://articles.latimes.com/1990-04-05/news/mn-617_1_robert-breen\" show=\"new\"\u003e\u003c/extptr\u003e\u003c/bibref\u003e (accessed December 12, 2018).\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eRiedel, Michael. \"This theater's chaotic history includes a Titanic survivor, the 'Tonight' show and porn.\" Nypost.com. \u003cbibref\u003e\u003cextptr href=\"https://nypost.com/2017/03/28/this-theaters-chaotic-history-includes-a-titanic-survivor-the-tonight-show-and-porn/\" title=\"https://nypost.com/2017/03/28/this-theaters-chaotic-history-includes-a-titanic-survivor-the-tonight-show-and-porn/\" show=\"new\"\u003e\u003c/extptr\u003e\u003c/bibref\u003e (accessed December 12, 2018).\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eANTA West records (Collection 1965). UCLA Library Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research Library, UCLA. \u003cbibref\u003e\u003cextptr href=\"https://oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/c8fn1762/\" title=\"https://oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/c8fn1762/\" show=\"new\"\u003e\u003c/extptr\u003e\u003c/bibref\u003e (accessed December 12, 2018).\u003c/p\u003e"],"bibliography_heading_ssm":["Bibliography"],"bibliography_tesim":["Strom, Stephanie. \"Robert Breen, 80, Arts Executive And Theatrical Producer, Is Dead.\" Nytimes.com.   (accessed December 12, 2018).","Oliver, Myrna. \"Robert Breen; Initiated Cultural Exchanges.\" Articles.latimes.com.   (accessed December 12, 2018).","Riedel, Michael. \"This theater's chaotic history includes a Titanic survivor, the 'Tonight' show and porn.\" Nypost.com.   (accessed December 12, 2018).","ANTA West records (Collection 1965). UCLA Library Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research Library, UCLA.   (accessed December 12, 2018)."],"bioghist_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eRobert Breen, born December 26, 1909 in Hibbing, Minnesota, served as the Executive Secretary of the American National Theatre and Academy (ANTA) from 1946-1952, and was instrumental in much of the organization's success, both domestically and internationally. In addition to serving in the U.S. Army Air Corps, Breen had an extensive background in theater. Prior to joining ANTA, Breen founded a theater program at the College of St. Thomas in Saint Paul, Minnesota, as well as established the Chicago unit for the Works Progress Administration's Federal Theatre Project with his wife, Wilva Davis Breen. Wilva herself was instrumental in promoting and guiding ANTA's many and varied operations, and getting the organization off the ground. The Breens' apartment home - situated above the Hudson Theatre in New York City, NY - served as ANTA's early headquarters. Davis Breen served as Breen's constant support and collaborator until he passed away on March 31, 1990.\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003e The American National Theatre and Academy (ANTA) was the United States' first national theater and dance organization, in the tradition of European national theaters. Originating in 1935 with a charter from the U.S. Congress, ANTA continued until 1966 when the National Endowment for the Arts came into being. ANTA was responsible for both the presentation of American theater in the U.S. and abroad.\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003e Although officially formed in 1935, ANTA did not begin actual operation until 1946 due to a variety of factors, including the Great Depression and World War II. During the depression, federal funding was funnelled towards the Works Progress Administration's Federal Theatre Project, another national performing arts program. In addition to these setbacks, the ANTA board, comprised of prominent citizens and business leaders from outside the theater community, could not agree on the goals of ANTA. Eventually, Robert Breen and Robert Porterfield, two men with Army and theater backgrounds, took the reins of ANTA and initiated its revitalization. Porterfield and Breen developed ANTA's \"Foundation Plan,\" with the intention of having ANTA become the foundation for and driving force behind the stimulation of growth of American theater. The plan, successfully undertaken by Breen, Porterfield, and Breen's wife Wilva Davis Breen, called for a National Foundation to make loans and grants, insure theater projects against loss, as well as a National Service Bureau to provide technical assistance for acting companies, as well as a national clearing house for theater information. The plan was adopted by the ANTA Board in 1946.\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003e Under the guidance of Breen, ANTA produced several projects in the U.S. with successful results during the postwar years. From 1946 - 1948, ANTA sponsored a series of plays called the Experimental Theatre. Its goal was to \"present new, interesting plays which would not see production on Broadway due to present high costs.\" Admittedly, the plays were \"not necessarily perfect\" but \"worthy of a trial production in a simplified fashion\" according to an ANTA letter offering subscription to the series, which included high profile playwrights and actors. During the late 1940s and early 1950s ANTA sponsored a number of drama festivals across the U.S., featuring well-known actors. ANTA also featured a televised production of short plays for NBC television. With the intention of promoting theater growth in the U.S. and showcasing new talent, ANTA produced, supported, and promoted theater projects all across the United States.\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003e Internationally, ANTA promoted artistic exchange between the U.S. and Europe, and entertained American troops there. This was initiated with a 1949 tour of William Shakespeare's \"Hamlet\" throughout Europe, produced by and starring Breen in the titular role. This tour famously culminated in a performance at Elsinore Castle in Denmark - the actual setting of the play. Perhaps ANTA's, as well as Breen's, greatest success came with the international tour of George Gershwin's \"Porgy and Bess\" (produced with Blevins Davis), which toured from 1952-1956, visiting 89 cities and 29 countries. The opera's performance in the Soviet Union was considered the first cultural exchange post-World War II between the U.S. and the Soviet Union. ANTA also sponsored the American National Ballet Theatre's tour of Europe in 1950, performing in eighteen cities and eight countries. The tour lasted from August to December of 1950 and played to an audience of over 150,000, and was the first international tour of any American ballet company.\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003e ANTA also produced a number of Broadway plays and musicals out of the formerly named Guild Hall Theatre, renamed the ANTA Theatre in the 1960s and 1970s. ANTA West, which grew out of the Greater Los Angeles Chapter of ANTA in 1957, promoted and facilitated the growth of theater in the Southern California region.\u003c/p\u003e"],"bioghist_heading_ssm":["Biographical and Historical Note"],"bioghist_tesim":["Robert Breen, born December 26, 1909 in Hibbing, Minnesota, served as the Executive Secretary of the American National Theatre and Academy (ANTA) from 1946-1952, and was instrumental in much of the organization's success, both domestically and internationally. In addition to serving in the U.S. Army Air Corps, Breen had an extensive background in theater. Prior to joining ANTA, Breen founded a theater program at the College of St. Thomas in Saint Paul, Minnesota, as well as established the Chicago unit for the Works Progress Administration's Federal Theatre Project with his wife, Wilva Davis Breen. Wilva herself was instrumental in promoting and guiding ANTA's many and varied operations, and getting the organization off the ground. The Breens' apartment home - situated above the Hudson Theatre in New York City, NY - served as ANTA's early headquarters. Davis Breen served as Breen's constant support and collaborator until he passed away on March 31, 1990."," The American National Theatre and Academy (ANTA) was the United States' first national theater and dance organization, in the tradition of European national theaters. Originating in 1935 with a charter from the U.S. Congress, ANTA continued until 1966 when the National Endowment for the Arts came into being. ANTA was responsible for both the presentation of American theater in the U.S. and abroad."," Although officially formed in 1935, ANTA did not begin actual operation until 1946 due to a variety of factors, including the Great Depression and World War II. During the depression, federal funding was funnelled towards the Works Progress Administration's Federal Theatre Project, another national performing arts program. In addition to these setbacks, the ANTA board, comprised of prominent citizens and business leaders from outside the theater community, could not agree on the goals of ANTA. Eventually, Robert Breen and Robert Porterfield, two men with Army and theater backgrounds, took the reins of ANTA and initiated its revitalization. Porterfield and Breen developed ANTA's \"Foundation Plan,\" with the intention of having ANTA become the foundation for and driving force behind the stimulation of growth of American theater. The plan, successfully undertaken by Breen, Porterfield, and Breen's wife Wilva Davis Breen, called for a National Foundation to make loans and grants, insure theater projects against loss, as well as a National Service Bureau to provide technical assistance for acting companies, as well as a national clearing house for theater information. The plan was adopted by the ANTA Board in 1946."," Under the guidance of Breen, ANTA produced several projects in the U.S. with successful results during the postwar years. From 1946 - 1948, ANTA sponsored a series of plays called the Experimental Theatre. Its goal was to \"present new, interesting plays which would not see production on Broadway due to present high costs.\" Admittedly, the plays were \"not necessarily perfect\" but \"worthy of a trial production in a simplified fashion\" according to an ANTA letter offering subscription to the series, which included high profile playwrights and actors. During the late 1940s and early 1950s ANTA sponsored a number of drama festivals across the U.S., featuring well-known actors. ANTA also featured a televised production of short plays for NBC television. With the intention of promoting theater growth in the U.S. and showcasing new talent, ANTA produced, supported, and promoted theater projects all across the United States."," Internationally, ANTA promoted artistic exchange between the U.S. and Europe, and entertained American troops there. This was initiated with a 1949 tour of William Shakespeare's \"Hamlet\" throughout Europe, produced by and starring Breen in the titular role. This tour famously culminated in a performance at Elsinore Castle in Denmark - the actual setting of the play. Perhaps ANTA's, as well as Breen's, greatest success came with the international tour of George Gershwin's \"Porgy and Bess\" (produced with Blevins Davis), which toured from 1952-1956, visiting 89 cities and 29 countries. The opera's performance in the Soviet Union was considered the first cultural exchange post-World War II between the U.S. and the Soviet Union. ANTA also sponsored the American National Ballet Theatre's tour of Europe in 1950, performing in eighteen cities and eight countries. The tour lasted from August to December of 1950 and played to an audience of over 150,000, and was the first international tour of any American ballet company."," ANTA also produced a number of Broadway plays and musicals out of the formerly named Guild Hall Theatre, renamed the ANTA Theatre in the 1960s and 1970s. ANTA West, which grew out of the Greater Los Angeles Chapter of ANTA in 1957, promoted and facilitated the growth of theater in the Southern California region."],"custodhist_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003ePart of the Robert and Wilva Breen papers was donated to The Ohio State University.\u003c/p\u003e"],"custodhist_heading_ssm":["Custodial History"],"custodhist_tesim":["Part of the Robert and Wilva Breen papers was donated to The Ohio State University."],"phystech_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eThe Special Collections Research Center does not have the equipment necessary to play  obsolete audiovisual material found in the found in the Robert and Wilva Breen papers. Additional time and money may be required to digitize this material for access.\u003c/p\u003e"],"phystech_heading_ssm":["Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements"],"phystech_tesim":["The Special Collections Research Center does not have the equipment necessary to play  obsolete audiovisual material found in the found in the Robert and Wilva Breen papers. Additional time and money may be required to digitize this material for access."],"prefercite_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eRobert and Wilva Breen papers, C0004, Special Collections Research Center, George Mason University Libraries.\u003c/p\u003e"],"prefercite_tesim":["Robert and Wilva Breen papers, C0004, Special Collections Research Center, George Mason University Libraries."],"processinfo_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eProcessed by Special Collections Research Center Staff. EAD markup completed in February 2009 by Jordan Patty. Reprocessed by Amanda Brent from 2017-2018. EAD markup completed by Amanda Brent in December 2018.\u003c/p\u003e"],"processinfo_heading_ssm":["Processing Information"],"processinfo_tesim":["Processed by Special Collections Research Center Staff. EAD markup completed in February 2009 by Jordan Patty. Reprocessed by Amanda Brent from 2017-2018. EAD markup completed by Amanda Brent in December 2018."],"relatedmaterial_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eSpecial Collections Research Center also holds the \u003cextptr href=\"https://aspace.gmu.edu/resources/c0145\" title=\"Porgy and Bess poster collection\" show=\"new\"\u003e\u003c/extptr\u003e, the \u003cextptr href=\"https://aspace.gmu.edu/resources/c0002\" title=\"Federal Theatre Project collection\" show=\"new\"\u003e\u003c/extptr\u003e, the \u003cextptr href=\"https://aspace.gmu.edu/resources/c0043\" title=\"Robert C. Schnitzer papers\" show=\"new\"\u003e\u003c/extptr\u003e, and many other \u003cextptr href=\"https://scrc.gmu.edu/collections-subject.php#THEATRE\" title=\"performing arts collections.\" show=\"new\"\u003e\u003c/extptr\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003e The Ohio State University Libraries' Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee Theatre Research Institute holds the \u003cextptr href=\"https://library.osu.edu/collections/spec.tri.rb\" title=\"Robert Breen and Wilva papers.\" show=\"new\"\u003e\u003c/extptr\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003e The UCLA Library Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research Library holds the \u003cextptr href=\"https://oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/c8fn1762/\" title=\"ANTA West records.\" show=\"new\"\u003e\u003c/extptr\u003e\u003c/p\u003e"],"relatedmaterial_heading_ssm":["Related Material"],"relatedmaterial_tesim":["Special Collections Research Center also holds the  , the  , the  , and many other "," The Ohio State University Libraries' Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee Theatre Research Institute holds the "," The UCLA Library Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research Library holds the "],"scopecontent_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eThe Robert and Wilva Breen papers consists of correspondence, memoranda, newsclippings, photographs, notebooks, and audiovisual materials largely related to the creation and running of the American National Theater and Academy (ANTA), as well as Robert and Wilva Breen's long-term involvement with the organization from 1944 through the 1950s. The collection also contains many photographs of theaters and theatrical performances from across the United States, including from Broadway and Off-Broadway theaters and shows, as well as numerous colleges, universities, high schools, and local children's theaters. The bulk of the collection originates from the 1940s - 2000s, with an outlier date of 1834 from an antique newspaper.\u003c/p\u003e"],"scopecontent_heading_ssm":["Scope and Content"],"scopecontent_tesim":["The Robert and Wilva Breen papers consists of correspondence, memoranda, newsclippings, photographs, notebooks, and audiovisual materials largely related to the creation and running of the American National Theater and Academy (ANTA), as well as Robert and Wilva Breen's long-term involvement with the organization from 1944 through the 1950s. The collection also contains many photographs of theaters and theatrical performances from across the United States, including from Broadway and Off-Broadway theaters and shows, as well as numerous colleges, universities, high schools, and local children's theaters. The bulk of the collection originates from the 1940s - 2000s, with an outlier date of 1834 from an antique newspaper."],"userestrict_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eThe copyright and related rights status of this collection have not been evaluated (See http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/CNE/1.0/).\u003c/p\u003e"],"userestrict_heading_ssm":["Use Restrictions"],"userestrict_tesim":["The copyright and related rights status of this collection have not been evaluated (See http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/CNE/1.0/)."],"abstract_html_tesm":["\u003cabstract id=\"aspace_ref348\"\u003eThe Robert and Wilva Breen papers consists of correspondence, memoranda, newsclippings, photographs, notebooks, and audiovisual materials largely related to the creation and running of the American National Theater and Academy (ANTA), as well as Robert and Wilva Breen's long-term involvement with the organization. The bulk of the collection originates from 1933 - 2000s, with an outlier date of 1834 from an antique newspaper.\u003c/abstract\u003e"],"abstract_tesim":["The Robert and Wilva Breen papers consists of correspondence, memoranda, newsclippings, photographs, notebooks, and audiovisual materials largely related to the creation and running of the American National Theater and Academy (ANTA), as well as Robert and Wilva Breen's long-term involvement with the organization. The bulk of the collection originates from 1933 - 2000s, with an outlier date of 1834 from an antique newspaper."],"physloc_html_tesm":["\u003cphysloc id=\"aspace_ddb931edc4f44bf997d326b2923a7505\"\u003eR2, C9, S3- C11, S7\nR3 C1 S1 - C2, S5\nOSR3, C4, S4\nMap Case 8.1-8.2, 9.1\u003c/physloc\u003e"],"physloc_tesim":["R2, C9, S3- C11, S7\nR3 C1 S1 - C2, S5\nOSR3, C4, S4\nMap Case 8.1-8.2, 9.1"],"names_coll_ssim":["American National Ballet Theater","American National Theatre and Academy","ANTA (Organization)","ANTA West (Organization)","Porterfield, Robert, 1905-1971"],"names_ssim":["George Mason University. Libraries. Special Collections Research Center","American National Ballet Theater","American National Theatre and Academy","ANTA (Organization)","ANTA West (Organization)","Breen, Robert","Breen, Wilva","Porterfield, Robert, 1905-1971"],"corpname_ssim":["George Mason University. Libraries. Special Collections Research Center","American National Ballet Theater","American National Theatre and Academy","ANTA (Organization)","ANTA West (Organization)"],"persname_ssim":["Breen, Robert","Breen, Wilva","Porterfield, Robert, 1905-1971"],"language_ssim":["English"],"descrules_ssm":["Describing Archives: A Content Standard"],"total_component_count_is":3014,"online_item_count_is":0,"component_level_isim":[0],"sort_isi":0,"timestamp":"2026-05-08T07:16:03.204Z","collection":{"numFound":1,"start":0,"numFoundExact":true,"docs":[{"id":"vifgm_repositories_2_resources_521","ead_ssi":"vifgm_repositories_2_resources_521","_root_":"vifgm_repositories_2_resources_521","_nest_parent_":"vifgm_repositories_2_resources_521","ead_source_url_ssi":"data/oai/GMU/repositories_2_resources_521.xml","title_ssm":["Robert and Wilva Breen papers"],"title_tesim":["Robert and Wilva Breen papers"],"unitdate_ssm":["1834, 1933-2000s"],"unitdate_inclusive_ssm":["1834, 1933-2000s"],"level_ssm":["collection"],"level_ssim":["Collection"],"unitid_ssm":["C0004","/repositories/2/resources/521"],"text":["C0004","/repositories/2/resources/521","Robert and Wilva Breen papers","Helsingør (Denmark)","Broadway (New York, N.Y.)","Ballet","Theater and society","Theater -- Europe -- History -- 20th century","Theater -- New York (State) -- New York","Theater -- United States -- History -- 20th century","Theater -- United States","World War, 1939-1945 -- Theater and the war","Theater programs","Experimental theater -- United States","Theater -- Europe","Theater -- Production and direction","Performing arts","Theater","Theatrical posters","Photographs","Box 35, Folder 12; Box 36, Folder 1; and Box 70, Folder 18 are restricted due to their physical fragility.","Box 89, Folder 8 and 9 are restricted due to personally identifiable information.","There are no other access restrictions.","Selections from the Robert and Wilva Breen papers are also available digitally on ","In 2009 and 2022 many of the audiotape reels found in this collection were converted to digital format and are available for use in the Special Collections Research Center's Reading Room.","The collection was originally arranged by subject and then topic. Additional accessions were added and arranged in the order they arrived in Special Collections Research Center.","Strom, Stephanie. \"Robert Breen, 80, Arts Executive And Theatrical Producer, Is Dead.\" Nytimes.com.   (accessed December 12, 2018).","Oliver, Myrna. \"Robert Breen; Initiated Cultural Exchanges.\" Articles.latimes.com.   (accessed December 12, 2018).","Riedel, Michael. \"This theater's chaotic history includes a Titanic survivor, the 'Tonight' show and porn.\" Nypost.com.   (accessed December 12, 2018).","ANTA West records (Collection 1965). UCLA Library Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research Library, UCLA.   (accessed December 12, 2018).","Robert Breen, born December 26, 1909 in Hibbing, Minnesota, served as the Executive Secretary of the American National Theatre and Academy (ANTA) from 1946-1952, and was instrumental in much of the organization's success, both domestically and internationally. In addition to serving in the U.S. Army Air Corps, Breen had an extensive background in theater. Prior to joining ANTA, Breen founded a theater program at the College of St. Thomas in Saint Paul, Minnesota, as well as established the Chicago unit for the Works Progress Administration's Federal Theatre Project with his wife, Wilva Davis Breen. Wilva herself was instrumental in promoting and guiding ANTA's many and varied operations, and getting the organization off the ground. The Breens' apartment home - situated above the Hudson Theatre in New York City, NY - served as ANTA's early headquarters. Davis Breen served as Breen's constant support and collaborator until he passed away on March 31, 1990."," The American National Theatre and Academy (ANTA) was the United States' first national theater and dance organization, in the tradition of European national theaters. Originating in 1935 with a charter from the U.S. Congress, ANTA continued until 1966 when the National Endowment for the Arts came into being. ANTA was responsible for both the presentation of American theater in the U.S. and abroad."," Although officially formed in 1935, ANTA did not begin actual operation until 1946 due to a variety of factors, including the Great Depression and World War II. During the depression, federal funding was funnelled towards the Works Progress Administration's Federal Theatre Project, another national performing arts program. In addition to these setbacks, the ANTA board, comprised of prominent citizens and business leaders from outside the theater community, could not agree on the goals of ANTA. Eventually, Robert Breen and Robert Porterfield, two men with Army and theater backgrounds, took the reins of ANTA and initiated its revitalization. Porterfield and Breen developed ANTA's \"Foundation Plan,\" with the intention of having ANTA become the foundation for and driving force behind the stimulation of growth of American theater. The plan, successfully undertaken by Breen, Porterfield, and Breen's wife Wilva Davis Breen, called for a National Foundation to make loans and grants, insure theater projects against loss, as well as a National Service Bureau to provide technical assistance for acting companies, as well as a national clearing house for theater information. The plan was adopted by the ANTA Board in 1946."," Under the guidance of Breen, ANTA produced several projects in the U.S. with successful results during the postwar years. From 1946 - 1948, ANTA sponsored a series of plays called the Experimental Theatre. Its goal was to \"present new, interesting plays which would not see production on Broadway due to present high costs.\" Admittedly, the plays were \"not necessarily perfect\" but \"worthy of a trial production in a simplified fashion\" according to an ANTA letter offering subscription to the series, which included high profile playwrights and actors. During the late 1940s and early 1950s ANTA sponsored a number of drama festivals across the U.S., featuring well-known actors. ANTA also featured a televised production of short plays for NBC television. With the intention of promoting theater growth in the U.S. and showcasing new talent, ANTA produced, supported, and promoted theater projects all across the United States."," Internationally, ANTA promoted artistic exchange between the U.S. and Europe, and entertained American troops there. This was initiated with a 1949 tour of William Shakespeare's \"Hamlet\" throughout Europe, produced by and starring Breen in the titular role. This tour famously culminated in a performance at Elsinore Castle in Denmark - the actual setting of the play. Perhaps ANTA's, as well as Breen's, greatest success came with the international tour of George Gershwin's \"Porgy and Bess\" (produced with Blevins Davis), which toured from 1952-1956, visiting 89 cities and 29 countries. The opera's performance in the Soviet Union was considered the first cultural exchange post-World War II between the U.S. and the Soviet Union. ANTA also sponsored the American National Ballet Theatre's tour of Europe in 1950, performing in eighteen cities and eight countries. The tour lasted from August to December of 1950 and played to an audience of over 150,000, and was the first international tour of any American ballet company."," ANTA also produced a number of Broadway plays and musicals out of the formerly named Guild Hall Theatre, renamed the ANTA Theatre in the 1960s and 1970s. ANTA West, which grew out of the Greater Los Angeles Chapter of ANTA in 1957, promoted and facilitated the growth of theater in the Southern California region.","Part of the Robert and Wilva Breen papers was donated to The Ohio State University.","The Special Collections Research Center does not have the equipment necessary to play  obsolete audiovisual material found in the found in the Robert and Wilva Breen papers. Additional time and money may be required to digitize this material for access.","Processed by Special Collections Research Center Staff. EAD markup completed in February 2009 by Jordan Patty. Reprocessed by Amanda Brent from 2017-2018. EAD markup completed by Amanda Brent in December 2018.","Special Collections Research Center also holds the  , the  , the  , and many other "," The Ohio State University Libraries' Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee Theatre Research Institute holds the "," The UCLA Library Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research Library holds the ","The Robert and Wilva Breen papers consists of correspondence, memoranda, newsclippings, photographs, notebooks, and audiovisual materials largely related to the creation and running of the American National Theater and Academy (ANTA), as well as Robert and Wilva Breen's long-term involvement with the organization from 1944 through the 1950s. The collection also contains many photographs of theaters and theatrical performances from across the United States, including from Broadway and Off-Broadway theaters and shows, as well as numerous colleges, universities, high schools, and local children's theaters. The bulk of the collection originates from the 1940s - 2000s, with an outlier date of 1834 from an antique newspaper.","The copyright and related rights status of this collection have not been evaluated (See http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/CNE/1.0/).","The Robert and Wilva Breen papers consists of correspondence, memoranda, newsclippings, photographs, notebooks, and audiovisual materials largely related to the creation and running of the American National Theater and Academy (ANTA), as well as Robert and Wilva Breen's long-term involvement with the organization. The bulk of the collection originates from 1933 - 2000s, with an outlier date of 1834 from an antique newspaper.","R2, C9, S3- C11, S7\nR3 C1 S1 - C2, S5\nOSR3, C4, S4\nMap Case 8.1-8.2, 9.1","George Mason University. Libraries. Special Collections Research Center","American National Ballet Theater","American National Theatre and Academy","ANTA (Organization)","ANTA West (Organization)","Breen, Robert","Breen, Wilva","Porterfield, Robert, 1905-1971","English"],"unitid_tesim":["C0004","/repositories/2/resources/521"],"normalized_title_ssm":["Robert and Wilva Breen papers"],"collection_title_tesim":["Robert and Wilva Breen papers"],"collection_ssim":["Robert and Wilva Breen papers"],"repository_ssm":["George Mason University"],"repository_ssim":["George Mason University"],"geogname_ssm":["Helsingør (Denmark)","Broadway (New York, N.Y.)"],"geogname_ssim":["Helsingør (Denmark)","Broadway (New York, N.Y.)"],"creator_ssm":["Breen, Robert","Breen, Wilva"],"creator_ssim":["Breen, Robert","Breen, Wilva"],"creator_persname_ssim":["Breen, Robert","Breen, Wilva"],"creators_ssim":["Breen, Robert","Breen, Wilva"],"places_ssim":["Helsingør (Denmark)","Broadway (New York, N.Y.)"],"access_terms_ssm":["The copyright and related rights status of this collection have not been evaluated (See http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/CNE/1.0/)."],"acqinfo_ssim":["This collection was donated by the trustees of the Robert and Wilva Breen papers in 1988, and Wilva Breen and The Ohio State University in 1989. There were multiple accessions of materials throughout the 1990s. Additional materials were donated by Diana Lawrence and Mike Timoney in 2011."],"access_subjects_ssim":["Ballet","Theater and society","Theater -- Europe -- History -- 20th century","Theater -- New York (State) -- New York","Theater -- United States -- History -- 20th century","Theater -- United States","World War, 1939-1945 -- Theater and the war","Theater programs","Experimental theater -- United States","Theater -- Europe","Theater -- Production and direction","Performing arts","Theater","Theatrical posters","Photographs"],"access_subjects_ssm":["Ballet","Theater and society","Theater -- Europe -- History -- 20th century","Theater -- New York (State) -- New York","Theater -- United States -- History -- 20th century","Theater -- United States","World War, 1939-1945 -- Theater and the war","Theater programs","Experimental theater -- United States","Theater -- Europe","Theater -- Production and direction","Performing arts","Theater","Theatrical posters","Photographs"],"has_online_content_ssim":["false"],"extent_ssm":["80.5 Linear Feet 207 boxes, 1 map case"],"extent_tesim":["80.5 Linear Feet 207 boxes, 1 map case"],"genreform_ssim":["Theatrical posters","Photographs"],"date_range_isim":[1831,1832,1833,1834,1835,1836,1837,1838,1839,1840,1841,1842,1843,1844,1845,1846,1847,1848,1849,1850,1851,1852,1853,1854,1855,1856,1857,1858,1859,1860,1861,1862,1863,1864,1865,1866,1867,1868,1869,1870,1871,1872,1873,1874,1875,1876,1877,1878,1879,1880,1881,1882,1883,1884,1885,1886,1887,1888,1889,1890,1891,1892,1893,1894,1895,1896,1897,1898,1899,1900,1901,1902,1903,1904,1905,1906,1907,1908,1909,1910,1911,1912,1913,1914,1915,1916,1917,1918,1919,1920,1921,1922,1923,1924,1925,1926,1927,1928,1929,1930,1931,1932,1933,1934,1935,1936,1937,1938,1939,1940,1941,1942,1943,1944,1945,1946,1947,1948,1949,1950,1951,1952,1953,1954,1955,1956,1957,1958,1959,1960,1961,1962,1963,1964,1965,1966,1967,1968,1969,1970,1971,1972,1973,1974,1975,1976,1977,1978,1979,1980,1981,1982,1983,1984,1985,1986,1987,1988,1989,1990,1991,1992,1993,1994,1995,1996,1997,1998,1999,2000],"accessrestrict_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eBox 35, Folder 12; Box 36, Folder 1; and Box 70, Folder 18 are restricted due to their physical fragility.\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eBox 89, Folder 8 and 9 are restricted due to personally identifiable information.\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eThere are no other access restrictions.\u003c/p\u003e"],"accessrestrict_heading_ssm":["Access Restrictions"],"accessrestrict_tesim":["Box 35, Folder 12; Box 36, Folder 1; and Box 70, Folder 18 are restricted due to their physical fragility.","Box 89, Folder 8 and 9 are restricted due to personally identifiable information.","There are no other access restrictions."],"altformavail_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eSelections from the Robert and Wilva Breen papers are also available digitally on \u003cextptr href=\"http://mars.gmu.edu/handle/1920/4609\" title=\"Mason Archival Respository Service (MARS).\" show=\"new\"\u003e\u003c/extptr\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eIn 2009 and 2022 many of the audiotape reels found in this collection were converted to digital format and are available for use in the Special Collections Research Center's Reading Room.\u003c/p\u003e"],"altformavail_heading_ssm":["Alternative Form Available"],"altformavail_tesim":["Selections from the Robert and Wilva Breen papers are also available digitally on ","In 2009 and 2022 many of the audiotape reels found in this collection were converted to digital format and are available for use in the Special Collections Research Center's Reading Room."],"arrangement_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eThe collection was originally arranged by subject and then topic. Additional accessions were added and arranged in the order they arrived in Special Collections Research Center.\u003c/p\u003e"],"arrangement_heading_ssm":["Arrangement"],"arrangement_tesim":["The collection was originally arranged by subject and then topic. Additional accessions were added and arranged in the order they arrived in Special Collections Research Center."],"bibliography_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eStrom, Stephanie. \"Robert Breen, 80, Arts Executive And Theatrical Producer, Is Dead.\" Nytimes.com. \u003cbibref\u003e\u003cextptr href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/1990/04/02/obituaries/robert-breen-80-arts-executive-and-theatrical-producer-is-dead.html\" title=\"https://www.nytimes.com/1990/04/02/obituaries/robert-breen-80-arts-executive-and-theatrical-producer-is-dead.html\" show=\"new\"\u003e\u003c/extptr\u003e\u003c/bibref\u003e (accessed December 12, 2018).\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eOliver, Myrna. \"Robert Breen; Initiated Cultural Exchanges.\" Articles.latimes.com. \u003cbibref\u003e\u003cextptr href=\"http://articles.latimes.com/1990-04-05/news/mn-617_1_robert-breen\" title=\"http://articles.latimes.com/1990-04-05/news/mn-617_1_robert-breen\" show=\"new\"\u003e\u003c/extptr\u003e\u003c/bibref\u003e (accessed December 12, 2018).\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eRiedel, Michael. \"This theater's chaotic history includes a Titanic survivor, the 'Tonight' show and porn.\" Nypost.com. \u003cbibref\u003e\u003cextptr href=\"https://nypost.com/2017/03/28/this-theaters-chaotic-history-includes-a-titanic-survivor-the-tonight-show-and-porn/\" title=\"https://nypost.com/2017/03/28/this-theaters-chaotic-history-includes-a-titanic-survivor-the-tonight-show-and-porn/\" show=\"new\"\u003e\u003c/extptr\u003e\u003c/bibref\u003e (accessed December 12, 2018).\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eANTA West records (Collection 1965). UCLA Library Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research Library, UCLA. \u003cbibref\u003e\u003cextptr href=\"https://oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/c8fn1762/\" title=\"https://oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/c8fn1762/\" show=\"new\"\u003e\u003c/extptr\u003e\u003c/bibref\u003e (accessed December 12, 2018).\u003c/p\u003e"],"bibliography_heading_ssm":["Bibliography"],"bibliography_tesim":["Strom, Stephanie. \"Robert Breen, 80, Arts Executive And Theatrical Producer, Is Dead.\" Nytimes.com.   (accessed December 12, 2018).","Oliver, Myrna. \"Robert Breen; Initiated Cultural Exchanges.\" Articles.latimes.com.   (accessed December 12, 2018).","Riedel, Michael. \"This theater's chaotic history includes a Titanic survivor, the 'Tonight' show and porn.\" Nypost.com.   (accessed December 12, 2018).","ANTA West records (Collection 1965). UCLA Library Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research Library, UCLA.   (accessed December 12, 2018)."],"bioghist_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eRobert Breen, born December 26, 1909 in Hibbing, Minnesota, served as the Executive Secretary of the American National Theatre and Academy (ANTA) from 1946-1952, and was instrumental in much of the organization's success, both domestically and internationally. In addition to serving in the U.S. Army Air Corps, Breen had an extensive background in theater. Prior to joining ANTA, Breen founded a theater program at the College of St. Thomas in Saint Paul, Minnesota, as well as established the Chicago unit for the Works Progress Administration's Federal Theatre Project with his wife, Wilva Davis Breen. Wilva herself was instrumental in promoting and guiding ANTA's many and varied operations, and getting the organization off the ground. The Breens' apartment home - situated above the Hudson Theatre in New York City, NY - served as ANTA's early headquarters. Davis Breen served as Breen's constant support and collaborator until he passed away on March 31, 1990.\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003e The American National Theatre and Academy (ANTA) was the United States' first national theater and dance organization, in the tradition of European national theaters. Originating in 1935 with a charter from the U.S. Congress, ANTA continued until 1966 when the National Endowment for the Arts came into being. ANTA was responsible for both the presentation of American theater in the U.S. and abroad.\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003e Although officially formed in 1935, ANTA did not begin actual operation until 1946 due to a variety of factors, including the Great Depression and World War II. During the depression, federal funding was funnelled towards the Works Progress Administration's Federal Theatre Project, another national performing arts program. In addition to these setbacks, the ANTA board, comprised of prominent citizens and business leaders from outside the theater community, could not agree on the goals of ANTA. Eventually, Robert Breen and Robert Porterfield, two men with Army and theater backgrounds, took the reins of ANTA and initiated its revitalization. Porterfield and Breen developed ANTA's \"Foundation Plan,\" with the intention of having ANTA become the foundation for and driving force behind the stimulation of growth of American theater. The plan, successfully undertaken by Breen, Porterfield, and Breen's wife Wilva Davis Breen, called for a National Foundation to make loans and grants, insure theater projects against loss, as well as a National Service Bureau to provide technical assistance for acting companies, as well as a national clearing house for theater information. The plan was adopted by the ANTA Board in 1946.\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003e Under the guidance of Breen, ANTA produced several projects in the U.S. with successful results during the postwar years. From 1946 - 1948, ANTA sponsored a series of plays called the Experimental Theatre. Its goal was to \"present new, interesting plays which would not see production on Broadway due to present high costs.\" Admittedly, the plays were \"not necessarily perfect\" but \"worthy of a trial production in a simplified fashion\" according to an ANTA letter offering subscription to the series, which included high profile playwrights and actors. During the late 1940s and early 1950s ANTA sponsored a number of drama festivals across the U.S., featuring well-known actors. ANTA also featured a televised production of short plays for NBC television. With the intention of promoting theater growth in the U.S. and showcasing new talent, ANTA produced, supported, and promoted theater projects all across the United States.\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003e Internationally, ANTA promoted artistic exchange between the U.S. and Europe, and entertained American troops there. This was initiated with a 1949 tour of William Shakespeare's \"Hamlet\" throughout Europe, produced by and starring Breen in the titular role. This tour famously culminated in a performance at Elsinore Castle in Denmark - the actual setting of the play. Perhaps ANTA's, as well as Breen's, greatest success came with the international tour of George Gershwin's \"Porgy and Bess\" (produced with Blevins Davis), which toured from 1952-1956, visiting 89 cities and 29 countries. The opera's performance in the Soviet Union was considered the first cultural exchange post-World War II between the U.S. and the Soviet Union. ANTA also sponsored the American National Ballet Theatre's tour of Europe in 1950, performing in eighteen cities and eight countries. The tour lasted from August to December of 1950 and played to an audience of over 150,000, and was the first international tour of any American ballet company.\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003e ANTA also produced a number of Broadway plays and musicals out of the formerly named Guild Hall Theatre, renamed the ANTA Theatre in the 1960s and 1970s. ANTA West, which grew out of the Greater Los Angeles Chapter of ANTA in 1957, promoted and facilitated the growth of theater in the Southern California region.\u003c/p\u003e"],"bioghist_heading_ssm":["Biographical and Historical Note"],"bioghist_tesim":["Robert Breen, born December 26, 1909 in Hibbing, Minnesota, served as the Executive Secretary of the American National Theatre and Academy (ANTA) from 1946-1952, and was instrumental in much of the organization's success, both domestically and internationally. In addition to serving in the U.S. Army Air Corps, Breen had an extensive background in theater. Prior to joining ANTA, Breen founded a theater program at the College of St. Thomas in Saint Paul, Minnesota, as well as established the Chicago unit for the Works Progress Administration's Federal Theatre Project with his wife, Wilva Davis Breen. Wilva herself was instrumental in promoting and guiding ANTA's many and varied operations, and getting the organization off the ground. The Breens' apartment home - situated above the Hudson Theatre in New York City, NY - served as ANTA's early headquarters. Davis Breen served as Breen's constant support and collaborator until he passed away on March 31, 1990."," The American National Theatre and Academy (ANTA) was the United States' first national theater and dance organization, in the tradition of European national theaters. Originating in 1935 with a charter from the U.S. Congress, ANTA continued until 1966 when the National Endowment for the Arts came into being. ANTA was responsible for both the presentation of American theater in the U.S. and abroad."," Although officially formed in 1935, ANTA did not begin actual operation until 1946 due to a variety of factors, including the Great Depression and World War II. During the depression, federal funding was funnelled towards the Works Progress Administration's Federal Theatre Project, another national performing arts program. In addition to these setbacks, the ANTA board, comprised of prominent citizens and business leaders from outside the theater community, could not agree on the goals of ANTA. Eventually, Robert Breen and Robert Porterfield, two men with Army and theater backgrounds, took the reins of ANTA and initiated its revitalization. Porterfield and Breen developed ANTA's \"Foundation Plan,\" with the intention of having ANTA become the foundation for and driving force behind the stimulation of growth of American theater. The plan, successfully undertaken by Breen, Porterfield, and Breen's wife Wilva Davis Breen, called for a National Foundation to make loans and grants, insure theater projects against loss, as well as a National Service Bureau to provide technical assistance for acting companies, as well as a national clearing house for theater information. The plan was adopted by the ANTA Board in 1946."," Under the guidance of Breen, ANTA produced several projects in the U.S. with successful results during the postwar years. From 1946 - 1948, ANTA sponsored a series of plays called the Experimental Theatre. Its goal was to \"present new, interesting plays which would not see production on Broadway due to present high costs.\" Admittedly, the plays were \"not necessarily perfect\" but \"worthy of a trial production in a simplified fashion\" according to an ANTA letter offering subscription to the series, which included high profile playwrights and actors. During the late 1940s and early 1950s ANTA sponsored a number of drama festivals across the U.S., featuring well-known actors. ANTA also featured a televised production of short plays for NBC television. With the intention of promoting theater growth in the U.S. and showcasing new talent, ANTA produced, supported, and promoted theater projects all across the United States."," Internationally, ANTA promoted artistic exchange between the U.S. and Europe, and entertained American troops there. This was initiated with a 1949 tour of William Shakespeare's \"Hamlet\" throughout Europe, produced by and starring Breen in the titular role. This tour famously culminated in a performance at Elsinore Castle in Denmark - the actual setting of the play. Perhaps ANTA's, as well as Breen's, greatest success came with the international tour of George Gershwin's \"Porgy and Bess\" (produced with Blevins Davis), which toured from 1952-1956, visiting 89 cities and 29 countries. The opera's performance in the Soviet Union was considered the first cultural exchange post-World War II between the U.S. and the Soviet Union. ANTA also sponsored the American National Ballet Theatre's tour of Europe in 1950, performing in eighteen cities and eight countries. The tour lasted from August to December of 1950 and played to an audience of over 150,000, and was the first international tour of any American ballet company."," ANTA also produced a number of Broadway plays and musicals out of the formerly named Guild Hall Theatre, renamed the ANTA Theatre in the 1960s and 1970s. ANTA West, which grew out of the Greater Los Angeles Chapter of ANTA in 1957, promoted and facilitated the growth of theater in the Southern California region."],"custodhist_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003ePart of the Robert and Wilva Breen papers was donated to The Ohio State University.\u003c/p\u003e"],"custodhist_heading_ssm":["Custodial History"],"custodhist_tesim":["Part of the Robert and Wilva Breen papers was donated to The Ohio State University."],"phystech_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eThe Special Collections Research Center does not have the equipment necessary to play  obsolete audiovisual material found in the found in the Robert and Wilva Breen papers. Additional time and money may be required to digitize this material for access.\u003c/p\u003e"],"phystech_heading_ssm":["Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements"],"phystech_tesim":["The Special Collections Research Center does not have the equipment necessary to play  obsolete audiovisual material found in the found in the Robert and Wilva Breen papers. Additional time and money may be required to digitize this material for access."],"prefercite_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eRobert and Wilva Breen papers, C0004, Special Collections Research Center, George Mason University Libraries.\u003c/p\u003e"],"prefercite_tesim":["Robert and Wilva Breen papers, C0004, Special Collections Research Center, George Mason University Libraries."],"processinfo_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eProcessed by Special Collections Research Center Staff. EAD markup completed in February 2009 by Jordan Patty. Reprocessed by Amanda Brent from 2017-2018. EAD markup completed by Amanda Brent in December 2018.\u003c/p\u003e"],"processinfo_heading_ssm":["Processing Information"],"processinfo_tesim":["Processed by Special Collections Research Center Staff. EAD markup completed in February 2009 by Jordan Patty. Reprocessed by Amanda Brent from 2017-2018. EAD markup completed by Amanda Brent in December 2018."],"relatedmaterial_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eSpecial Collections Research Center also holds the \u003cextptr href=\"https://aspace.gmu.edu/resources/c0145\" title=\"Porgy and Bess poster collection\" show=\"new\"\u003e\u003c/extptr\u003e, the \u003cextptr href=\"https://aspace.gmu.edu/resources/c0002\" title=\"Federal Theatre Project collection\" show=\"new\"\u003e\u003c/extptr\u003e, the \u003cextptr href=\"https://aspace.gmu.edu/resources/c0043\" title=\"Robert C. Schnitzer papers\" show=\"new\"\u003e\u003c/extptr\u003e, and many other \u003cextptr href=\"https://scrc.gmu.edu/collections-subject.php#THEATRE\" title=\"performing arts collections.\" show=\"new\"\u003e\u003c/extptr\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003e The Ohio State University Libraries' Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee Theatre Research Institute holds the \u003cextptr href=\"https://library.osu.edu/collections/spec.tri.rb\" title=\"Robert Breen and Wilva papers.\" show=\"new\"\u003e\u003c/extptr\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003e The UCLA Library Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research Library holds the \u003cextptr href=\"https://oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/c8fn1762/\" title=\"ANTA West records.\" show=\"new\"\u003e\u003c/extptr\u003e\u003c/p\u003e"],"relatedmaterial_heading_ssm":["Related Material"],"relatedmaterial_tesim":["Special Collections Research Center also holds the  , the  , the  , and many other "," The Ohio State University Libraries' Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee Theatre Research Institute holds the "," The UCLA Library Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research Library holds the "],"scopecontent_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eThe Robert and Wilva Breen papers consists of correspondence, memoranda, newsclippings, photographs, notebooks, and audiovisual materials largely related to the creation and running of the American National Theater and Academy (ANTA), as well as Robert and Wilva Breen's long-term involvement with the organization from 1944 through the 1950s. The collection also contains many photographs of theaters and theatrical performances from across the United States, including from Broadway and Off-Broadway theaters and shows, as well as numerous colleges, universities, high schools, and local children's theaters. The bulk of the collection originates from the 1940s - 2000s, with an outlier date of 1834 from an antique newspaper.\u003c/p\u003e"],"scopecontent_heading_ssm":["Scope and Content"],"scopecontent_tesim":["The Robert and Wilva Breen papers consists of correspondence, memoranda, newsclippings, photographs, notebooks, and audiovisual materials largely related to the creation and running of the American National Theater and Academy (ANTA), as well as Robert and Wilva Breen's long-term involvement with the organization from 1944 through the 1950s. The collection also contains many photographs of theaters and theatrical performances from across the United States, including from Broadway and Off-Broadway theaters and shows, as well as numerous colleges, universities, high schools, and local children's theaters. The bulk of the collection originates from the 1940s - 2000s, with an outlier date of 1834 from an antique newspaper."],"userestrict_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eThe copyright and related rights status of this collection have not been evaluated (See http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/CNE/1.0/).\u003c/p\u003e"],"userestrict_heading_ssm":["Use Restrictions"],"userestrict_tesim":["The copyright and related rights status of this collection have not been evaluated (See http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/CNE/1.0/)."],"abstract_html_tesm":["\u003cabstract id=\"aspace_ref348\"\u003eThe Robert and Wilva Breen papers consists of correspondence, memoranda, newsclippings, photographs, notebooks, and audiovisual materials largely related to the creation and running of the American National Theater and Academy (ANTA), as well as Robert and Wilva Breen's long-term involvement with the organization. The bulk of the collection originates from 1933 - 2000s, with an outlier date of 1834 from an antique newspaper.\u003c/abstract\u003e"],"abstract_tesim":["The Robert and Wilva Breen papers consists of correspondence, memoranda, newsclippings, photographs, notebooks, and audiovisual materials largely related to the creation and running of the American National Theater and Academy (ANTA), as well as Robert and Wilva Breen's long-term involvement with the organization. The bulk of the collection originates from 1933 - 2000s, with an outlier date of 1834 from an antique newspaper."],"physloc_html_tesm":["\u003cphysloc id=\"aspace_ddb931edc4f44bf997d326b2923a7505\"\u003eR2, C9, S3- C11, S7\nR3 C1 S1 - C2, S5\nOSR3, C4, S4\nMap Case 8.1-8.2, 9.1\u003c/physloc\u003e"],"physloc_tesim":["R2, C9, S3- C11, S7\nR3 C1 S1 - C2, S5\nOSR3, C4, S4\nMap Case 8.1-8.2, 9.1"],"names_coll_ssim":["American National Ballet Theater","American National Theatre and Academy","ANTA (Organization)","ANTA West (Organization)","Porterfield, Robert, 1905-1971"],"names_ssim":["George Mason University. Libraries. Special Collections Research Center","American National Ballet Theater","American National Theatre and Academy","ANTA (Organization)","ANTA West (Organization)","Breen, Robert","Breen, Wilva","Porterfield, Robert, 1905-1971"],"corpname_ssim":["George Mason University. Libraries. Special Collections Research Center","American National Ballet Theater","American National Theatre and Academy","ANTA (Organization)","ANTA West (Organization)"],"persname_ssim":["Breen, Robert","Breen, Wilva","Porterfield, Robert, 1905-1971"],"language_ssim":["English"],"descrules_ssm":["Describing Archives: A Content Standard"],"total_component_count_is":3014,"online_item_count_is":0,"component_level_isim":[0],"sort_isi":0,"timestamp":"2026-05-08T07:16:03.204Z"}]}},"label":"Breadcrumbs"}}},"links":{"self":"https://search.arvasarchive.org/catalog/vifgm_repositories_2_resources_521"}},{"id":"vifgm_repositories_2_resources_156","type":"collection","attributes":{"title":"Robert C. Schnitzer papers","creator":{"id":"https://search.arvasarchive.org/catalog/vifgm_repositories_2_resources_156#creator","type":"document_value","attributes":{"value":"Schnitzer, Robert C.","label":"Creator"}},"abstract_or_scope":{"id":"https://search.arvasarchive.org/catalog/vifgm_repositories_2_resources_156#abstract_or_scope","type":"document_value","attributes":{"value":"Included in the Robert C. Schnitzer Papers are textual materials (subject files, correspondence, memoranda) about ANTA overseas productions, photographs of ANTA theater troupe and other ANTA personnel in Europe 1951 and 1955, 1950s and 1960s promotional posters for ANTA overseas productions, newspaper clippings about ANTA performances in Europe, prompt script to the play \u003cspan\u003eSkin of Our Teeth\u003c/span\u003e starring Helen Hayes, and working papers and other materials about Schnitzer's work with the University of Michigan Professional Theatre Program.","label":"Abstract Or Scope"}},"breadcrumbs":{"id":"https://search.arvasarchive.org/catalog/vifgm_repositories_2_resources_156#breadcrumbs","type":"document_value","attributes":{"value":{"id":"vifgm_repositories_2_resources_156","ead_ssi":"vifgm_repositories_2_resources_156","_root_":"vifgm_repositories_2_resources_156","_nest_parent_":"vifgm_repositories_2_resources_156","ead_source_url_ssi":"data/oai/GMU/repositories_2_resources_156.xml","title_filing_ssi":"Robert C. Schnitzer papers","title_ssm":["Robert C. Schnitzer papers"],"title_tesim":["Robert C. Schnitzer papers"],"unitdate_ssm":["1950-1980"],"unitdate_inclusive_ssm":["1950-1980"],"level_ssm":["collection"],"level_ssim":["Collection"],"unitid_ssm":["C0043","/repositories/2/resources/156"],"text":["C0043","/repositories/2/resources/156","Robert C. Schnitzer papers","Theater","Theater -- Production and direction","Theater -- Europe","Performing arts","Theater programs","Performing arts posters","There are no access restrictions.","This collection is arranged according to subject.","Robert C. Schnitzer is a former actor, producer, educator, and theater administrator. As a young actor in New York City, Schnitzer appeared in or stage managed  The Brothers Karamazov ,  Hamlet, An Enemy of the People, Richelieu, Henry V, Richard III, Caponsacchi, Macbeth,  and  Cyrano de Bergerac.  From 1936 to 1939, Schnitzer was Delaware's State Director and Deputy National Director of the WPA's Federal Theatre Project. ","Schnitzer later joined the American National Theater and Academy (ANTA) as general manager for the Experimental Theater in New York, which returned to the New York theater scene under the auspices of ANTA in 1947. The ANTA-sponsored performances managed by Mr. Schnitzer included the first American production of  Hamlet  to be presented at Elsinore, Denmark; the first European tour of the American Ballet Theatre in 1950; and from 1951 to 1953, three Berlin festivals that showcased American talent such as the Theatre Guild's  Oklahoma!,  the Hall Johnson Choir, and the Julliard String Quartet. ","In 1954, Mr. Schnitzer took over as general manager for the International Exchange Program through which ANTA helped promote and sponsor cultural exchanges in cooperation with the U.S. State Department. The hundreds of overseas productions arranged by Mr. Schnitzer ran the gamut from college choirs and athletes to notables such as Marian Anderson, the Dave Brubeck Quartet, and the New York Philharmonic Orchestra under the direction of Leonard Bernstein. Many of these performers played to audiences in Berlin, Moscow, and other locations behind the Iron Curtain. ","In 1960, Mr. Schnitzer became the general manager for the American Repertory Company, set up by the Theatre Guild at the request of the U.S. Government to export the best in American theater. He arranged for three plays -  The Skin of Our Teeth, The Miracle Worker,  and  The Glass Menagerie  - to tour 28 countries in Europe and South America in 1961. The company included the actress Helen Hayes. During the 1970s Schnitzer was head of the University of Michigan's Professional Theatre Program. Schnitzer died on January 2, 2008.","Processed by Special Collections Research Center staff. EAD markup completed by Eron Ackerman and Jordan Patty in March 2009. Finding aid updated by Amanda Menjivar in June 2023.","The Special Collections Research Center also holds the   and many collections on the ","Included in the Robert C. Schnitzer Papers are textual materials (subject files, correspondence, memoranda) about ANTA overseas productions, photographs of ANTA theater troupe and other ANTA personnel in Europe 1951 and 1955, 1950s and 1960s promotional posters for ANTA overseas productions, newspaper clippings about ANTA performances in Europe, prompt script to the play  Skin of Our Teeth  starring Helen Hayes, and working papers and other materials about Schnitzer's work with the University of Michigan Professional Theatre Program.","The copyright and related rights status of this collection have not been evaluated (See http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/CNE/1.0/)","Included in the Robert C. Schnitzer Papers are textual materials (subject files, correspondence, memoranda) about ANTA overseas productions, photographs of ANTA theater troupe and other ANTA personnel in Europe 1951 and 1955, 1950s and 1960s promotional posters for ANTA overseas productions, newspaper clippings about ANTA performances in Europe, prompt script to the play  Skin of Our Teeth  starring Helen Hayes, and working papers and other materials about Schnitzer's work with the University of Michigan Professional Theatre Program.","R20, C3, S1 \nR20, C3, S4-S7","George Mason University. Libraries. Special Collections Research Center","ANTA (Organization)","University of Michigan. Professional Theatre Program","Schnitzer, Robert C.","English"],"unitid_tesim":["C0043","/repositories/2/resources/156"],"normalized_title_ssm":["Robert C. Schnitzer papers"],"collection_title_tesim":["Robert C. Schnitzer papers"],"collection_ssim":["Robert C. 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","In 1954, Mr. Schnitzer took over as general manager for the International Exchange Program through which ANTA helped promote and sponsor cultural exchanges in cooperation with the U.S. State Department. The hundreds of overseas productions arranged by Mr. Schnitzer ran the gamut from college choirs and athletes to notables such as Marian Anderson, the Dave Brubeck Quartet, and the New York Philharmonic Orchestra under the direction of Leonard Bernstein. Many of these performers played to audiences in Berlin, Moscow, and other locations behind the Iron Curtain. ","In 1960, Mr. Schnitzer became the general manager for the American Repertory Company, set up by the Theatre Guild at the request of the U.S. Government to export the best in American theater. He arranged for three plays -  The Skin of Our Teeth, The Miracle Worker,  and  The Glass Menagerie  - to tour 28 countries in Europe and South America in 1961. The company included the actress Helen Hayes. 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