{"links":{"self":"https://search.arvasarchive.org/catalog.json?f%5Blevel%5D%5B%5D=Subseries\u0026f%5Brepository%5D%5B%5D=George+Mason+University\u0026view=list","next":"https://search.arvasarchive.org/catalog.json?f%5Blevel%5D%5B%5D=Subseries\u0026f%5Brepository%5D%5B%5D=George+Mason+University\u0026page=2\u0026view=list","last":"https://search.arvasarchive.org/catalog.json?f%5Blevel%5D%5B%5D=Subseries\u0026f%5Brepository%5D%5B%5D=George+Mason+University\u0026page=50\u0026view=list"},"meta":{"pages":{"current_page":1,"next_page":2,"prev_page":null,"total_pages":50,"limit_value":10,"offset_value":0,"total_count":494,"first_page?":true,"last_page?":false}},"data":[{"id":"vifgm_repositories_2_resources_596_c05_c01","type":"Subseries","attributes":{"title":"5.1: Subject Files, 1832-1979","breadcrumbs":{"id":"https://search.arvasarchive.org/catalog/vifgm_repositories_2_resources_596_c05_c01#breadcrumbs","type":"document_value","attributes":{"value":{"ref_ssi":"vifgm_repositories_2_resources_596_c05_c01","ref_ssm":["vifgm_repositories_2_resources_596_c05_c01"],"id":"vifgm_repositories_2_resources_596_c05_c01","ead_ssi":"vifgm_repositories_2_resources_596","_root_":"vifgm_repositories_2_resources_596","_nest_parent_":"vifgm_repositories_2_resources_596_c05","parent_ssi":"vifgm_repositories_2_resources_596_c05","parent_ssim":["vifgm_repositories_2_resources_596","vifgm_repositories_2_resources_596_c05"],"parent_ids_ssim":["vifgm_repositories_2_resources_596","vifgm_repositories_2_resources_596_c05"],"parent_unittitles_ssm":["C. Harrison Mann, Jr. papers","Series 5: Subject and Miscellaneous Files (Boxes 79-142)"],"parent_unittitles_tesim":["C. Harrison Mann, Jr. papers","Series 5: Subject and Miscellaneous Files (Boxes 79-142)"],"text":["C. Harrison Mann, Jr. papers","Series 5: Subject and Miscellaneous Files (Boxes 79-142)","5.1: Subject Files, 1832-1979"],"title_filing_ssi":"5.1: Subject Files, 1832-1979","title_ssm":["5.1: Subject Files, 1832-1979"],"title_tesim":["5.1: Subject Files, 1832-1979"],"normalized_title_ssm":["5.1: Subject Files, 1832-1979"],"component_level_isim":[2],"repository_ssim":["George Mason University"],"collection_ssim":["C. Harrison Mann, Jr. papers"],"has_online_content_ssim":["false"],"child_component_count_isi":590,"level_ssm":["Subseries"],"level_ssim":["Subseries"],"sort_isi":599,"parent_access_restrict_tesm":["This collection is housed at the WRLC Shared Collections Facility. Advance notice will be required to access any materials.","There are no access restrictions."],"parent_access_terms_tesm":["Materials created before 1928 are in the Public Domain with no known restrictions. The following statement applies to all other materials: The copyright and related rights status of this collection have not been evaluated (See http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/CNE/1.0/)"],"_nest_path_":"/components#4/components#0","timestamp":"2026-05-01T00:35:24.911Z","collection":{"numFound":1,"start":0,"numFoundExact":true,"docs":[{"id":"vifgm_repositories_2_resources_596","ead_ssi":"vifgm_repositories_2_resources_596","_root_":"vifgm_repositories_2_resources_596","_nest_parent_":"vifgm_repositories_2_resources_596","ead_source_url_ssi":"data/oai/GMU/repositories_2_resources_596.xml","title_filing_ssi":"C. Harrison Mann, Jr. papers","title_ssm":["C. Harrison Mann, Jr. papers"],"title_tesim":["C. Harrison Mann, Jr. papers"],"unitdate_ssm":["1832-1979"],"unitdate_inclusive_ssm":["1832-1979"],"level_ssm":["collection"],"level_ssim":["Collection"],"unitid_ssm":["C0094","/repositories/2/resources/596"],"text":["C0094","/repositories/2/resources/596","C. Harrison Mann, Jr. papers","Virginia -- Politics and government -- 20th century","United States -- Politics and government","Education -- Political aspects -- Virginia","Legislators -- United States","Bills, Legislative -- United States","Transportation","Correspondence","Newspapers","This collection is housed at the WRLC Shared Collections Facility. Advance notice will be required to access any materials.","There are no access restrictions.","Selections from the C. Harrison Mann papers are also available in the  .","Charles Harrison Mann, Jr. was born in Alabama in 1908 and received his law degree from the University of Virginia in 1931. He subsequently became an attorney both in Washington, D.C. and in Arlington, Virginia where he and his wife Betty Hart Mann, maintained their home. In 1949, while serving as President of the Northern Virginia Chapter of the University of Virginia Alumni Association, Mann organized an exploratory committee of local citizens to develop support for higher education in Northern Virginia. Through these efforts, the Northern Virginia Center of the University opened in October 1, 1949."," In 1953 Mann organized the Advisory Council to the Northern Virginia Center, which agreed that a two-year branch college should be established. Elected as a Democrat to the Virginia House of Delegates from 1954-1970, Mann sponsored a resolution calling for a study of educational needs for Virginia, and was instrumental in recommending the development of a college system in Virginia, particularly the establishment of a branch in Northern Virginia."," Mann was responsible for creating an educational financial assistance program for Virginia college students, and was instrumental in sponsoring legislation allowing local governments to form regional boards to acquire and transfer land and buildings for educational use."," He also served as the Chairman of George Mason College's first Board of Control. He sponsored bills constituting George Mason College as a branch of the University of Virginia and later elevating it to a four year division of the University with the right to grant degrees and offer graduate program. He served on the GMU Board of Visitors from 1975 to 1977. He died in 1977.","Processed by Special Collections Research Center staff. EAD markup completed in March 2009 by Eron Ackerman and Jordan Patty, revised by Amanda Menjivar in 2016. Reprocessed by Amanda Menjivar in 2016.","The Special Collections Research Center also holds other personal papers and organizational records on the politics of Northern Virginia as well as the George Mason University archives. In addition, there is the C. Harrison Mann, Jr. collection of rare books and atlases that can be found searching the  . as well as the  .","Comprises C. Harrison Mann, Jr.'s personal papers and handwritten draft of his history of George Mason University. Papers pertain to his political career and include subject files, memoranda, campaign materials, speeches, newsclippings, maps, and other related materials."," Series 1: Correspondence (1935 - 1971) documents Mann's typed and handwritten correspondence with multiple parties over most of the twentieth century. Notable correspondents include Senator Harry F. Byrd, Judge William Moncure, and Virginia Governor James Lindsay Almond, Jr."," Series 2: General Assembly (1950 - 1970) documents Mann's time in the Virginia General Assembly, and is divided into two subseries. Series 2.1: General Assembly Correspondence. Series 2.2: General Assembly Subject Files, with subjects including the Civil War Commission, Clippings, Education, Insurance, and Schools Data."," Series 3: Career (1945 - 1970) documents Mann's political career, local and national politics, and legislation, and is divided into three subseries. Series 3.1: Speeches, Public Engagements and Press Releases. Series 3.2: Legislation, Congressional Resolutions and Documents, includes documents on bills passed and killed, the Gray Commission and the Perrow Commission (both as a result of Brown v. Board of Education), and Senate and House Bills and Joint Resolutions. Series 3.3: Politics and Platforms, includes documents on various local and national political campaigns, the Democratic Executive Committee, primaries, elections, and special sessions."," Series 4: George Mason University (1958 - 1978) documents Mann's involvement with the founding of George Mason University (G.M.U.) and is divided into three subseries. Series 4.1: Correspondence, includes correspondence concerning G.M.U. during the years 1964 - 1971. Series 4.2: Newspaper Clippings, includes newspaper articles on student housing, new buildings, student protests, and college plans. Series 4.3: Subject Files, includes documents on the G.M.U. Advisory Board, the G.M.U. Broadside Newspaper, the G.M.U. Law School, and pamphlets."," Series 5: Subject and Miscellaneous Files (1832 - 1979) documents numerous subjects and is divided into two subseries. 5.1: Subject Files, includes documents with subjects ranging from civil defense, Communism, mental health, to historical newspapers, newspaper clippings, copies of historical maps, education, and Mann's personal documents. It also includes a large portion on transportation, with documents pertaining to billboards, trucks, highways, traffic safety, and other transportation-related subjects. 5.2: Miscellaneous Files, includes Mann's personal slides collection and political endorsements notecards.","Materials created before 1928 are in the Public Domain with no known restrictions. The following statement applies to all other materials: The copyright and related rights status of this collection have not been evaluated (See http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/CNE/1.0/)","Comprises C. Harrison Mann, Jr.'s personal papers and handwritten draft of his history of George Mason University. Papers pertain to his political career and include subject files, memoranda, campaign materials, speeches, newsclippings and other related materials.","This collection is housed at the WRLC Shared Collections Facility.","George Mason University. Libraries. Special Collections Research Center","George Mason University","Virginia. General Assembly","Mann, Charles Harrison, Jr., 1908-1977","Byrd, Harry F. (Harry Flood), 1887-1966","English"],"unitid_tesim":["C0094","/repositories/2/resources/596"],"normalized_title_ssm":["C. Harrison Mann, Jr. papers"],"collection_title_tesim":["C. Harrison Mann, Jr. papers"],"collection_ssim":["C. Harrison Mann, Jr. papers"],"repository_ssm":["George Mason University"],"repository_ssim":["George Mason University"],"geogname_ssm":["Virginia -- Politics and government -- 20th century","United States -- Politics and government"],"geogname_ssim":["Virginia -- Politics and government -- 20th century","United States -- Politics and government"],"creator_ssm":["Mann, Charles Harrison, Jr., 1908-1977"],"creator_ssim":["Mann, Charles Harrison, Jr., 1908-1977"],"creator_persname_ssim":["Mann, Charles Harrison, Jr., 1908-1977"],"creators_ssim":["Mann, Charles Harrison, Jr., 1908-1977"],"places_ssim":["Virginia -- Politics and government -- 20th century","United States -- Politics and government"],"access_terms_ssm":["Materials created before 1928 are in the Public Domain with no known restrictions. The following statement applies to all other materials: The copyright and related rights status of this collection have not been evaluated (See http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/CNE/1.0/)"],"acqinfo_ssim":["Collection donated by Betty Hart Mann in 1979."],"access_subjects_ssim":["Education -- Political aspects -- Virginia","Legislators -- United States","Bills, Legislative -- United States","Transportation","Correspondence","Newspapers"],"access_subjects_ssm":["Education -- Political aspects -- Virginia","Legislators -- United States","Bills, Legislative -- United States","Transportation","Correspondence","Newspapers"],"has_online_content_ssim":["false"],"extent_ssm":["85.5 linear feet 142 boxes"],"extent_tesim":["85.5 linear feet 142 boxes"],"genreform_ssim":["Correspondence","Newspapers"],"date_range_isim":[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],"accessrestrict_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eThis collection is housed at the WRLC Shared Collections Facility. Advance notice will be required to access any materials.\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eThere are no access restrictions.\u003c/p\u003e"],"accessrestrict_heading_ssm":["Access Restrictions"],"accessrestrict_tesim":["This collection is housed at the WRLC Shared Collections Facility. Advance notice will be required to access any materials.","There are no access restrictions."],"altformavail_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eSelections from the C. Harrison Mann papers are also available in the \u003cextptr href=\"http://digilib.gmu.edu:8080/dspace/handle/1920/7544\" title=\"C. Harrison Mann, Jr. Digital Collection\" show=\"new\"\u003e\u003c/extptr\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e"],"altformavail_heading_ssm":["Alternative Form Available"],"altformavail_tesim":["Selections from the C. Harrison Mann papers are also available in the  ."],"bioghist_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eCharles Harrison Mann, Jr. was born in Alabama in 1908 and received his law degree from the University of Virginia in 1931. He subsequently became an attorney both in Washington, D.C. and in Arlington, Virginia where he and his wife Betty Hart Mann, maintained their home. In 1949, while serving as President of the Northern Virginia Chapter of the University of Virginia Alumni Association, Mann organized an exploratory committee of local citizens to develop support for higher education in Northern Virginia. Through these efforts, the Northern Virginia Center of the University opened in October 1, 1949.\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003e In 1953 Mann organized the Advisory Council to the Northern Virginia Center, which agreed that a two-year branch college should be established. Elected as a Democrat to the Virginia House of Delegates from 1954-1970, Mann sponsored a resolution calling for a study of educational needs for Virginia, and was instrumental in recommending the development of a college system in Virginia, particularly the establishment of a branch in Northern Virginia.\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003e Mann was responsible for creating an educational financial assistance program for Virginia college students, and was instrumental in sponsoring legislation allowing local governments to form regional boards to acquire and transfer land and buildings for educational use.\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003e He also served as the Chairman of George Mason College's first Board of Control. He sponsored bills constituting George Mason College as a branch of the University of Virginia and later elevating it to a four year division of the University with the right to grant degrees and offer graduate program. He served on the GMU Board of Visitors from 1975 to 1977. He died in 1977.\u003c/p\u003e"],"bioghist_heading_ssm":["Biographical Information"],"bioghist_tesim":["Charles Harrison Mann, Jr. was born in Alabama in 1908 and received his law degree from the University of Virginia in 1931. He subsequently became an attorney both in Washington, D.C. and in Arlington, Virginia where he and his wife Betty Hart Mann, maintained their home. In 1949, while serving as President of the Northern Virginia Chapter of the University of Virginia Alumni Association, Mann organized an exploratory committee of local citizens to develop support for higher education in Northern Virginia. Through these efforts, the Northern Virginia Center of the University opened in October 1, 1949."," In 1953 Mann organized the Advisory Council to the Northern Virginia Center, which agreed that a two-year branch college should be established. Elected as a Democrat to the Virginia House of Delegates from 1954-1970, Mann sponsored a resolution calling for a study of educational needs for Virginia, and was instrumental in recommending the development of a college system in Virginia, particularly the establishment of a branch in Northern Virginia."," Mann was responsible for creating an educational financial assistance program for Virginia college students, and was instrumental in sponsoring legislation allowing local governments to form regional boards to acquire and transfer land and buildings for educational use."," He also served as the Chairman of George Mason College's first Board of Control. He sponsored bills constituting George Mason College as a branch of the University of Virginia and later elevating it to a four year division of the University with the right to grant degrees and offer graduate program. He served on the GMU Board of Visitors from 1975 to 1977. He died in 1977."],"prefercite_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eC. Harrison Mann, Jr. papers, C0094, Special Collections Research Center, George Mason University Libraries.\u003c/p\u003e"],"prefercite_tesim":["C. Harrison Mann, Jr. papers, C0094, Special Collections Research Center, George Mason University Libraries."],"processinfo_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eProcessed by Special Collections Research Center staff. EAD markup completed in March 2009 by Eron Ackerman and Jordan Patty, revised by Amanda Menjivar in 2016. Reprocessed by Amanda Menjivar in 2016.\u003c/p\u003e"],"processinfo_heading_ssm":["Processing Information"],"processinfo_tesim":["Processed by Special Collections Research Center staff. EAD markup completed in March 2009 by Eron Ackerman and Jordan Patty, revised by Amanda Menjivar in 2016. Reprocessed by Amanda Menjivar in 2016."],"relatedmaterial_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eThe Special Collections Research Center also holds other personal papers and organizational records on the politics of Northern Virginia as well as the George Mason University archives. In addition, there is the C. Harrison Mann, Jr. collection of rare books and atlases that can be found searching the \u003cextptr href=\"http://library.gmu.edu/\" title=\"GMU Libraries catalog\" show=\"new\"\u003e\u003c/extptr\u003e. as well as the \u003cextptr href=\"https://images.gmu.edu/luna/servlet/GMUDPSdps~5~5\" title=\"C. Harrison Mann, Jr. Digitized Map Collection\" show=\"new\"\u003e\u003c/extptr\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e"],"relatedmaterial_heading_ssm":["Related Material"],"relatedmaterial_tesim":["The Special Collections Research Center also holds other personal papers and organizational records on the politics of Northern Virginia as well as the George Mason University archives. In addition, there is the C. Harrison Mann, Jr. collection of rare books and atlases that can be found searching the  . as well as the  ."],"scopecontent_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eComprises C. Harrison Mann, Jr.'s personal papers and handwritten draft of his history of George Mason University. Papers pertain to his political career and include subject files, memoranda, campaign materials, speeches, newsclippings, maps, and other related materials.\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003e Series 1: Correspondence (1935 - 1971) documents Mann's typed and handwritten correspondence with multiple parties over most of the twentieth century. Notable correspondents include Senator Harry F. Byrd, Judge William Moncure, and Virginia Governor James Lindsay Almond, Jr.\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003e Series 2: General Assembly (1950 - 1970) documents Mann's time in the Virginia General Assembly, and is divided into two subseries. Series 2.1: General Assembly Correspondence. Series 2.2: General Assembly Subject Files, with subjects including the Civil War Commission, Clippings, Education, Insurance, and Schools Data.\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003e Series 3: Career (1945 - 1970) documents Mann's political career, local and national politics, and legislation, and is divided into three subseries. Series 3.1: Speeches, Public Engagements and Press Releases. Series 3.2: Legislation, Congressional Resolutions and Documents, includes documents on bills passed and killed, the Gray Commission and the Perrow Commission (both as a result of Brown v. Board of Education), and Senate and House Bills and Joint Resolutions. Series 3.3: Politics and Platforms, includes documents on various local and national political campaigns, the Democratic Executive Committee, primaries, elections, and special sessions.\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003e Series 4: George Mason University (1958 - 1978) documents Mann's involvement with the founding of George Mason University (G.M.U.) and is divided into three subseries. Series 4.1: Correspondence, includes correspondence concerning G.M.U. during the years 1964 - 1971. Series 4.2: Newspaper Clippings, includes newspaper articles on student housing, new buildings, student protests, and college plans. Series 4.3: Subject Files, includes documents on the G.M.U. Advisory Board, the G.M.U. Broadside Newspaper, the G.M.U. Law School, and pamphlets.\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003e Series 5: Subject and Miscellaneous Files (1832 - 1979) documents numerous subjects and is divided into two subseries. 5.1: Subject Files, includes documents with subjects ranging from civil defense, Communism, mental health, to historical newspapers, newspaper clippings, copies of historical maps, education, and Mann's personal documents. It also includes a large portion on transportation, with documents pertaining to billboards, trucks, highways, traffic safety, and other transportation-related subjects. 5.2: Miscellaneous Files, includes Mann's personal slides collection and political endorsements notecards.\u003c/p\u003e"],"scopecontent_heading_ssm":["Scope and Content"],"scopecontent_tesim":["Comprises C. Harrison Mann, Jr.'s personal papers and handwritten draft of his history of George Mason University. Papers pertain to his political career and include subject files, memoranda, campaign materials, speeches, newsclippings, maps, and other related materials."," Series 1: Correspondence (1935 - 1971) documents Mann's typed and handwritten correspondence with multiple parties over most of the twentieth century. Notable correspondents include Senator Harry F. Byrd, Judge William Moncure, and Virginia Governor James Lindsay Almond, Jr."," Series 2: General Assembly (1950 - 1970) documents Mann's time in the Virginia General Assembly, and is divided into two subseries. Series 2.1: General Assembly Correspondence. Series 2.2: General Assembly Subject Files, with subjects including the Civil War Commission, Clippings, Education, Insurance, and Schools Data."," Series 3: Career (1945 - 1970) documents Mann's political career, local and national politics, and legislation, and is divided into three subseries. Series 3.1: Speeches, Public Engagements and Press Releases. Series 3.2: Legislation, Congressional Resolutions and Documents, includes documents on bills passed and killed, the Gray Commission and the Perrow Commission (both as a result of Brown v. Board of Education), and Senate and House Bills and Joint Resolutions. Series 3.3: Politics and Platforms, includes documents on various local and national political campaigns, the Democratic Executive Committee, primaries, elections, and special sessions."," Series 4: George Mason University (1958 - 1978) documents Mann's involvement with the founding of George Mason University (G.M.U.) and is divided into three subseries. Series 4.1: Correspondence, includes correspondence concerning G.M.U. during the years 1964 - 1971. Series 4.2: Newspaper Clippings, includes newspaper articles on student housing, new buildings, student protests, and college plans. Series 4.3: Subject Files, includes documents on the G.M.U. Advisory Board, the G.M.U. Broadside Newspaper, the G.M.U. Law School, and pamphlets."," Series 5: Subject and Miscellaneous Files (1832 - 1979) documents numerous subjects and is divided into two subseries. 5.1: Subject Files, includes documents with subjects ranging from civil defense, Communism, mental health, to historical newspapers, newspaper clippings, copies of historical maps, education, and Mann's personal documents. It also includes a large portion on transportation, with documents pertaining to billboards, trucks, highways, traffic safety, and other transportation-related subjects. 5.2: Miscellaneous Files, includes Mann's personal slides collection and political endorsements notecards."],"userestrict_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eMaterials created before 1928 are in the Public Domain with no known restrictions. The following statement applies to all other materials: The 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":["Materials created before 1928 are in the Public Domain with no known restrictions. The following statement applies to all other materials: 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_ref3\"\u003eComprises C. Harrison Mann, Jr.'s personal papers and handwritten draft of his history of George Mason University. Papers pertain to his political career and include subject files, memoranda, campaign materials, speeches, newsclippings and other related materials.\u003c/abstract\u003e"],"abstract_tesim":["Comprises C. Harrison Mann, Jr.'s personal papers and handwritten draft of his history of George Mason University. Papers pertain to his political career and include subject files, memoranda, campaign materials, speeches, newsclippings and other related materials."],"physloc_html_tesm":["\u003cphysloc id=\"aspace_8c7d8628278bfcd85b59dcb97e9270fd\"\u003eThis collection is housed at the WRLC Shared Collections Facility.\u003c/physloc\u003e"],"physloc_tesim":["This collection is housed at the WRLC Shared Collections Facility."],"names_coll_ssim":["George Mason University","Virginia. General Assembly","Byrd, Harry F. (Harry Flood), 1887-1966"],"names_ssim":["George Mason University. Libraries. Special Collections Research Center","George Mason University","Virginia. General Assembly","Mann, Charles Harrison, Jr., 1908-1977","Byrd, Harry F. (Harry Flood), 1887-1966"],"corpname_ssim":["George Mason University. Libraries. Special Collections Research Center","George Mason University","Virginia. 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Advance notice will be required to access any materials.","There are no access restrictions."],"parent_access_terms_tesm":["Materials created before 1928 are in the Public Domain with no known restrictions. The following statement applies to all other materials: The copyright and related rights status of this collection have not been evaluated (See http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/CNE/1.0/)"],"_nest_path_":"/components#4/components#1","timestamp":"2026-05-01T00:35:24.911Z","collection":{"numFound":1,"start":0,"numFoundExact":true,"docs":[{"id":"vifgm_repositories_2_resources_596","ead_ssi":"vifgm_repositories_2_resources_596","_root_":"vifgm_repositories_2_resources_596","_nest_parent_":"vifgm_repositories_2_resources_596","ead_source_url_ssi":"data/oai/GMU/repositories_2_resources_596.xml","title_filing_ssi":"C. Harrison Mann, Jr. papers","title_ssm":["C. Harrison Mann, Jr. papers"],"title_tesim":["C. Harrison Mann, Jr. papers"],"unitdate_ssm":["1832-1979"],"unitdate_inclusive_ssm":["1832-1979"],"level_ssm":["collection"],"level_ssim":["Collection"],"unitid_ssm":["C0094","/repositories/2/resources/596"],"text":["C0094","/repositories/2/resources/596","C. Harrison Mann, Jr. papers","Virginia -- Politics and government -- 20th century","United States -- Politics and government","Education -- Political aspects -- Virginia","Legislators -- United States","Bills, Legislative -- United States","Transportation","Correspondence","Newspapers","This collection is housed at the WRLC Shared Collections Facility. Advance notice will be required to access any materials.","There are no access restrictions.","Selections from the C. Harrison Mann papers are also available in the  .","Charles Harrison Mann, Jr. was born in Alabama in 1908 and received his law degree from the University of Virginia in 1931. He subsequently became an attorney both in Washington, D.C. and in Arlington, Virginia where he and his wife Betty Hart Mann, maintained their home. In 1949, while serving as President of the Northern Virginia Chapter of the University of Virginia Alumni Association, Mann organized an exploratory committee of local citizens to develop support for higher education in Northern Virginia. Through these efforts, the Northern Virginia Center of the University opened in October 1, 1949."," In 1953 Mann organized the Advisory Council to the Northern Virginia Center, which agreed that a two-year branch college should be established. Elected as a Democrat to the Virginia House of Delegates from 1954-1970, Mann sponsored a resolution calling for a study of educational needs for Virginia, and was instrumental in recommending the development of a college system in Virginia, particularly the establishment of a branch in Northern Virginia."," Mann was responsible for creating an educational financial assistance program for Virginia college students, and was instrumental in sponsoring legislation allowing local governments to form regional boards to acquire and transfer land and buildings for educational use."," He also served as the Chairman of George Mason College's first Board of Control. He sponsored bills constituting George Mason College as a branch of the University of Virginia and later elevating it to a four year division of the University with the right to grant degrees and offer graduate program. He served on the GMU Board of Visitors from 1975 to 1977. He died in 1977.","Processed by Special Collections Research Center staff. EAD markup completed in March 2009 by Eron Ackerman and Jordan Patty, revised by Amanda Menjivar in 2016. Reprocessed by Amanda Menjivar in 2016.","The Special Collections Research Center also holds other personal papers and organizational records on the politics of Northern Virginia as well as the George Mason University archives. In addition, there is the C. Harrison Mann, Jr. collection of rare books and atlases that can be found searching the  . as well as the  .","Comprises C. Harrison Mann, Jr.'s personal papers and handwritten draft of his history of George Mason University. Papers pertain to his political career and include subject files, memoranda, campaign materials, speeches, newsclippings, maps, and other related materials."," Series 1: Correspondence (1935 - 1971) documents Mann's typed and handwritten correspondence with multiple parties over most of the twentieth century. Notable correspondents include Senator Harry F. Byrd, Judge William Moncure, and Virginia Governor James Lindsay Almond, Jr."," Series 2: General Assembly (1950 - 1970) documents Mann's time in the Virginia General Assembly, and is divided into two subseries. Series 2.1: General Assembly Correspondence. Series 2.2: General Assembly Subject Files, with subjects including the Civil War Commission, Clippings, Education, Insurance, and Schools Data."," Series 3: Career (1945 - 1970) documents Mann's political career, local and national politics, and legislation, and is divided into three subseries. Series 3.1: Speeches, Public Engagements and Press Releases. Series 3.2: Legislation, Congressional Resolutions and Documents, includes documents on bills passed and killed, the Gray Commission and the Perrow Commission (both as a result of Brown v. Board of Education), and Senate and House Bills and Joint Resolutions. Series 3.3: Politics and Platforms, includes documents on various local and national political campaigns, the Democratic Executive Committee, primaries, elections, and special sessions."," Series 4: George Mason University (1958 - 1978) documents Mann's involvement with the founding of George Mason University (G.M.U.) and is divided into three subseries. Series 4.1: Correspondence, includes correspondence concerning G.M.U. during the years 1964 - 1971. Series 4.2: Newspaper Clippings, includes newspaper articles on student housing, new buildings, student protests, and college plans. Series 4.3: Subject Files, includes documents on the G.M.U. Advisory Board, the G.M.U. Broadside Newspaper, the G.M.U. Law School, and pamphlets."," Series 5: Subject and Miscellaneous Files (1832 - 1979) documents numerous subjects and is divided into two subseries. 5.1: Subject Files, includes documents with subjects ranging from civil defense, Communism, mental health, to historical newspapers, newspaper clippings, copies of historical maps, education, and Mann's personal documents. It also includes a large portion on transportation, with documents pertaining to billboards, trucks, highways, traffic safety, and other transportation-related subjects. 5.2: Miscellaneous Files, includes Mann's personal slides collection and political endorsements notecards.","Materials created before 1928 are in the Public Domain with no known restrictions. The following statement applies to all other materials: The copyright and related rights status of this collection have not been evaluated (See http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/CNE/1.0/)","Comprises C. Harrison Mann, Jr.'s personal papers and handwritten draft of his history of George Mason University. Papers pertain to his political career and include subject files, memoranda, campaign materials, speeches, newsclippings and other related materials.","This collection is housed at the WRLC Shared Collections Facility.","George Mason University. Libraries. Special Collections Research Center","George Mason University","Virginia. General Assembly","Mann, Charles Harrison, Jr., 1908-1977","Byrd, Harry F. (Harry Flood), 1887-1966","English"],"unitid_tesim":["C0094","/repositories/2/resources/596"],"normalized_title_ssm":["C. Harrison Mann, Jr. papers"],"collection_title_tesim":["C. Harrison Mann, Jr. papers"],"collection_ssim":["C. Harrison Mann, Jr. papers"],"repository_ssm":["George Mason University"],"repository_ssim":["George Mason University"],"geogname_ssm":["Virginia -- Politics and government -- 20th century","United States -- Politics and government"],"geogname_ssim":["Virginia -- Politics and government -- 20th century","United States -- Politics and government"],"creator_ssm":["Mann, Charles Harrison, Jr., 1908-1977"],"creator_ssim":["Mann, Charles Harrison, Jr., 1908-1977"],"creator_persname_ssim":["Mann, Charles Harrison, Jr., 1908-1977"],"creators_ssim":["Mann, Charles Harrison, Jr., 1908-1977"],"places_ssim":["Virginia -- Politics and government -- 20th century","United States -- Politics and government"],"access_terms_ssm":["Materials created before 1928 are in the Public Domain with no known restrictions. The following statement applies to all other materials: The copyright and related rights status of this collection have not been evaluated (See http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/CNE/1.0/)"],"acqinfo_ssim":["Collection donated by Betty Hart Mann in 1979."],"access_subjects_ssim":["Education -- Political aspects -- Virginia","Legislators -- United States","Bills, Legislative -- United States","Transportation","Correspondence","Newspapers"],"access_subjects_ssm":["Education -- Political aspects -- Virginia","Legislators -- United States","Bills, Legislative -- United States","Transportation","Correspondence","Newspapers"],"has_online_content_ssim":["false"],"extent_ssm":["85.5 linear feet 142 boxes"],"extent_tesim":["85.5 linear feet 142 boxes"],"genreform_ssim":["Correspondence","Newspapers"],"date_range_isim":[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],"accessrestrict_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eThis collection is housed at the WRLC Shared Collections Facility. Advance notice will be required to access any materials.\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eThere are no access restrictions.\u003c/p\u003e"],"accessrestrict_heading_ssm":["Access Restrictions"],"accessrestrict_tesim":["This collection is housed at the WRLC Shared Collections Facility. Advance notice will be required to access any materials.","There are no access restrictions."],"altformavail_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eSelections from the C. Harrison Mann papers are also available in the \u003cextptr href=\"http://digilib.gmu.edu:8080/dspace/handle/1920/7544\" title=\"C. Harrison Mann, Jr. Digital Collection\" show=\"new\"\u003e\u003c/extptr\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e"],"altformavail_heading_ssm":["Alternative Form Available"],"altformavail_tesim":["Selections from the C. Harrison Mann papers are also available in the  ."],"bioghist_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eCharles Harrison Mann, Jr. was born in Alabama in 1908 and received his law degree from the University of Virginia in 1931. He subsequently became an attorney both in Washington, D.C. and in Arlington, Virginia where he and his wife Betty Hart Mann, maintained their home. In 1949, while serving as President of the Northern Virginia Chapter of the University of Virginia Alumni Association, Mann organized an exploratory committee of local citizens to develop support for higher education in Northern Virginia. Through these efforts, the Northern Virginia Center of the University opened in October 1, 1949.\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003e In 1953 Mann organized the Advisory Council to the Northern Virginia Center, which agreed that a two-year branch college should be established. Elected as a Democrat to the Virginia House of Delegates from 1954-1970, Mann sponsored a resolution calling for a study of educational needs for Virginia, and was instrumental in recommending the development of a college system in Virginia, particularly the establishment of a branch in Northern Virginia.\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003e Mann was responsible for creating an educational financial assistance program for Virginia college students, and was instrumental in sponsoring legislation allowing local governments to form regional boards to acquire and transfer land and buildings for educational use.\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003e He also served as the Chairman of George Mason College's first Board of Control. He sponsored bills constituting George Mason College as a branch of the University of Virginia and later elevating it to a four year division of the University with the right to grant degrees and offer graduate program. He served on the GMU Board of Visitors from 1975 to 1977. He died in 1977.\u003c/p\u003e"],"bioghist_heading_ssm":["Biographical Information"],"bioghist_tesim":["Charles Harrison Mann, Jr. was born in Alabama in 1908 and received his law degree from the University of Virginia in 1931. He subsequently became an attorney both in Washington, D.C. and in Arlington, Virginia where he and his wife Betty Hart Mann, maintained their home. In 1949, while serving as President of the Northern Virginia Chapter of the University of Virginia Alumni Association, Mann organized an exploratory committee of local citizens to develop support for higher education in Northern Virginia. Through these efforts, the Northern Virginia Center of the University opened in October 1, 1949."," In 1953 Mann organized the Advisory Council to the Northern Virginia Center, which agreed that a two-year branch college should be established. Elected as a Democrat to the Virginia House of Delegates from 1954-1970, Mann sponsored a resolution calling for a study of educational needs for Virginia, and was instrumental in recommending the development of a college system in Virginia, particularly the establishment of a branch in Northern Virginia."," Mann was responsible for creating an educational financial assistance program for Virginia college students, and was instrumental in sponsoring legislation allowing local governments to form regional boards to acquire and transfer land and buildings for educational use."," He also served as the Chairman of George Mason College's first Board of Control. He sponsored bills constituting George Mason College as a branch of the University of Virginia and later elevating it to a four year division of the University with the right to grant degrees and offer graduate program. He served on the GMU Board of Visitors from 1975 to 1977. He died in 1977."],"prefercite_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eC. Harrison Mann, Jr. papers, C0094, Special Collections Research Center, George Mason University Libraries.\u003c/p\u003e"],"prefercite_tesim":["C. Harrison Mann, Jr. papers, C0094, Special Collections Research Center, George Mason University Libraries."],"processinfo_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eProcessed by Special Collections Research Center staff. EAD markup completed in March 2009 by Eron Ackerman and Jordan Patty, revised by Amanda Menjivar in 2016. Reprocessed by Amanda Menjivar in 2016.\u003c/p\u003e"],"processinfo_heading_ssm":["Processing Information"],"processinfo_tesim":["Processed by Special Collections Research Center staff. EAD markup completed in March 2009 by Eron Ackerman and Jordan Patty, revised by Amanda Menjivar in 2016. Reprocessed by Amanda Menjivar in 2016."],"relatedmaterial_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eThe Special Collections Research Center also holds other personal papers and organizational records on the politics of Northern Virginia as well as the George Mason University archives. In addition, there is the C. Harrison Mann, Jr. collection of rare books and atlases that can be found searching the \u003cextptr href=\"http://library.gmu.edu/\" title=\"GMU Libraries catalog\" show=\"new\"\u003e\u003c/extptr\u003e. as well as the \u003cextptr href=\"https://images.gmu.edu/luna/servlet/GMUDPSdps~5~5\" title=\"C. Harrison Mann, Jr. Digitized Map Collection\" show=\"new\"\u003e\u003c/extptr\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e"],"relatedmaterial_heading_ssm":["Related Material"],"relatedmaterial_tesim":["The Special Collections Research Center also holds other personal papers and organizational records on the politics of Northern Virginia as well as the George Mason University archives. In addition, there is the C. Harrison Mann, Jr. collection of rare books and atlases that can be found searching the  . as well as the  ."],"scopecontent_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eComprises C. Harrison Mann, Jr.'s personal papers and handwritten draft of his history of George Mason University. Papers pertain to his political career and include subject files, memoranda, campaign materials, speeches, newsclippings, maps, and other related materials.\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003e Series 1: Correspondence (1935 - 1971) documents Mann's typed and handwritten correspondence with multiple parties over most of the twentieth century. Notable correspondents include Senator Harry F. Byrd, Judge William Moncure, and Virginia Governor James Lindsay Almond, Jr.\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003e Series 2: General Assembly (1950 - 1970) documents Mann's time in the Virginia General Assembly, and is divided into two subseries. Series 2.1: General Assembly Correspondence. Series 2.2: General Assembly Subject Files, with subjects including the Civil War Commission, Clippings, Education, Insurance, and Schools Data.\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003e Series 3: Career (1945 - 1970) documents Mann's political career, local and national politics, and legislation, and is divided into three subseries. Series 3.1: Speeches, Public Engagements and Press Releases. Series 3.2: Legislation, Congressional Resolutions and Documents, includes documents on bills passed and killed, the Gray Commission and the Perrow Commission (both as a result of Brown v. Board of Education), and Senate and House Bills and Joint Resolutions. Series 3.3: Politics and Platforms, includes documents on various local and national political campaigns, the Democratic Executive Committee, primaries, elections, and special sessions.\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003e Series 4: George Mason University (1958 - 1978) documents Mann's involvement with the founding of George Mason University (G.M.U.) and is divided into three subseries. Series 4.1: Correspondence, includes correspondence concerning G.M.U. during the years 1964 - 1971. Series 4.2: Newspaper Clippings, includes newspaper articles on student housing, new buildings, student protests, and college plans. Series 4.3: Subject Files, includes documents on the G.M.U. Advisory Board, the G.M.U. Broadside Newspaper, the G.M.U. Law School, and pamphlets.\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003e Series 5: Subject and Miscellaneous Files (1832 - 1979) documents numerous subjects and is divided into two subseries. 5.1: Subject Files, includes documents with subjects ranging from civil defense, Communism, mental health, to historical newspapers, newspaper clippings, copies of historical maps, education, and Mann's personal documents. It also includes a large portion on transportation, with documents pertaining to billboards, trucks, highways, traffic safety, and other transportation-related subjects. 5.2: Miscellaneous Files, includes Mann's personal slides collection and political endorsements notecards.\u003c/p\u003e"],"scopecontent_heading_ssm":["Scope and Content"],"scopecontent_tesim":["Comprises C. Harrison Mann, Jr.'s personal papers and handwritten draft of his history of George Mason University. Papers pertain to his political career and include subject files, memoranda, campaign materials, speeches, newsclippings, maps, and other related materials."," Series 1: Correspondence (1935 - 1971) documents Mann's typed and handwritten correspondence with multiple parties over most of the twentieth century. Notable correspondents include Senator Harry F. Byrd, Judge William Moncure, and Virginia Governor James Lindsay Almond, Jr."," Series 2: General Assembly (1950 - 1970) documents Mann's time in the Virginia General Assembly, and is divided into two subseries. Series 2.1: General Assembly Correspondence. Series 2.2: General Assembly Subject Files, with subjects including the Civil War Commission, Clippings, Education, Insurance, and Schools Data."," Series 3: Career (1945 - 1970) documents Mann's political career, local and national politics, and legislation, and is divided into three subseries. Series 3.1: Speeches, Public Engagements and Press Releases. Series 3.2: Legislation, Congressional Resolutions and Documents, includes documents on bills passed and killed, the Gray Commission and the Perrow Commission (both as a result of Brown v. Board of Education), and Senate and House Bills and Joint Resolutions. Series 3.3: Politics and Platforms, includes documents on various local and national political campaigns, the Democratic Executive Committee, primaries, elections, and special sessions."," Series 4: George Mason University (1958 - 1978) documents Mann's involvement with the founding of George Mason University (G.M.U.) and is divided into three subseries. Series 4.1: Correspondence, includes correspondence concerning G.M.U. during the years 1964 - 1971. Series 4.2: Newspaper Clippings, includes newspaper articles on student housing, new buildings, student protests, and college plans. Series 4.3: Subject Files, includes documents on the G.M.U. Advisory Board, the G.M.U. Broadside Newspaper, the G.M.U. Law School, and pamphlets."," Series 5: Subject and Miscellaneous Files (1832 - 1979) documents numerous subjects and is divided into two subseries. 5.1: Subject Files, includes documents with subjects ranging from civil defense, Communism, mental health, to historical newspapers, newspaper clippings, copies of historical maps, education, and Mann's personal documents. It also includes a large portion on transportation, with documents pertaining to billboards, trucks, highways, traffic safety, and other transportation-related subjects. 5.2: Miscellaneous Files, includes Mann's personal slides collection and political endorsements notecards."],"userestrict_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eMaterials created before 1928 are in the Public Domain with no known restrictions. The following statement applies to all other materials: The 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":["Materials created before 1928 are in the Public Domain with no known restrictions. The following statement applies to all other materials: 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_ref3\"\u003eComprises C. Harrison Mann, Jr.'s personal papers and handwritten draft of his history of George Mason University. Papers pertain to his political career and include subject files, memoranda, campaign materials, speeches, newsclippings and other related materials.\u003c/abstract\u003e"],"abstract_tesim":["Comprises C. Harrison Mann, Jr.'s personal papers and handwritten draft of his history of George Mason University. Papers pertain to his political career and include subject files, memoranda, campaign materials, speeches, newsclippings and other related materials."],"physloc_html_tesm":["\u003cphysloc id=\"aspace_8c7d8628278bfcd85b59dcb97e9270fd\"\u003eThis collection is housed at the WRLC Shared Collections Facility.\u003c/physloc\u003e"],"physloc_tesim":["This collection is housed at the WRLC Shared Collections Facility."],"names_coll_ssim":["George Mason University","Virginia. General Assembly","Byrd, Harry F. (Harry Flood), 1887-1966"],"names_ssim":["George Mason University. Libraries. Special Collections Research Center","George Mason University","Virginia. General Assembly","Mann, Charles Harrison, Jr., 1908-1977","Byrd, Harry F. (Harry Flood), 1887-1966"],"corpname_ssim":["George Mason University. Libraries. Special Collections Research Center","George Mason University","Virginia. General Assembly"],"persname_ssim":["Mann, Charles Harrison, Jr., 1908-1977","Byrd, Harry F. (Harry Flood), 1887-1966"],"language_ssim":["English"],"descrules_ssm":["Describing Archives: A Content Standard"],"total_component_count_is":1193,"online_item_count_is":0,"component_level_isim":[0],"sort_isi":0,"timestamp":"2026-05-01T00:35:24.911Z"}]}},"label":"Breadcrumbs"}}},"links":{"self":"https://search.arvasarchive.org/catalog/vifgm_repositories_2_resources_596_c05_c02"}},{"id":"vifgm_repositories_2_resources_602_c03_c02","type":"Subseries","attributes":{"title":"Audio and film reels","breadcrumbs":{"id":"https://search.arvasarchive.org/catalog/vifgm_repositories_2_resources_602_c03_c02#breadcrumbs","type":"document_value","attributes":{"value":{"ref_ssi":"vifgm_repositories_2_resources_602_c03_c02","ref_ssm":["vifgm_repositories_2_resources_602_c03_c02"],"id":"vifgm_repositories_2_resources_602_c03_c02","ead_ssi":"vifgm_repositories_2_resources_602","_root_":"vifgm_repositories_2_resources_602","_nest_parent_":"vifgm_repositories_2_resources_602_c03","parent_ssi":"vifgm_repositories_2_resources_602_c03","parent_ssim":["vifgm_repositories_2_resources_602","vifgm_repositories_2_resources_602_c03"],"parent_ids_ssim":["vifgm_repositories_2_resources_602","vifgm_repositories_2_resources_602_c03"],"parent_unittitles_ssm":["Living Stage records","Series 3: Audiovisual and photographic materials"],"parent_unittitles_tesim":["Living Stage records","Series 3: Audiovisual and photographic materials"],"text":["Living Stage records","Series 3: Audiovisual and photographic materials","Audio and film reels"],"title_filing_ssi":"Audio and film reels","title_ssm":["Audio and film reels"],"title_tesim":["Audio and film reels"],"unitdate_other_ssim":["1977-1985"],"normalized_date_ssm":["1977/1985"],"normalized_title_ssm":["Audio and film reels"],"component_level_isim":[2],"repository_ssim":["George Mason University"],"collection_ssim":["Living Stage records"],"has_online_content_ssim":["false"],"child_component_count_isi":152,"level_ssm":["Subseries"],"level_ssim":["Subseries"],"sort_isi":1254,"parent_access_restrict_tesm":["There are no access restrictions on Series 1 and 2. Please see the Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements note for access information on Series 3."],"parent_access_terms_tesm":["The copyright and related rights status of this collection have not been evaluated (See http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/CNE/1.0/)"],"date_range_isim":[1977,1978,1979,1980,1981,1982,1983,1984,1985],"_nest_path_":"/components#2/components#1","timestamp":"2026-05-01T00:33:57.755Z","collection":{"numFound":1,"start":0,"numFoundExact":true,"docs":[{"id":"vifgm_repositories_2_resources_602","ead_ssi":"vifgm_repositories_2_resources_602","_root_":"vifgm_repositories_2_resources_602","_nest_parent_":"vifgm_repositories_2_resources_602","ead_source_url_ssi":"data/oai/GMU/repositories_2_resources_602.xml","title_filing_ssi":"Living Stage records","title_ssm":["Living Stage records"],"title_tesim":["Living Stage records"],"unitdate_ssm":["1965-2001"],"unitdate_inclusive_ssm":["1965-2001"],"level_ssm":["collection"],"level_ssim":["Collection"],"unitid_ssm":["C0277","/repositories/2/resources/602"],"text":["C0277","/repositories/2/resources/602","Living Stage records","Washington (D.C.)","Acting","People with mental disabilities -- Services for -- United States","Performance art -- Photographs","Public schools -- Virginia","Radicalism -- United States -- History -- 20th century","Students -- Photographs","Theater -- United States -- History -- 20th century","Theater -- Washington (D.C.)","Theater programs","Playscript","There are no access restrictions on Series 1 and 2. Please see the Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements note for access information on Series 3.","The collection is divided into three series, each of which is divided into subseries.","Series Series 1: Administrative and Financial Files, 1965-2000 (Boxes 1-56) Series 2: Artistic and Workshop Files, 1966-2001 (Boxes 57-85) Series 3: Audiovisual and Photographic Materials, 1967-1999 (Boxes 86-106)","The Living Stage Theatre Company began in 1966 as a venture of Arena Stage and Robert Alexander. Known from 1966-1968 as The Children's Theatre, the Living Stage from the beginning dedicated itself to programming with a social consciousness and a desire to effect societal change through performance. Robert Alexander was the theatre's founder and until 1995 its director. Alexander brought an adapted street and guerilla theater style to the D.C. area after becoming disenchanted with traditional theatre's \"middle-class\" audience. The Living Stage provided training to actors in the art of improvisational theater through tuition free schooling during the summers, as well as through weekend long workshop training for social workers, teachers, and other professionals throughout their 9 month season. While most of the Stage's workshops were held on site at schools, museums, and prisons, the Living Stage did have its own formal space in Washington, D.C. on 14th and T Streets NW. The Living Stage put on productions across Northern Virginia in schools, youth homes, and even prisons like the Lorton Penitentiary. Senior members of the company, like Jennifer Nelson and Oran Sandel helped to send the Living Stage across the country as well. Their efforts were largely funded through vigorous campaigning for grants and fund raising through the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) and other private foundations. The Living Stage also received substantial financial assistance from its parent company, the Washington Drama Society, Inc. ","The Living Stage performance style consisted of \"The Jam,\" \"The Performance,\" and \"The Workshop,\" a three part study that was used at most of their venues. The first part, or \"Jam,\" consisted of actors working with their audience to \"rap,\" make music, and \"jam\" through spoken or sung words accompanied by instrumentals typically provided by audience members. The actors then moved into the \"performance\" itself. During the performance the actors put on an improvised theater production directed by a senior member of the cast and assisted by one or two audience members. The \"Workshop\" began from there; during the workshop, the audience took over the scene, while still directed by the actors, and was encouraged to make it their own. Audiences gave their opinions and thoughts on each performance in the form of production reports that were collected by the Living Stage. ","The projects that the Living Stage put on typically dealt with controversial and sensitive topics like race, economic inequality, the dangers of an overzealous American foreign policy, the atom bomb, violence, and freedom. The \"Baltimore Incident\" of 1971 is an excellent example of how controversial these productions could be. No matter how mixed opinions were, the Living Stage always elicited a reaction with their improvisational performances. During the 1980s the Living Stage began to reach out extensively to local initiatives like The District's Alcohol and Drug Abuse Services Administration and created their own Community Services Project in order to continue to bring theater and creativity to underserved sections of society. The Living Stage championed New Left ideals like equality and social justice throughout the Reagan years, despite some criticisms about their message being \"anachronistic.\"","The organization began to sunset in the first half of the 1990s as many of its founding and senior members took their skills elsewhere. Robert Alexander himself left in 1995 to start educating people in the art of improvisational theater full time. Jennifer Nelson, David Matthew Proctor, Ezra Knight, and others began to filter away in the 1990s to pursue their own acting goals and the Living Stage would officially close its doors in 2002.","The Special Collections Research Center does not have the equipment necessary to watch or listen to all audiovisual material in Series 3. Additional time and money may be required to digitize this material for access.","Processing completed by Nick Welsh and Elizabeth Beckman in 2016. EAD markup completed by Nick Welsh in June 2016. Finding aid updated by Amanda Menjivar in March 2025.","The Special Collections Research Center holds several collections of personal papers of individuals involved with the Living Stage Theater Company, including the Zelda Fichandler papers, the Thomas C. Fichandler papers, and the Ken Kitch papers. It also holds the Arena Stage records.","The Living Stage records consists of material spanning the length of the organization's history from 1965, when the Living Stage was known as the Children's Theatre, to 2001. Included in the records are administrative files, financial papers, grant requests and applications, correspondence, workshop reports and scripts, as well as audiovisual and photographic materials.","Series 1: Administrative and Financial Files (1965-2000) includes documents relating to the day to day running of the Living Stage Theatre Company as well as programming, project planning, financials, budgets, grants, press releases and printed documents. It is divided further into 4 subseries. Subseries 1.1 Policies, Planning, and Development includes the administrative files of the Living Stage including season summaries by date, long range plans, meeting minutes, and Community Service Project information. Subseries 1.2 Grants and Foundations contains all materials related to grant requests, endowments (including the National Endowment for the Arts), and donations made by both large charitable organizations and private donors. Subseries 1.3 Financials and Correspondence includes budget materials, expense reports, and benefit information, as well as correspondence between members of the LSTC, memos, and fan mail (called \"love letters\") from schools and other workshop sites. Subseries 1.4 Public Relations and Printed Pieces consist of various publications made by the Living Stage such as their newsletters and advertisements, as well as transcripts of speeches made by LSTC executives and press releases promoting the Living Stage.","Series 2: Artistic and Workshop Files (1966-2001), which is split into 3 subseries, contains the creative aspects of the Living Stage, including details about residencies and the personnel of the Company, as well as workshop reports, scripts, and \"Jams.\" Subseries 2.1 Residency and Personnel Files contains all documents related to the people of the Living Stage, including casting information and details about out of state residencies (including those in Stockholm, Boston, Pittsburgh, New York and others). Subseries 2.2 Production Reports and Workshops encompasses the output of the Living Stage Theatre Company in the form of workshops, which are series of performances put on at schools, museums, and communities, and the production reports which sought to analyze audience reception of and reaction to these performances. Look to the \"Baltimore Incident\" for an excellent example of how contentious and revolutionary the Living Stage's performances were. Subseries 2.3 Production Files and Scripts, while small, contains items related to the Living Stage's \"Jams\" including scripts, research, and other assorted play files. ","Series 3: Audiovisual and Photographic Materials (1967-1999) includes all photos, negatives, and film of the Living Stage or their productions. It is divided into three subseries. Subseries 3.1 Photographic Materials includes various photos and negatives showing the cast of the Living Stage at various times, as well as production stills. Unfortunately, the majority of these are undated or have little in the way of description. Subseries 3.2 Audio and film reels includes tapings of various workshops and productions mostly from the 1970s and 1980s. Subseries 3.3 Audio and video tapes contains cassette, VHS, Betamax, and U-matic tapes either used by the Living Stage for performances or made by/about the Living Stage.","The copyright and related rights status of this collection have not been evaluated (See http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/CNE/1.0/)","The Living Stage records documents the Living Stage Theatre Company, founded by Robert Alexander as an offshoot of Arena Stage in Washington, D.C. The records were created from 1965-2001.","R 52, C 6, S 3 - R 53, C 2, S 6\n\nMap Case 8.2","George Mason University. Libraries. Special Collections Research Center","English"],"unitid_tesim":["C0277","/repositories/2/resources/602"],"normalized_title_ssm":["Living Stage records"],"collection_title_tesim":["Living Stage records"],"collection_ssim":["Living Stage records"],"repository_ssm":["George Mason University"],"repository_ssim":["George Mason University"],"geogname_ssm":["Washington (D.C.)"],"geogname_ssim":["Washington (D.C.)"],"places_ssim":["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."],"access_subjects_ssim":["Acting","People with mental disabilities -- Services for -- United States","Performance art -- Photographs","Public schools -- Virginia","Radicalism -- United States -- History -- 20th century","Students -- Photographs","Theater -- United States -- History -- 20th century","Theater -- Washington (D.C.)","Theater programs","Playscript"],"access_subjects_ssm":["Acting","People with mental disabilities -- Services for -- United States","Performance art -- Photographs","Public schools -- Virginia","Radicalism -- United States -- History -- 20th century","Students -- Photographs","Theater -- United States -- History -- 20th century","Theater -- Washington (D.C.)","Theater programs","Playscript"],"has_online_content_ssim":["false"],"extent_ssm":["48.0 Linear Feet 106 boxes"],"extent_tesim":["48.0 Linear Feet 106 boxes"],"genreform_ssim":["Playscript"],"date_range_isim":[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],"accessrestrict_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eThere are no access restrictions on Series 1 and 2. Please see the Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements note for access information on Series 3.\u003c/p\u003e"],"accessrestrict_heading_ssm":["Access Restrictions"],"accessrestrict_tesim":["There are no access restrictions on Series 1 and 2. Please see the Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements note for access information on Series 3."],"arrangement_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eThe collection is divided into three series, each of which is divided into subseries.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003clist type=\"ordered\"\u003e\n      \u003chead\u003eSeries\u003c/head\u003e\n      \u003citem\u003eSeries 1: Administrative and Financial Files, 1965-2000 (Boxes 1-56)\u003c/item\u003e\n      \u003citem\u003eSeries 2: Artistic and Workshop Files, 1966-2001 (Boxes 57-85)\u003c/item\u003e\n      \u003citem\u003eSeries 3: Audiovisual and Photographic Materials, 1967-1999 (Boxes 86-106)\u003c/item\u003e\n    \u003c/list\u003e"],"arrangement_heading_ssm":["Arrangement"],"arrangement_tesim":["The collection is divided into three series, each of which is divided into subseries.","Series Series 1: Administrative and Financial Files, 1965-2000 (Boxes 1-56) Series 2: Artistic and Workshop Files, 1966-2001 (Boxes 57-85) Series 3: Audiovisual and Photographic Materials, 1967-1999 (Boxes 86-106)"],"bioghist_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eThe Living Stage Theatre Company began in 1966 as a venture of Arena Stage and Robert Alexander. Known from 1966-1968 as The Children's Theatre, the Living Stage from the beginning dedicated itself to programming with a social consciousness and a desire to effect societal change through performance. Robert Alexander was the theatre's founder and until 1995 its director. Alexander brought an adapted street and guerilla theater style to the D.C. area after becoming disenchanted with traditional theatre's \"middle-class\" audience. The Living Stage provided training to actors in the art of improvisational theater through tuition free schooling during the summers, as well as through weekend long workshop training for social workers, teachers, and other professionals throughout their 9 month season. While most of the Stage's workshops were held on site at schools, museums, and prisons, the Living Stage did have its own formal space in Washington, D.C. on 14th and T Streets NW. The Living Stage put on productions across Northern Virginia in schools, youth homes, and even prisons like the Lorton Penitentiary. Senior members of the company, like Jennifer Nelson and Oran Sandel helped to send the Living Stage across the country as well. Their efforts were largely funded through vigorous campaigning for grants and fund raising through the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) and other private foundations. The Living Stage also received substantial financial assistance from its parent company, the Washington Drama Society, Inc. \u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eThe Living Stage performance style consisted of \"The Jam,\" \"The Performance,\" and \"The Workshop,\" a three part study that was used at most of their venues. The first part, or \"Jam,\" consisted of actors working with their audience to \"rap,\" make music, and \"jam\" through spoken or sung words accompanied by instrumentals typically provided by audience members. The actors then moved into the \"performance\" itself. During the performance the actors put on an improvised theater production directed by a senior member of the cast and assisted by one or two audience members. The \"Workshop\" began from there; during the workshop, the audience took over the scene, while still directed by the actors, and was encouraged to make it their own. Audiences gave their opinions and thoughts on each performance in the form of production reports that were collected by the Living Stage. \u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eThe projects that the Living Stage put on typically dealt with controversial and sensitive topics like race, economic inequality, the dangers of an overzealous American foreign policy, the atom bomb, violence, and freedom. The \"Baltimore Incident\" of 1971 is an excellent example of how controversial these productions could be. No matter how mixed opinions were, the Living Stage always elicited a reaction with their improvisational performances. During the 1980s the Living Stage began to reach out extensively to local initiatives like The District's Alcohol and Drug Abuse Services Administration and created their own Community Services Project in order to continue to bring theater and creativity to underserved sections of society. The Living Stage championed New Left ideals like equality and social justice throughout the Reagan years, despite some criticisms about their message being \"anachronistic.\"\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eThe organization began to sunset in the first half of the 1990s as many of its founding and senior members took their skills elsewhere. Robert Alexander himself left in 1995 to start educating people in the art of improvisational theater full time. Jennifer Nelson, David Matthew Proctor, Ezra Knight, and others began to filter away in the 1990s to pursue their own acting goals and the Living Stage would officially close its doors in 2002.\u003c/p\u003e"],"bioghist_heading_ssm":["Historical Information"],"bioghist_tesim":["The Living Stage Theatre Company began in 1966 as a venture of Arena Stage and Robert Alexander. Known from 1966-1968 as The Children's Theatre, the Living Stage from the beginning dedicated itself to programming with a social consciousness and a desire to effect societal change through performance. Robert Alexander was the theatre's founder and until 1995 its director. Alexander brought an adapted street and guerilla theater style to the D.C. area after becoming disenchanted with traditional theatre's \"middle-class\" audience. The Living Stage provided training to actors in the art of improvisational theater through tuition free schooling during the summers, as well as through weekend long workshop training for social workers, teachers, and other professionals throughout their 9 month season. While most of the Stage's workshops were held on site at schools, museums, and prisons, the Living Stage did have its own formal space in Washington, D.C. on 14th and T Streets NW. The Living Stage put on productions across Northern Virginia in schools, youth homes, and even prisons like the Lorton Penitentiary. Senior members of the company, like Jennifer Nelson and Oran Sandel helped to send the Living Stage across the country as well. Their efforts were largely funded through vigorous campaigning for grants and fund raising through the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) and other private foundations. The Living Stage also received substantial financial assistance from its parent company, the Washington Drama Society, Inc. ","The Living Stage performance style consisted of \"The Jam,\" \"The Performance,\" and \"The Workshop,\" a three part study that was used at most of their venues. The first part, or \"Jam,\" consisted of actors working with their audience to \"rap,\" make music, and \"jam\" through spoken or sung words accompanied by instrumentals typically provided by audience members. The actors then moved into the \"performance\" itself. During the performance the actors put on an improvised theater production directed by a senior member of the cast and assisted by one or two audience members. The \"Workshop\" began from there; during the workshop, the audience took over the scene, while still directed by the actors, and was encouraged to make it their own. Audiences gave their opinions and thoughts on each performance in the form of production reports that were collected by the Living Stage. ","The projects that the Living Stage put on typically dealt with controversial and sensitive topics like race, economic inequality, the dangers of an overzealous American foreign policy, the atom bomb, violence, and freedom. The \"Baltimore Incident\" of 1971 is an excellent example of how controversial these productions could be. No matter how mixed opinions were, the Living Stage always elicited a reaction with their improvisational performances. During the 1980s the Living Stage began to reach out extensively to local initiatives like The District's Alcohol and Drug Abuse Services Administration and created their own Community Services Project in order to continue to bring theater and creativity to underserved sections of society. The Living Stage championed New Left ideals like equality and social justice throughout the Reagan years, despite some criticisms about their message being \"anachronistic.\"","The organization began to sunset in the first half of the 1990s as many of its founding and senior members took their skills elsewhere. Robert Alexander himself left in 1995 to start educating people in the art of improvisational theater full time. Jennifer Nelson, David Matthew Proctor, Ezra Knight, and others began to filter away in the 1990s to pursue their own acting goals and the Living Stage would officially close its doors in 2002."],"phystech_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eThe Special Collections Research Center does not have the equipment necessary to watch or listen to all audiovisual material in Series 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 watch or listen to all audiovisual material in Series 3. Additional time and money may be required to digitize this material for access."],"prefercite_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eLiving Stage records, C0277, Special Collections Reserch Center, George Mason University Libraries.\u003c/p\u003e"],"prefercite_tesim":["Living Stage records, C0277, Special Collections Reserch Center, George Mason University Libraries."],"processinfo_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eProcessing completed by Nick Welsh and Elizabeth Beckman in 2016. EAD markup completed by Nick Welsh in June 2016. Finding aid updated by Amanda Menjivar in March 2025.\u003c/p\u003e"],"processinfo_heading_ssm":["Processing Information"],"processinfo_tesim":["Processing completed by Nick Welsh and Elizabeth Beckman in 2016. EAD markup completed by Nick Welsh in June 2016. Finding aid updated by Amanda Menjivar in March 2025."],"relatedmaterial_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eThe Special Collections Research Center holds several collections of personal papers of individuals involved with the Living Stage Theater Company, including the Zelda Fichandler papers, the Thomas C. Fichandler papers, and the Ken Kitch papers. It also holds the Arena Stage records.\u003c/p\u003e"],"relatedmaterial_heading_ssm":["Related Material"],"relatedmaterial_tesim":["The Special Collections Research Center holds several collections of personal papers of individuals involved with the Living Stage Theater Company, including the Zelda Fichandler papers, the Thomas C. Fichandler papers, and the Ken Kitch papers. It also holds the Arena Stage records."],"scopecontent_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eThe Living Stage records consists of material spanning the length of the organization's history from 1965, when the Living Stage was known as the Children's Theatre, to 2001. Included in the records are administrative files, financial papers, grant requests and applications, correspondence, workshop reports and scripts, as well as audiovisual and photographic materials.\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eSeries 1: Administrative and Financial Files (1965-2000) includes documents relating to the day to day running of the Living Stage Theatre Company as well as programming, project planning, financials, budgets, grants, press releases and printed documents. It is divided further into 4 subseries. Subseries 1.1 Policies, Planning, and Development includes the administrative files of the Living Stage including season summaries by date, long range plans, meeting minutes, and Community Service Project information. Subseries 1.2 Grants and Foundations contains all materials related to grant requests, endowments (including the National Endowment for the Arts), and donations made by both large charitable organizations and private donors. Subseries 1.3 Financials and Correspondence includes budget materials, expense reports, and benefit information, as well as correspondence between members of the LSTC, memos, and fan mail (called \"love letters\") from schools and other workshop sites. Subseries 1.4 Public Relations and Printed Pieces consist of various publications made by the Living Stage such as their newsletters and advertisements, as well as transcripts of speeches made by LSTC executives and press releases promoting the Living Stage.\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eSeries 2: Artistic and Workshop Files (1966-2001), which is split into 3 subseries, contains the creative aspects of the Living Stage, including details about residencies and the personnel of the Company, as well as workshop reports, scripts, and \"Jams.\" Subseries 2.1 Residency and Personnel Files contains all documents related to the people of the Living Stage, including casting information and details about out of state residencies (including those in Stockholm, Boston, Pittsburgh, New York and others). Subseries 2.2 Production Reports and Workshops encompasses the output of the Living Stage Theatre Company in the form of workshops, which are series of performances put on at schools, museums, and communities, and the production reports which sought to analyze audience reception of and reaction to these performances. Look to the \"Baltimore Incident\" for an excellent example of how contentious and revolutionary the Living Stage's performances were. Subseries 2.3 Production Files and Scripts, while small, contains items related to the Living Stage's \"Jams\" including scripts, research, and other assorted play files. \u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eSeries 3: Audiovisual and Photographic Materials (1967-1999) includes all photos, negatives, and film of the Living Stage or their productions. It is divided into three subseries. Subseries 3.1 Photographic Materials includes various photos and negatives showing the cast of the Living Stage at various times, as well as production stills. Unfortunately, the majority of these are undated or have little in the way of description. Subseries 3.2 Audio and film reels includes tapings of various workshops and productions mostly from the 1970s and 1980s. Subseries 3.3 Audio and video tapes contains cassette, VHS, Betamax, and U-matic tapes either used by the Living Stage for performances or made by/about the Living Stage.\u003c/p\u003e"],"scopecontent_heading_ssm":["Scope and Content"],"scopecontent_tesim":["The Living Stage records consists of material spanning the length of the organization's history from 1965, when the Living Stage was known as the Children's Theatre, to 2001. Included in the records are administrative files, financial papers, grant requests and applications, correspondence, workshop reports and scripts, as well as audiovisual and photographic materials.","Series 1: Administrative and Financial Files (1965-2000) includes documents relating to the day to day running of the Living Stage Theatre Company as well as programming, project planning, financials, budgets, grants, press releases and printed documents. It is divided further into 4 subseries. Subseries 1.1 Policies, Planning, and Development includes the administrative files of the Living Stage including season summaries by date, long range plans, meeting minutes, and Community Service Project information. Subseries 1.2 Grants and Foundations contains all materials related to grant requests, endowments (including the National Endowment for the Arts), and donations made by both large charitable organizations and private donors. Subseries 1.3 Financials and Correspondence includes budget materials, expense reports, and benefit information, as well as correspondence between members of the LSTC, memos, and fan mail (called \"love letters\") from schools and other workshop sites. Subseries 1.4 Public Relations and Printed Pieces consist of various publications made by the Living Stage such as their newsletters and advertisements, as well as transcripts of speeches made by LSTC executives and press releases promoting the Living Stage.","Series 2: Artistic and Workshop Files (1966-2001), which is split into 3 subseries, contains the creative aspects of the Living Stage, including details about residencies and the personnel of the Company, as well as workshop reports, scripts, and \"Jams.\" Subseries 2.1 Residency and Personnel Files contains all documents related to the people of the Living Stage, including casting information and details about out of state residencies (including those in Stockholm, Boston, Pittsburgh, New York and others). Subseries 2.2 Production Reports and Workshops encompasses the output of the Living Stage Theatre Company in the form of workshops, which are series of performances put on at schools, museums, and communities, and the production reports which sought to analyze audience reception of and reaction to these performances. Look to the \"Baltimore Incident\" for an excellent example of how contentious and revolutionary the Living Stage's performances were. Subseries 2.3 Production Files and Scripts, while small, contains items related to the Living Stage's \"Jams\" including scripts, research, and other assorted play files. ","Series 3: Audiovisual and Photographic Materials (1967-1999) includes all photos, negatives, and film of the Living Stage or their productions. It is divided into three subseries. Subseries 3.1 Photographic Materials includes various photos and negatives showing the cast of the Living Stage at various times, as well as production stills. Unfortunately, the majority of these are undated or have little in the way of description. Subseries 3.2 Audio and film reels includes tapings of various workshops and productions mostly from the 1970s and 1980s. Subseries 3.3 Audio and video tapes contains cassette, VHS, Betamax, and U-matic tapes either used by the Living Stage for performances or made by/about the Living Stage."],"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 Living Stage records documents the Living Stage Theatre Company, founded by Robert Alexander as an offshoot of Arena Stage in Washington, D.C. The records were created from 1965-2001.\u003c/abstract\u003e"],"abstract_tesim":["The Living Stage records documents the Living Stage Theatre Company, founded by Robert Alexander as an offshoot of Arena Stage in Washington, D.C. The records were created from 1965-2001."],"physloc_html_tesm":["\u003cphysloc id=\"aspace_e176c0c8972614dd614b2ea45cfacaaf\"\u003eR 52, C 6, S 3 - R 53, C 2, S 6\n\nMap Case 8.2\u003c/physloc\u003e"],"physloc_tesim":["R 52, C 6, S 3 - R 53, C 2, S 6\n\nMap Case 8.2"],"names_ssim":["George Mason University. Libraries. Special Collections Research Center"],"corpname_ssim":["George Mason University. Libraries. Special Collections Research Center"],"language_ssim":["English"],"descrules_ssm":["Describing Archives: A Content Standard"],"total_component_count_is":1502,"online_item_count_is":0,"component_level_isim":[0],"sort_isi":0,"timestamp":"2026-05-01T00:33:57.755Z"}]}},"label":"Breadcrumbs"}}},"links":{"self":"https://search.arvasarchive.org/catalog/vifgm_repositories_2_resources_602_c03_c02"}},{"id":"vifgm_repositories_2_resources_602_c03_c03","type":"Subseries","attributes":{"title":"Audio and video tapes","breadcrumbs":{"id":"https://search.arvasarchive.org/catalog/vifgm_repositories_2_resources_602_c03_c03#breadcrumbs","type":"document_value","attributes":{"value":{"ref_ssi":"vifgm_repositories_2_resources_602_c03_c03","ref_ssm":["vifgm_repositories_2_resources_602_c03_c03"],"id":"vifgm_repositories_2_resources_602_c03_c03","ead_ssi":"vifgm_repositories_2_resources_602","_root_":"vifgm_repositories_2_resources_602","_nest_parent_":"vifgm_repositories_2_resources_602_c03","parent_ssi":"vifgm_repositories_2_resources_602_c03","parent_ssim":["vifgm_repositories_2_resources_602","vifgm_repositories_2_resources_602_c03"],"parent_ids_ssim":["vifgm_repositories_2_resources_602","vifgm_repositories_2_resources_602_c03"],"parent_unittitles_ssm":["Living Stage records","Series 3: Audiovisual and photographic materials"],"parent_unittitles_tesim":["Living Stage records","Series 3: Audiovisual and photographic materials"],"text":["Living Stage records","Series 3: Audiovisual and photographic materials","Audio and video tapes"],"title_filing_ssi":"Audio and video tapes","title_ssm":["Audio and video tapes"],"title_tesim":["Audio and video tapes"],"unitdate_other_ssim":["1978-1998"],"normalized_date_ssm":["1978/1998"],"normalized_title_ssm":["Audio and video tapes"],"component_level_isim":[2],"repository_ssim":["George Mason University"],"collection_ssim":["Living Stage records"],"has_online_content_ssim":["false"],"child_component_count_isi":95,"level_ssm":["Subseries"],"level_ssim":["Subseries"],"sort_isi":1407,"parent_access_restrict_tesm":["There are no access restrictions on Series 1 and 2. Please see the Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements note for access information on Series 3."],"parent_access_terms_tesm":["The copyright and related rights status of this collection have not been evaluated (See http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/CNE/1.0/)"],"date_range_isim":[1978,1979,1980,1981,1982,1983,1984,1985,1986,1987,1988,1989,1990,1991,1992,1993,1994,1995,1996,1997,1998],"_nest_path_":"/components#2/components#2","timestamp":"2026-05-01T00:33:57.755Z","collection":{"numFound":1,"start":0,"numFoundExact":true,"docs":[{"id":"vifgm_repositories_2_resources_602","ead_ssi":"vifgm_repositories_2_resources_602","_root_":"vifgm_repositories_2_resources_602","_nest_parent_":"vifgm_repositories_2_resources_602","ead_source_url_ssi":"data/oai/GMU/repositories_2_resources_602.xml","title_filing_ssi":"Living Stage records","title_ssm":["Living Stage records"],"title_tesim":["Living Stage records"],"unitdate_ssm":["1965-2001"],"unitdate_inclusive_ssm":["1965-2001"],"level_ssm":["collection"],"level_ssim":["Collection"],"unitid_ssm":["C0277","/repositories/2/resources/602"],"text":["C0277","/repositories/2/resources/602","Living Stage records","Washington (D.C.)","Acting","People with mental disabilities -- Services for -- United States","Performance art -- Photographs","Public schools -- Virginia","Radicalism -- United States -- History -- 20th century","Students -- Photographs","Theater -- United States -- History -- 20th century","Theater -- Washington (D.C.)","Theater programs","Playscript","There are no access restrictions on Series 1 and 2. Please see the Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements note for access information on Series 3.","The collection is divided into three series, each of which is divided into subseries.","Series Series 1: Administrative and Financial Files, 1965-2000 (Boxes 1-56) Series 2: Artistic and Workshop Files, 1966-2001 (Boxes 57-85) Series 3: Audiovisual and Photographic Materials, 1967-1999 (Boxes 86-106)","The Living Stage Theatre Company began in 1966 as a venture of Arena Stage and Robert Alexander. Known from 1966-1968 as The Children's Theatre, the Living Stage from the beginning dedicated itself to programming with a social consciousness and a desire to effect societal change through performance. Robert Alexander was the theatre's founder and until 1995 its director. Alexander brought an adapted street and guerilla theater style to the D.C. area after becoming disenchanted with traditional theatre's \"middle-class\" audience. The Living Stage provided training to actors in the art of improvisational theater through tuition free schooling during the summers, as well as through weekend long workshop training for social workers, teachers, and other professionals throughout their 9 month season. While most of the Stage's workshops were held on site at schools, museums, and prisons, the Living Stage did have its own formal space in Washington, D.C. on 14th and T Streets NW. The Living Stage put on productions across Northern Virginia in schools, youth homes, and even prisons like the Lorton Penitentiary. Senior members of the company, like Jennifer Nelson and Oran Sandel helped to send the Living Stage across the country as well. Their efforts were largely funded through vigorous campaigning for grants and fund raising through the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) and other private foundations. The Living Stage also received substantial financial assistance from its parent company, the Washington Drama Society, Inc. ","The Living Stage performance style consisted of \"The Jam,\" \"The Performance,\" and \"The Workshop,\" a three part study that was used at most of their venues. The first part, or \"Jam,\" consisted of actors working with their audience to \"rap,\" make music, and \"jam\" through spoken or sung words accompanied by instrumentals typically provided by audience members. The actors then moved into the \"performance\" itself. During the performance the actors put on an improvised theater production directed by a senior member of the cast and assisted by one or two audience members. The \"Workshop\" began from there; during the workshop, the audience took over the scene, while still directed by the actors, and was encouraged to make it their own. Audiences gave their opinions and thoughts on each performance in the form of production reports that were collected by the Living Stage. ","The projects that the Living Stage put on typically dealt with controversial and sensitive topics like race, economic inequality, the dangers of an overzealous American foreign policy, the atom bomb, violence, and freedom. The \"Baltimore Incident\" of 1971 is an excellent example of how controversial these productions could be. No matter how mixed opinions were, the Living Stage always elicited a reaction with their improvisational performances. During the 1980s the Living Stage began to reach out extensively to local initiatives like The District's Alcohol and Drug Abuse Services Administration and created their own Community Services Project in order to continue to bring theater and creativity to underserved sections of society. The Living Stage championed New Left ideals like equality and social justice throughout the Reagan years, despite some criticisms about their message being \"anachronistic.\"","The organization began to sunset in the first half of the 1990s as many of its founding and senior members took their skills elsewhere. Robert Alexander himself left in 1995 to start educating people in the art of improvisational theater full time. Jennifer Nelson, David Matthew Proctor, Ezra Knight, and others began to filter away in the 1990s to pursue their own acting goals and the Living Stage would officially close its doors in 2002.","The Special Collections Research Center does not have the equipment necessary to watch or listen to all audiovisual material in Series 3. Additional time and money may be required to digitize this material for access.","Processing completed by Nick Welsh and Elizabeth Beckman in 2016. EAD markup completed by Nick Welsh in June 2016. Finding aid updated by Amanda Menjivar in March 2025.","The Special Collections Research Center holds several collections of personal papers of individuals involved with the Living Stage Theater Company, including the Zelda Fichandler papers, the Thomas C. Fichandler papers, and the Ken Kitch papers. It also holds the Arena Stage records.","The Living Stage records consists of material spanning the length of the organization's history from 1965, when the Living Stage was known as the Children's Theatre, to 2001. Included in the records are administrative files, financial papers, grant requests and applications, correspondence, workshop reports and scripts, as well as audiovisual and photographic materials.","Series 1: Administrative and Financial Files (1965-2000) includes documents relating to the day to day running of the Living Stage Theatre Company as well as programming, project planning, financials, budgets, grants, press releases and printed documents. It is divided further into 4 subseries. Subseries 1.1 Policies, Planning, and Development includes the administrative files of the Living Stage including season summaries by date, long range plans, meeting minutes, and Community Service Project information. Subseries 1.2 Grants and Foundations contains all materials related to grant requests, endowments (including the National Endowment for the Arts), and donations made by both large charitable organizations and private donors. Subseries 1.3 Financials and Correspondence includes budget materials, expense reports, and benefit information, as well as correspondence between members of the LSTC, memos, and fan mail (called \"love letters\") from schools and other workshop sites. Subseries 1.4 Public Relations and Printed Pieces consist of various publications made by the Living Stage such as their newsletters and advertisements, as well as transcripts of speeches made by LSTC executives and press releases promoting the Living Stage.","Series 2: Artistic and Workshop Files (1966-2001), which is split into 3 subseries, contains the creative aspects of the Living Stage, including details about residencies and the personnel of the Company, as well as workshop reports, scripts, and \"Jams.\" Subseries 2.1 Residency and Personnel Files contains all documents related to the people of the Living Stage, including casting information and details about out of state residencies (including those in Stockholm, Boston, Pittsburgh, New York and others). Subseries 2.2 Production Reports and Workshops encompasses the output of the Living Stage Theatre Company in the form of workshops, which are series of performances put on at schools, museums, and communities, and the production reports which sought to analyze audience reception of and reaction to these performances. Look to the \"Baltimore Incident\" for an excellent example of how contentious and revolutionary the Living Stage's performances were. Subseries 2.3 Production Files and Scripts, while small, contains items related to the Living Stage's \"Jams\" including scripts, research, and other assorted play files. ","Series 3: Audiovisual and Photographic Materials (1967-1999) includes all photos, negatives, and film of the Living Stage or their productions. It is divided into three subseries. Subseries 3.1 Photographic Materials includes various photos and negatives showing the cast of the Living Stage at various times, as well as production stills. Unfortunately, the majority of these are undated or have little in the way of description. Subseries 3.2 Audio and film reels includes tapings of various workshops and productions mostly from the 1970s and 1980s. Subseries 3.3 Audio and video tapes contains cassette, VHS, Betamax, and U-matic tapes either used by the Living Stage for performances or made by/about the Living Stage.","The copyright and related rights status of this collection have not been evaluated (See http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/CNE/1.0/)","The Living Stage records documents the Living Stage Theatre Company, founded by Robert Alexander as an offshoot of Arena Stage in Washington, D.C. The records were created from 1965-2001.","R 52, C 6, S 3 - R 53, C 2, S 6\n\nMap Case 8.2","George Mason University. Libraries. Special Collections Research Center","English"],"unitid_tesim":["C0277","/repositories/2/resources/602"],"normalized_title_ssm":["Living Stage records"],"collection_title_tesim":["Living Stage records"],"collection_ssim":["Living Stage records"],"repository_ssm":["George Mason University"],"repository_ssim":["George Mason University"],"geogname_ssm":["Washington (D.C.)"],"geogname_ssim":["Washington (D.C.)"],"places_ssim":["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."],"access_subjects_ssim":["Acting","People with mental disabilities -- Services for -- United States","Performance art -- Photographs","Public schools -- Virginia","Radicalism -- United States -- History -- 20th century","Students -- Photographs","Theater -- United States -- History -- 20th century","Theater -- Washington (D.C.)","Theater programs","Playscript"],"access_subjects_ssm":["Acting","People with mental disabilities -- Services for -- United States","Performance art -- Photographs","Public schools -- Virginia","Radicalism -- United States -- History -- 20th century","Students -- Photographs","Theater -- United States -- History -- 20th century","Theater -- Washington (D.C.)","Theater programs","Playscript"],"has_online_content_ssim":["false"],"extent_ssm":["48.0 Linear Feet 106 boxes"],"extent_tesim":["48.0 Linear Feet 106 boxes"],"genreform_ssim":["Playscript"],"date_range_isim":[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],"accessrestrict_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eThere are no access restrictions on Series 1 and 2. Please see the Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements note for access information on Series 3.\u003c/p\u003e"],"accessrestrict_heading_ssm":["Access Restrictions"],"accessrestrict_tesim":["There are no access restrictions on Series 1 and 2. Please see the Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements note for access information on Series 3."],"arrangement_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eThe collection is divided into three series, each of which is divided into subseries.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003clist type=\"ordered\"\u003e\n      \u003chead\u003eSeries\u003c/head\u003e\n      \u003citem\u003eSeries 1: Administrative and Financial Files, 1965-2000 (Boxes 1-56)\u003c/item\u003e\n      \u003citem\u003eSeries 2: Artistic and Workshop Files, 1966-2001 (Boxes 57-85)\u003c/item\u003e\n      \u003citem\u003eSeries 3: Audiovisual and Photographic Materials, 1967-1999 (Boxes 86-106)\u003c/item\u003e\n    \u003c/list\u003e"],"arrangement_heading_ssm":["Arrangement"],"arrangement_tesim":["The collection is divided into three series, each of which is divided into subseries.","Series Series 1: Administrative and Financial Files, 1965-2000 (Boxes 1-56) Series 2: Artistic and Workshop Files, 1966-2001 (Boxes 57-85) Series 3: Audiovisual and Photographic Materials, 1967-1999 (Boxes 86-106)"],"bioghist_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eThe Living Stage Theatre Company began in 1966 as a venture of Arena Stage and Robert Alexander. Known from 1966-1968 as The Children's Theatre, the Living Stage from the beginning dedicated itself to programming with a social consciousness and a desire to effect societal change through performance. Robert Alexander was the theatre's founder and until 1995 its director. Alexander brought an adapted street and guerilla theater style to the D.C. area after becoming disenchanted with traditional theatre's \"middle-class\" audience. The Living Stage provided training to actors in the art of improvisational theater through tuition free schooling during the summers, as well as through weekend long workshop training for social workers, teachers, and other professionals throughout their 9 month season. While most of the Stage's workshops were held on site at schools, museums, and prisons, the Living Stage did have its own formal space in Washington, D.C. on 14th and T Streets NW. The Living Stage put on productions across Northern Virginia in schools, youth homes, and even prisons like the Lorton Penitentiary. Senior members of the company, like Jennifer Nelson and Oran Sandel helped to send the Living Stage across the country as well. Their efforts were largely funded through vigorous campaigning for grants and fund raising through the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) and other private foundations. The Living Stage also received substantial financial assistance from its parent company, the Washington Drama Society, Inc. \u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eThe Living Stage performance style consisted of \"The Jam,\" \"The Performance,\" and \"The Workshop,\" a three part study that was used at most of their venues. The first part, or \"Jam,\" consisted of actors working with their audience to \"rap,\" make music, and \"jam\" through spoken or sung words accompanied by instrumentals typically provided by audience members. The actors then moved into the \"performance\" itself. During the performance the actors put on an improvised theater production directed by a senior member of the cast and assisted by one or two audience members. The \"Workshop\" began from there; during the workshop, the audience took over the scene, while still directed by the actors, and was encouraged to make it their own. Audiences gave their opinions and thoughts on each performance in the form of production reports that were collected by the Living Stage. \u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eThe projects that the Living Stage put on typically dealt with controversial and sensitive topics like race, economic inequality, the dangers of an overzealous American foreign policy, the atom bomb, violence, and freedom. The \"Baltimore Incident\" of 1971 is an excellent example of how controversial these productions could be. No matter how mixed opinions were, the Living Stage always elicited a reaction with their improvisational performances. During the 1980s the Living Stage began to reach out extensively to local initiatives like The District's Alcohol and Drug Abuse Services Administration and created their own Community Services Project in order to continue to bring theater and creativity to underserved sections of society. The Living Stage championed New Left ideals like equality and social justice throughout the Reagan years, despite some criticisms about their message being \"anachronistic.\"\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eThe organization began to sunset in the first half of the 1990s as many of its founding and senior members took their skills elsewhere. Robert Alexander himself left in 1995 to start educating people in the art of improvisational theater full time. Jennifer Nelson, David Matthew Proctor, Ezra Knight, and others began to filter away in the 1990s to pursue their own acting goals and the Living Stage would officially close its doors in 2002.\u003c/p\u003e"],"bioghist_heading_ssm":["Historical Information"],"bioghist_tesim":["The Living Stage Theatre Company began in 1966 as a venture of Arena Stage and Robert Alexander. Known from 1966-1968 as The Children's Theatre, the Living Stage from the beginning dedicated itself to programming with a social consciousness and a desire to effect societal change through performance. Robert Alexander was the theatre's founder and until 1995 its director. Alexander brought an adapted street and guerilla theater style to the D.C. area after becoming disenchanted with traditional theatre's \"middle-class\" audience. The Living Stage provided training to actors in the art of improvisational theater through tuition free schooling during the summers, as well as through weekend long workshop training for social workers, teachers, and other professionals throughout their 9 month season. While most of the Stage's workshops were held on site at schools, museums, and prisons, the Living Stage did have its own formal space in Washington, D.C. on 14th and T Streets NW. The Living Stage put on productions across Northern Virginia in schools, youth homes, and even prisons like the Lorton Penitentiary. Senior members of the company, like Jennifer Nelson and Oran Sandel helped to send the Living Stage across the country as well. Their efforts were largely funded through vigorous campaigning for grants and fund raising through the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) and other private foundations. The Living Stage also received substantial financial assistance from its parent company, the Washington Drama Society, Inc. ","The Living Stage performance style consisted of \"The Jam,\" \"The Performance,\" and \"The Workshop,\" a three part study that was used at most of their venues. The first part, or \"Jam,\" consisted of actors working with their audience to \"rap,\" make music, and \"jam\" through spoken or sung words accompanied by instrumentals typically provided by audience members. The actors then moved into the \"performance\" itself. During the performance the actors put on an improvised theater production directed by a senior member of the cast and assisted by one or two audience members. The \"Workshop\" began from there; during the workshop, the audience took over the scene, while still directed by the actors, and was encouraged to make it their own. Audiences gave their opinions and thoughts on each performance in the form of production reports that were collected by the Living Stage. ","The projects that the Living Stage put on typically dealt with controversial and sensitive topics like race, economic inequality, the dangers of an overzealous American foreign policy, the atom bomb, violence, and freedom. The \"Baltimore Incident\" of 1971 is an excellent example of how controversial these productions could be. No matter how mixed opinions were, the Living Stage always elicited a reaction with their improvisational performances. During the 1980s the Living Stage began to reach out extensively to local initiatives like The District's Alcohol and Drug Abuse Services Administration and created their own Community Services Project in order to continue to bring theater and creativity to underserved sections of society. The Living Stage championed New Left ideals like equality and social justice throughout the Reagan years, despite some criticisms about their message being \"anachronistic.\"","The organization began to sunset in the first half of the 1990s as many of its founding and senior members took their skills elsewhere. Robert Alexander himself left in 1995 to start educating people in the art of improvisational theater full time. Jennifer Nelson, David Matthew Proctor, Ezra Knight, and others began to filter away in the 1990s to pursue their own acting goals and the Living Stage would officially close its doors in 2002."],"phystech_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eThe Special Collections Research Center does not have the equipment necessary to watch or listen to all audiovisual material in Series 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 watch or listen to all audiovisual material in Series 3. Additional time and money may be required to digitize this material for access."],"prefercite_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eLiving Stage records, C0277, Special Collections Reserch Center, George Mason University Libraries.\u003c/p\u003e"],"prefercite_tesim":["Living Stage records, C0277, Special Collections Reserch Center, George Mason University Libraries."],"processinfo_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eProcessing completed by Nick Welsh and Elizabeth Beckman in 2016. EAD markup completed by Nick Welsh in June 2016. Finding aid updated by Amanda Menjivar in March 2025.\u003c/p\u003e"],"processinfo_heading_ssm":["Processing Information"],"processinfo_tesim":["Processing completed by Nick Welsh and Elizabeth Beckman in 2016. EAD markup completed by Nick Welsh in June 2016. Finding aid updated by Amanda Menjivar in March 2025."],"relatedmaterial_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eThe Special Collections Research Center holds several collections of personal papers of individuals involved with the Living Stage Theater Company, including the Zelda Fichandler papers, the Thomas C. Fichandler papers, and the Ken Kitch papers. It also holds the Arena Stage records.\u003c/p\u003e"],"relatedmaterial_heading_ssm":["Related Material"],"relatedmaterial_tesim":["The Special Collections Research Center holds several collections of personal papers of individuals involved with the Living Stage Theater Company, including the Zelda Fichandler papers, the Thomas C. Fichandler papers, and the Ken Kitch papers. It also holds the Arena Stage records."],"scopecontent_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eThe Living Stage records consists of material spanning the length of the organization's history from 1965, when the Living Stage was known as the Children's Theatre, to 2001. Included in the records are administrative files, financial papers, grant requests and applications, correspondence, workshop reports and scripts, as well as audiovisual and photographic materials.\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eSeries 1: Administrative and Financial Files (1965-2000) includes documents relating to the day to day running of the Living Stage Theatre Company as well as programming, project planning, financials, budgets, grants, press releases and printed documents. It is divided further into 4 subseries. Subseries 1.1 Policies, Planning, and Development includes the administrative files of the Living Stage including season summaries by date, long range plans, meeting minutes, and Community Service Project information. Subseries 1.2 Grants and Foundations contains all materials related to grant requests, endowments (including the National Endowment for the Arts), and donations made by both large charitable organizations and private donors. Subseries 1.3 Financials and Correspondence includes budget materials, expense reports, and benefit information, as well as correspondence between members of the LSTC, memos, and fan mail (called \"love letters\") from schools and other workshop sites. Subseries 1.4 Public Relations and Printed Pieces consist of various publications made by the Living Stage such as their newsletters and advertisements, as well as transcripts of speeches made by LSTC executives and press releases promoting the Living Stage.\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eSeries 2: Artistic and Workshop Files (1966-2001), which is split into 3 subseries, contains the creative aspects of the Living Stage, including details about residencies and the personnel of the Company, as well as workshop reports, scripts, and \"Jams.\" Subseries 2.1 Residency and Personnel Files contains all documents related to the people of the Living Stage, including casting information and details about out of state residencies (including those in Stockholm, Boston, Pittsburgh, New York and others). Subseries 2.2 Production Reports and Workshops encompasses the output of the Living Stage Theatre Company in the form of workshops, which are series of performances put on at schools, museums, and communities, and the production reports which sought to analyze audience reception of and reaction to these performances. Look to the \"Baltimore Incident\" for an excellent example of how contentious and revolutionary the Living Stage's performances were. Subseries 2.3 Production Files and Scripts, while small, contains items related to the Living Stage's \"Jams\" including scripts, research, and other assorted play files. \u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eSeries 3: Audiovisual and Photographic Materials (1967-1999) includes all photos, negatives, and film of the Living Stage or their productions. It is divided into three subseries. Subseries 3.1 Photographic Materials includes various photos and negatives showing the cast of the Living Stage at various times, as well as production stills. Unfortunately, the majority of these are undated or have little in the way of description. Subseries 3.2 Audio and film reels includes tapings of various workshops and productions mostly from the 1970s and 1980s. Subseries 3.3 Audio and video tapes contains cassette, VHS, Betamax, and U-matic tapes either used by the Living Stage for performances or made by/about the Living Stage.\u003c/p\u003e"],"scopecontent_heading_ssm":["Scope and Content"],"scopecontent_tesim":["The Living Stage records consists of material spanning the length of the organization's history from 1965, when the Living Stage was known as the Children's Theatre, to 2001. Included in the records are administrative files, financial papers, grant requests and applications, correspondence, workshop reports and scripts, as well as audiovisual and photographic materials.","Series 1: Administrative and Financial Files (1965-2000) includes documents relating to the day to day running of the Living Stage Theatre Company as well as programming, project planning, financials, budgets, grants, press releases and printed documents. It is divided further into 4 subseries. Subseries 1.1 Policies, Planning, and Development includes the administrative files of the Living Stage including season summaries by date, long range plans, meeting minutes, and Community Service Project information. Subseries 1.2 Grants and Foundations contains all materials related to grant requests, endowments (including the National Endowment for the Arts), and donations made by both large charitable organizations and private donors. Subseries 1.3 Financials and Correspondence includes budget materials, expense reports, and benefit information, as well as correspondence between members of the LSTC, memos, and fan mail (called \"love letters\") from schools and other workshop sites. Subseries 1.4 Public Relations and Printed Pieces consist of various publications made by the Living Stage such as their newsletters and advertisements, as well as transcripts of speeches made by LSTC executives and press releases promoting the Living Stage.","Series 2: Artistic and Workshop Files (1966-2001), which is split into 3 subseries, contains the creative aspects of the Living Stage, including details about residencies and the personnel of the Company, as well as workshop reports, scripts, and \"Jams.\" Subseries 2.1 Residency and Personnel Files contains all documents related to the people of the Living Stage, including casting information and details about out of state residencies (including those in Stockholm, Boston, Pittsburgh, New York and others). Subseries 2.2 Production Reports and Workshops encompasses the output of the Living Stage Theatre Company in the form of workshops, which are series of performances put on at schools, museums, and communities, and the production reports which sought to analyze audience reception of and reaction to these performances. Look to the \"Baltimore Incident\" for an excellent example of how contentious and revolutionary the Living Stage's performances were. Subseries 2.3 Production Files and Scripts, while small, contains items related to the Living Stage's \"Jams\" including scripts, research, and other assorted play files. ","Series 3: Audiovisual and Photographic Materials (1967-1999) includes all photos, negatives, and film of the Living Stage or their productions. It is divided into three subseries. Subseries 3.1 Photographic Materials includes various photos and negatives showing the cast of the Living Stage at various times, as well as production stills. Unfortunately, the majority of these are undated or have little in the way of description. Subseries 3.2 Audio and film reels includes tapings of various workshops and productions mostly from the 1970s and 1980s. Subseries 3.3 Audio and video tapes contains cassette, VHS, Betamax, and U-matic tapes either used by the Living Stage for performances or made by/about the Living Stage."],"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 Living Stage records documents the Living Stage Theatre Company, founded by Robert Alexander as an offshoot of Arena Stage in Washington, D.C. The records were created from 1965-2001.\u003c/abstract\u003e"],"abstract_tesim":["The Living Stage records documents the Living Stage Theatre Company, founded by Robert Alexander as an offshoot of Arena Stage in Washington, D.C. The records were created from 1965-2001."],"physloc_html_tesm":["\u003cphysloc id=\"aspace_e176c0c8972614dd614b2ea45cfacaaf\"\u003eR 52, C 6, S 3 - R 53, C 2, S 6\n\nMap Case 8.2\u003c/physloc\u003e"],"physloc_tesim":["R 52, C 6, S 3 - R 53, C 2, S 6\n\nMap Case 8.2"],"names_ssim":["George Mason University. Libraries. Special Collections Research Center"],"corpname_ssim":["George Mason University. Libraries. Special Collections Research Center"],"language_ssim":["English"],"descrules_ssm":["Describing Archives: A Content Standard"],"total_component_count_is":1502,"online_item_count_is":0,"component_level_isim":[0],"sort_isi":0,"timestamp":"2026-05-01T00:33:57.755Z"}]}},"label":"Breadcrumbs"}}},"links":{"self":"https://search.arvasarchive.org/catalog/vifgm_repositories_2_resources_602_c03_c03"}},{"id":"vifgm_LivingStage_c03_c03","type":"Subseries","attributes":{"title":"Cassette and VHS Tapes","breadcrumbs":{"id":"https://search.arvasarchive.org/catalog/vifgm_LivingStage_c03_c03#breadcrumbs","type":"document_value","attributes":{"value":{"ref_ssi":"vifgm_LivingStage_c03_c03","ref_ssm":["vifgm_LivingStage_c03_c03"],"id":"vifgm_LivingStage_c03_c03","ead_ssi":"vifgm_LivingStage","_root_":"vifgm_LivingStage","_nest_parent_":"vifgm_LivingStage_c03","parent_ssi":"vifgm_LivingStage_c03","parent_ssim":["vifgm_LivingStage","vifgm_LivingStage_c03"],"parent_ids_ssim":["vifgm_LivingStage","vifgm_LivingStage_c03"],"parent_unittitles_ssm":["Living Stage records","Series 3: Audiovisual materials"],"parent_unittitles_tesim":["Living Stage records","Series 3: Audiovisual materials"],"text":["Living Stage records","Series 3: Audiovisual materials","Cassette and VHS Tapes"],"title_filing_ssi":"Cassette and VHS Tapes","title_ssm":["Cassette and VHS Tapes"],"title_tesim":["Cassette and VHS Tapes"],"unitdate_other_ssim":["1978-1998"],"normalized_date_ssm":["1978/1998"],"normalized_title_ssm":["Cassette and VHS Tapes"],"component_level_isim":[2],"repository_ssim":["George Mason University"],"collection_ssim":["Living Stage records"],"has_online_content_ssim":["false"],"child_component_count_isi":95,"level_ssm":["Subseries"],"level_ssim":["Subseries"],"sort_isi":1407,"parent_access_restrict_tesm":["There are no access restrictions."],"parent_access_terms_tesm":["There are no restrictions on personal use. Permission to publish material from the Living Stage Records must be obtained from Special Collections and Archives, George Mason University Libraries."],"date_range_isim":[1978,1979,1980,1981,1982,1983,1984,1985,1986,1987,1988,1989,1990,1991,1992,1993,1994,1995,1996,1997,1998],"_nest_path_":"/components#2/components#2","timestamp":"2026-05-01T00:50:06.728Z","collection":{"numFound":1,"start":0,"numFoundExact":true,"docs":[{"id":"vifgm_LivingStage","ead_ssi":"vifgm_LivingStage","_root_":"vifgm_LivingStage","_nest_parent_":"vifgm_LivingStage","ead_source_url_ssi":"data/gmu/LivingStage.xml","aspace_url_ssi":"http://sca.gmu.edu/finding_aids/livingstage.html","title_ssm":["Living Stage records"],"title_tesim":["Living Stage records"],"unitdate_ssm":["1965-2001"],"unitdate_inclusive_ssm":["1965-2001"],"level_ssm":["collection"],"level_ssim":["Collection"],"unitid_ssm":["C0277"],"text":["C0277","Living Stage records","Acting.","People with mental disabilities--Services for--United States.","Performance art--Photographs.","Public schools--Virginia.","Radicalism--United States--History--20th century.","Students--Photographs.","Theater--United States--History--20th century.","Theater--Washington (D.C.)","Playscripts.","Theatre programs.","There are no access restrictions.","The collection is divided into three series, each of which is divided into subseries.","Series 1: Administrative and Financial Files, 1965-2000 (Boxes 1-56) Series 2: Artistic and Workshop Files, 1966-2001 (Boxes 57-85) Series 3: Audiovisual Materials, 1967-1998 (Boxes 86-106)","The Living Stage Theatre Company began in 1966 as a venture of the Arena Stage and Robert Alexander. Known from 1966-1968 as the Children's Theatre, the Living Stage from the beginning dedicated itself to programming with a social consciousness and a desire to effect societal change through performance. Robert Alexander was the theatre's founder and until 1995 its director. Alexander brought an adapted street and guerilla theater style to the DC area after becoming disenchanted with traditional theater's \"middle-class\" audience. The Living Stage provided training to actors in the art of improvisational theater through tuition free schooling during the summers, as well as through weekend long workshop training for social workers, teachers, and other professionals throughout their 9 month season. While most of the Stage's workshops were held on site at schools, museums, and prisons, the Living Stage did have its own formal space in Washington DC on 14th and T Streets NW. The Living Stage put on productions across Northern Virginia in schools, youth homes, and even prisons like the Lorton Penitentiary. Senior members of the company, like Jennifer Nelson and Oran Sandel helped to send the Living Stage across the country as well. Their efforts were largely funded through vigorous campaigning for grants and fund raising through the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) and other private foundations. The Living Stage also received substantial financial assistance from its parent company, the Washington Drama Society, Inc. ","The Living Stage performance style consisted of \"The Jam\", \"The Performance\" and \"The Workshop\"; a three part study that was used at most of their venues. The first part, or \"Jam\", consisted of actors working with their audience to \"rap\", make music, and \"jam\" through spoken or sung words accompanied by instrumentals typically provided by audience members. Then the actors moved into the \"performance\" itself. During the performance, the actors put on an improvised theater production directed by a senior member of the cast and assisted by one or two audience members. The \"Workshop\" began from there; during the workshop, the audience took over the scene, while still directed by the actors, and was encouraged to make it their own. Audiences gave their opinions and thoughts on each performance in the form of production reports that were collected by the Living Stage. ","The projects that the Living Stage put on typically dealt with controversial and sensitive topics like race, economic inequality, the dangers of an overzealous American foreign policy, the atom bomb, violence, and freedom. The \"Baltimore Incident\" of 1971 is an excellent example of how controversial these productions could be. No matter how mixed opinions were, the Living Stage always elicited a reaction with their improvisational performances. During the 1980s the Living Stage began to reach out extensively to local initiatives like The District's Alcohol and Drug Abuse Services Administration and created their own Community Services Project in order to continue to bring theater and creativity to underserved sections of society. The Living Stage championed New Left ideals like equality and social justice throughout the Reagan years, despite some criticisms about their message being \"anachronistic\". "," The organization began its twilight years in the first half of the 1990s as many of its founding and senior members began to take their skills elsewhere. Robert Alexander himself left in 1995 to start educating people in the art of improvisational theater full time. Jennifer Nelson, David Matthew Proctor, Ezra Knight, and others began to filter away in the 1990s to pursue their own acting goals and the Living Stage would officially close its doors in 2002.","The Special Collections Research Center does not have the equipment necessary to watch Betacam, U-matic, reel-to-reel film and audio tapes contained in Series 3. Additional time and money may be required to digitize this material for access.","Processing completed by Nick Welsh and Elizabeth Beckman in 2016. EAD markup completed by Nick Welsh in June 2016.","The Special Collections and Research Center holds several collections of personal papers of individuals involved with the Living Stage Theater Company collection Arena Stage, including the Zelda Fichandler papers, the Thomas Fichandler papers, and the Ken Kitch papers, as well as the Arena Stage collection and many other theater collections."," The Living Stage records consist of materials spanning the length of that organization's history from about 1965, when the Living Stage was known as the Children's Theatre, to 2001. Included in the records are administrative files including financial papers, grant requests and applications, printed pieces, and correspondence and more creative materials including workshop reports and scripts, audiovisual files on reel-to-reel tapes, and photographic materials. ","Series 1: Administrative and Financial Files (1965-2000) includes documents relating to the day to day running of the Living Stage Theatre Company as well as programming, project planning, financials, budgets, grants, press releases and printed documents. It is divided further into 4 subseries. Subseries 1.1 Policies, Planning, and Development includes the administrative files of the Living Stage including season summaries by date, long range plans, meeting minutes, and Community Service Project information. Subseries 1.2 Grants and Foundations contains all materials related to grant requests, endowments (including the National Endowment for the Arts), and donations made by both large charitable organizations and private donors. Subseries 1.3 Financials and Correspondence includes budget materials, expense reports, and benefit information, as well as correspondence between members of the LSTC, memos, and fan mail (called \"love letters\") from schools and other workshop sites. Subseries 1.4 Public Relations and Printed Pieces consist of various publications made by the Living Stage such as their newsletters and advertisements, as well as transcripts of speeches made by LSTC executives and press releases promoting the Living Stage."," Series 2: Artistic and Workshop Files (1966-2001), which is split into 3 subseries, contains the creative aspects of the Living Stage, including details about residencies and the personnel of the Company, as well as workshop reports, scripts, and \"Jams\". Subseries 2.1 Residency and Personnel Files contains all documents related to the people of the Living Stage, including casting information and details about out of state residencies (including those in Stockholm, Boston, Pittsburgh, New York and others). Subseries 2.2 Production Reports and Workshops encompasses the output of the Living Stage Theatre Company in the form of workshops, which are series of performances put on at schools, museums, and communities, and the production reports which sought to analyze audience reception of and reaction to these performances. Look to the \"Baltimore Incident\" for an excellent example of how contentious and revolutionary the Living Stage's performances were. Subseries 2.3 Production Files and Scripts, while small, contains items related to the Living Stage's \"Jams\" including scripts, research, and other assorted play files. ","Series 3: Audiovisual Materials (1967-1998) includes all photos, negatives, and film of the Living Stage or their productions. It is divided into three subseries. Subseries 3.1 Photographic Materials includes various photos and negatives showing the cast of the Living Stage at various times as well as production stills. Unfortunately, the majority of these are undated or have little in the way of description. Subseries 3.2 Reel to Reel Materials includes tapings of various workshops and productions mostly from the 1970s and 1980s. Subseries 3.3 Cassete and VHS tapes contains cassette, VHS, Betamax, and U-matic tapes either used by the Living Stage for performances or made by/about the Living Stage.","There are no restrictions on personal use. Permission to publish material from the Living Stage Records must be obtained from Special Collections and Archives, George Mason University Libraries.","The Living Stage records include pieces related to the traveling theater company, which was founded by Robert Alexander, between 1965 and 2001.","George Mason University. Libraries. Special Collections Research Center.","English\n\t\t"],"unitid_tesim":["C0277"],"normalized_title_ssm":["Living Stage records"],"collection_title_tesim":["Living Stage records"],"collection_ssim":["Living Stage records"],"repository_ssm":["George Mason University"],"repository_ssim":["George Mason University"],"access_terms_ssm":["There are no restrictions on personal use. Permission to publish material from the Living Stage Records must be obtained from Special Collections and Archives, George Mason University Libraries."],"acqinfo_ssim":["Donated by Arena Stage in 2000."],"access_subjects_ssim":["Acting.","People with mental disabilities--Services for--United States.","Performance art--Photographs.","Public schools--Virginia.","Radicalism--United States--History--20th century.","Students--Photographs.","Theater--United States--History--20th century.","Theater--Washington (D.C.)","Playscripts.","Theatre programs."],"access_subjects_ssm":["Acting.","People with mental disabilities--Services for--United States.","Performance art--Photographs.","Public schools--Virginia.","Radicalism--United States--History--20th century.","Students--Photographs.","Theater--United States--History--20th century.","Theater--Washington (D.C.)","Playscripts.","Theatre programs."],"has_online_content_ssim":["false"],"extent_ssm":["48.0 linear feet (106 boxes)"],"extent_tesim":["48.0 linear feet (106 boxes)"],"date_range_isim":[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],"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\u003eThe collection is divided into three series, each of which is divided into subseries.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003clist type=\"ordered\"\u003e\n        \u003citem\u003eSeries 1: Administrative and Financial Files, 1965-2000 (Boxes 1-56)\u003c/item\u003e\n        \u003citem\u003eSeries 2: Artistic and Workshop Files, 1966-2001 (Boxes 57-85)\u003c/item\u003e\n        \u003citem\u003eSeries 3: Audiovisual Materials, 1967-1998 (Boxes 86-106)\u003c/item\u003e\n      \u003c/list\u003e"],"arrangement_heading_ssm":["Arrangement"],"arrangement_tesim":["The collection is divided into three series, each of which is divided into subseries.","Series 1: Administrative and Financial Files, 1965-2000 (Boxes 1-56) Series 2: Artistic and Workshop Files, 1966-2001 (Boxes 57-85) Series 3: Audiovisual Materials, 1967-1998 (Boxes 86-106)"],"bioghist_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eThe Living Stage Theatre Company began in 1966 as a venture of the Arena Stage and Robert Alexander. Known from 1966-1968 as the Children's Theatre, the Living Stage from the beginning dedicated itself to programming with a social consciousness and a desire to effect societal change through performance. Robert Alexander was the theatre's founder and until 1995 its director. Alexander brought an adapted street and guerilla theater style to the DC area after becoming disenchanted with traditional theater's \"middle-class\" audience. The Living Stage provided training to actors in the art of improvisational theater through tuition free schooling during the summers, as well as through weekend long workshop training for social workers, teachers, and other professionals throughout their 9 month season. While most of the Stage's workshops were held on site at schools, museums, and prisons, the Living Stage did have its own formal space in Washington DC on 14th and T Streets NW. The Living Stage put on productions across Northern Virginia in schools, youth homes, and even prisons like the Lorton Penitentiary. Senior members of the company, like Jennifer Nelson and Oran Sandel helped to send the Living Stage across the country as well. Their efforts were largely funded through vigorous campaigning for grants and fund raising through the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) and other private foundations. The Living Stage also received substantial financial assistance from its parent company, the Washington Drama Society, Inc. \u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eThe Living Stage performance style consisted of \"The Jam\", \"The Performance\" and \"The Workshop\"; a three part study that was used at most of their venues. The first part, or \"Jam\", consisted of actors working with their audience to \"rap\", make music, and \"jam\" through spoken or sung words accompanied by instrumentals typically provided by audience members. Then the actors moved into the \"performance\" itself. During the performance, the actors put on an improvised theater production directed by a senior member of the cast and assisted by one or two audience members. The \"Workshop\" began from there; during the workshop, the audience took over the scene, while still directed by the actors, and was encouraged to make it their own. Audiences gave their opinions and thoughts on each performance in the form of production reports that were collected by the Living Stage. \u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eThe projects that the Living Stage put on typically dealt with controversial and sensitive topics like race, economic inequality, the dangers of an overzealous American foreign policy, the atom bomb, violence, and freedom. The \"Baltimore Incident\" of 1971 is an excellent example of how controversial these productions could be. No matter how mixed opinions were, the Living Stage always elicited a reaction with their improvisational performances. During the 1980s the Living Stage began to reach out extensively to local initiatives like The District's Alcohol and Drug Abuse Services Administration and created their own Community Services Project in order to continue to bring theater and creativity to underserved sections of society. The Living Stage championed New Left ideals like equality and social justice throughout the Reagan years, despite some criticisms about their message being \"anachronistic\". \u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003e The organization began its twilight years in the first half of the 1990s as many of its founding and senior members began to take their skills elsewhere. Robert Alexander himself left in 1995 to start educating people in the art of improvisational theater full time. Jennifer Nelson, David Matthew Proctor, Ezra Knight, and others began to filter away in the 1990s to pursue their own acting goals and the Living Stage would officially close its doors in 2002.\u003c/p\u003e"],"bioghist_heading_ssm":["Historical Information"],"bioghist_tesim":["The Living Stage Theatre Company began in 1966 as a venture of the Arena Stage and Robert Alexander. Known from 1966-1968 as the Children's Theatre, the Living Stage from the beginning dedicated itself to programming with a social consciousness and a desire to effect societal change through performance. Robert Alexander was the theatre's founder and until 1995 its director. Alexander brought an adapted street and guerilla theater style to the DC area after becoming disenchanted with traditional theater's \"middle-class\" audience. The Living Stage provided training to actors in the art of improvisational theater through tuition free schooling during the summers, as well as through weekend long workshop training for social workers, teachers, and other professionals throughout their 9 month season. While most of the Stage's workshops were held on site at schools, museums, and prisons, the Living Stage did have its own formal space in Washington DC on 14th and T Streets NW. The Living Stage put on productions across Northern Virginia in schools, youth homes, and even prisons like the Lorton Penitentiary. Senior members of the company, like Jennifer Nelson and Oran Sandel helped to send the Living Stage across the country as well. Their efforts were largely funded through vigorous campaigning for grants and fund raising through the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) and other private foundations. The Living Stage also received substantial financial assistance from its parent company, the Washington Drama Society, Inc. ","The Living Stage performance style consisted of \"The Jam\", \"The Performance\" and \"The Workshop\"; a three part study that was used at most of their venues. The first part, or \"Jam\", consisted of actors working with their audience to \"rap\", make music, and \"jam\" through spoken or sung words accompanied by instrumentals typically provided by audience members. Then the actors moved into the \"performance\" itself. During the performance, the actors put on an improvised theater production directed by a senior member of the cast and assisted by one or two audience members. The \"Workshop\" began from there; during the workshop, the audience took over the scene, while still directed by the actors, and was encouraged to make it their own. Audiences gave their opinions and thoughts on each performance in the form of production reports that were collected by the Living Stage. ","The projects that the Living Stage put on typically dealt with controversial and sensitive topics like race, economic inequality, the dangers of an overzealous American foreign policy, the atom bomb, violence, and freedom. The \"Baltimore Incident\" of 1971 is an excellent example of how controversial these productions could be. No matter how mixed opinions were, the Living Stage always elicited a reaction with their improvisational performances. During the 1980s the Living Stage began to reach out extensively to local initiatives like The District's Alcohol and Drug Abuse Services Administration and created their own Community Services Project in order to continue to bring theater and creativity to underserved sections of society. The Living Stage championed New Left ideals like equality and social justice throughout the Reagan years, despite some criticisms about their message being \"anachronistic\". "," The organization began its twilight years in the first half of the 1990s as many of its founding and senior members began to take their skills elsewhere. Robert Alexander himself left in 1995 to start educating people in the art of improvisational theater full time. Jennifer Nelson, David Matthew Proctor, Ezra Knight, and others began to filter away in the 1990s to pursue their own acting goals and the Living Stage would officially close its doors in 2002."],"phystech_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eThe Special Collections Research Center does not have the equipment necessary to watch Betacam, U-matic, reel-to-reel film and audio tapes contained in Series 3. Additional time and money may be required to digitize this material for access.\u003c/p\u003e"],"phystech_heading_ssm":["Technical Requirements"],"phystech_tesim":["The Special Collections Research Center does not have the equipment necessary to watch Betacam, U-matic, reel-to-reel film and audio tapes contained in Series 3. Additional time and money may be required to digitize this material for access."],"prefercite_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eLiving Stage Records, C0277, Special Collections and Archives, George Mason University Libraries.\u003c/p\u003e"],"prefercite_tesim":["Living Stage Records, C0277, Special Collections and Archives, George Mason University Libraries."],"processinfo_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eProcessing completed by Nick Welsh and Elizabeth Beckman in 2016. EAD markup completed by Nick Welsh in June 2016.\u003c/p\u003e"],"processinfo_heading_ssm":["Processing Information"],"processinfo_tesim":["Processing completed by Nick Welsh and Elizabeth Beckman in 2016. EAD markup completed by Nick Welsh in June 2016."],"relatedmaterial_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eThe Special Collections and Research Center holds several collections of personal papers of individuals involved with the Living Stage Theater Company collection Arena Stage, including the Zelda Fichandler papers, the Thomas Fichandler papers, and the Ken Kitch papers, as well as the Arena Stage collection and many other theater collections.\u003c/p\u003e"],"relatedmaterial_heading_ssm":["Related Material"],"relatedmaterial_tesim":["The Special Collections and Research Center holds several collections of personal papers of individuals involved with the Living Stage Theater Company collection Arena Stage, including the Zelda Fichandler papers, the Thomas Fichandler papers, and the Ken Kitch papers, as well as the Arena Stage collection and many other theater collections."],"scopecontent_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003e The Living Stage records consist of materials spanning the length of that organization's history from about 1965, when the Living Stage was known as the Children's Theatre, to 2001. Included in the records are administrative files including financial papers, grant requests and applications, printed pieces, and correspondence and more creative materials including workshop reports and scripts, audiovisual files on reel-to-reel tapes, and photographic materials. \u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eSeries 1: Administrative and Financial Files (1965-2000) includes documents relating to the day to day running of the Living Stage Theatre Company as well as programming, project planning, financials, budgets, grants, press releases and printed documents. It is divided further into 4 subseries. Subseries 1.1 Policies, Planning, and Development includes the administrative files of the Living Stage including season summaries by date, long range plans, meeting minutes, and Community Service Project information. Subseries 1.2 Grants and Foundations contains all materials related to grant requests, endowments (including the National Endowment for the Arts), and donations made by both large charitable organizations and private donors. Subseries 1.3 Financials and Correspondence includes budget materials, expense reports, and benefit information, as well as correspondence between members of the LSTC, memos, and fan mail (called \"love letters\") from schools and other workshop sites. Subseries 1.4 Public Relations and Printed Pieces consist of various publications made by the Living Stage such as their newsletters and advertisements, as well as transcripts of speeches made by LSTC executives and press releases promoting the Living Stage.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003e Series 2: Artistic and Workshop Files (1966-2001), which is split into 3 subseries, contains the creative aspects of the Living Stage, including details about residencies and the personnel of the Company, as well as workshop reports, scripts, and \"Jams\". Subseries 2.1 Residency and Personnel Files contains all documents related to the people of the Living Stage, including casting information and details about out of state residencies (including those in Stockholm, Boston, Pittsburgh, New York and others). Subseries 2.2 Production Reports and Workshops encompasses the output of the Living Stage Theatre Company in the form of workshops, which are series of performances put on at schools, museums, and communities, and the production reports which sought to analyze audience reception of and reaction to these performances. Look to the \"Baltimore Incident\" for an excellent example of how contentious and revolutionary the Living Stage's performances were. Subseries 2.3 Production Files and Scripts, while small, contains items related to the Living Stage's \"Jams\" including scripts, research, and other assorted play files. \u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eSeries 3: Audiovisual Materials (1967-1998) includes all photos, negatives, and film of the Living Stage or their productions. It is divided into three subseries. Subseries 3.1 Photographic Materials includes various photos and negatives showing the cast of the Living Stage at various times as well as production stills. Unfortunately, the majority of these are undated or have little in the way of description. Subseries 3.2 Reel to Reel Materials includes tapings of various workshops and productions mostly from the 1970s and 1980s. Subseries 3.3 Cassete and VHS tapes contains cassette, VHS, Betamax, and U-matic tapes either used by the Living Stage for performances or made by/about the Living Stage.\u003c/p\u003e"],"scopecontent_heading_ssm":["Scope and Content"],"scopecontent_tesim":[" The Living Stage records consist of materials spanning the length of that organization's history from about 1965, when the Living Stage was known as the Children's Theatre, to 2001. Included in the records are administrative files including financial papers, grant requests and applications, printed pieces, and correspondence and more creative materials including workshop reports and scripts, audiovisual files on reel-to-reel tapes, and photographic materials. ","Series 1: Administrative and Financial Files (1965-2000) includes documents relating to the day to day running of the Living Stage Theatre Company as well as programming, project planning, financials, budgets, grants, press releases and printed documents. It is divided further into 4 subseries. Subseries 1.1 Policies, Planning, and Development includes the administrative files of the Living Stage including season summaries by date, long range plans, meeting minutes, and Community Service Project information. Subseries 1.2 Grants and Foundations contains all materials related to grant requests, endowments (including the National Endowment for the Arts), and donations made by both large charitable organizations and private donors. Subseries 1.3 Financials and Correspondence includes budget materials, expense reports, and benefit information, as well as correspondence between members of the LSTC, memos, and fan mail (called \"love letters\") from schools and other workshop sites. Subseries 1.4 Public Relations and Printed Pieces consist of various publications made by the Living Stage such as their newsletters and advertisements, as well as transcripts of speeches made by LSTC executives and press releases promoting the Living Stage."," Series 2: Artistic and Workshop Files (1966-2001), which is split into 3 subseries, contains the creative aspects of the Living Stage, including details about residencies and the personnel of the Company, as well as workshop reports, scripts, and \"Jams\". Subseries 2.1 Residency and Personnel Files contains all documents related to the people of the Living Stage, including casting information and details about out of state residencies (including those in Stockholm, Boston, Pittsburgh, New York and others). Subseries 2.2 Production Reports and Workshops encompasses the output of the Living Stage Theatre Company in the form of workshops, which are series of performances put on at schools, museums, and communities, and the production reports which sought to analyze audience reception of and reaction to these performances. Look to the \"Baltimore Incident\" for an excellent example of how contentious and revolutionary the Living Stage's performances were. Subseries 2.3 Production Files and Scripts, while small, contains items related to the Living Stage's \"Jams\" including scripts, research, and other assorted play files. ","Series 3: Audiovisual Materials (1967-1998) includes all photos, negatives, and film of the Living Stage or their productions. It is divided into three subseries. Subseries 3.1 Photographic Materials includes various photos and negatives showing the cast of the Living Stage at various times as well as production stills. Unfortunately, the majority of these are undated or have little in the way of description. Subseries 3.2 Reel to Reel Materials includes tapings of various workshops and productions mostly from the 1970s and 1980s. Subseries 3.3 Cassete and VHS tapes contains cassette, VHS, Betamax, and U-matic tapes either used by the Living Stage for performances or made by/about the Living Stage."],"userestrict_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eThere are no restrictions on personal use. Permission to publish material from the Living Stage Records must be obtained from Special Collections and Archives, George Mason University Libraries.\u003c/p\u003e"],"userestrict_heading_ssm":["Use Restrictions"],"userestrict_tesim":["There are no restrictions on personal use. Permission to publish material from the Living Stage Records must be obtained from Special Collections and Archives, George Mason University Libraries."],"abstract_html_tesm":["\u003cabstract id=\"ref348\" label=\"Abstract\"\u003eThe Living Stage records include pieces related to the traveling theater company, which was founded by Robert Alexander, between 1965 and 2001.\u003c/abstract\u003e"],"abstract_tesim":["The Living Stage records include pieces related to the traveling theater company, which was founded by Robert Alexander, between 1965 and 2001."],"names_ssim":["George Mason University. Libraries. Special Collections Research Center."],"corpname_ssim":["George Mason University. Libraries. Special Collections Research Center."],"language_ssim":["English\n\t\t"],"descrules_ssm":["Describing Archives: A Content Standard"],"total_component_count_is":1502,"online_item_count_is":0,"component_level_isim":[0],"sort_isi":0,"timestamp":"2026-05-01T00:50:06.728Z"}]}},"label":"Breadcrumbs"}}},"links":{"self":"https://search.arvasarchive.org/catalog/vifgm_LivingStage_c03_c03"}},{"id":"vifgm_repositories_2_resources_602_c01_c03","type":"Subseries","attributes":{"title":"Financials and correspondence","breadcrumbs":{"id":"https://search.arvasarchive.org/catalog/vifgm_repositories_2_resources_602_c01_c03#breadcrumbs","type":"document_value","attributes":{"value":{"ref_ssi":"vifgm_repositories_2_resources_602_c01_c03","ref_ssm":["vifgm_repositories_2_resources_602_c01_c03"],"id":"vifgm_repositories_2_resources_602_c01_c03","ead_ssi":"vifgm_repositories_2_resources_602","_root_":"vifgm_repositories_2_resources_602","_nest_parent_":"vifgm_repositories_2_resources_602_c01","parent_ssi":"vifgm_repositories_2_resources_602_c01","parent_ssim":["vifgm_repositories_2_resources_602","vifgm_repositories_2_resources_602_c01"],"parent_ids_ssim":["vifgm_repositories_2_resources_602","vifgm_repositories_2_resources_602_c01"],"parent_unittitles_ssm":["Living Stage records","Series 1: Administrative and financial files"],"parent_unittitles_tesim":["Living Stage records","Series 1: Administrative and financial files"],"text":["Living Stage records","Series 1: Administrative and financial files","Financials and correspondence"],"title_filing_ssi":"Financials and correspondence","title_ssm":["Financials and correspondence"],"title_tesim":["Financials and correspondence"],"unitdate_other_ssim":["1965-1996"],"normalized_date_ssm":["1965/1996"],"normalized_title_ssm":["Financials and correspondence"],"component_level_isim":[2],"repository_ssim":["George Mason University"],"collection_ssim":["Living Stage records"],"has_online_content_ssim":["false"],"child_component_count_isi":210,"level_ssm":["Subseries"],"level_ssim":["Subseries"],"sort_isi":489,"parent_access_restrict_tesm":["There are no access restrictions on Series 1 and 2. Please see the Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements note for access information on Series 3."],"parent_access_terms_tesm":["The copyright and related rights status of this collection have not been evaluated (See http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/CNE/1.0/)"],"date_range_isim":[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],"_nest_path_":"/components#0/components#2","timestamp":"2026-05-01T00:33:57.755Z","collection":{"numFound":1,"start":0,"numFoundExact":true,"docs":[{"id":"vifgm_repositories_2_resources_602","ead_ssi":"vifgm_repositories_2_resources_602","_root_":"vifgm_repositories_2_resources_602","_nest_parent_":"vifgm_repositories_2_resources_602","ead_source_url_ssi":"data/oai/GMU/repositories_2_resources_602.xml","title_filing_ssi":"Living Stage records","title_ssm":["Living Stage records"],"title_tesim":["Living Stage records"],"unitdate_ssm":["1965-2001"],"unitdate_inclusive_ssm":["1965-2001"],"level_ssm":["collection"],"level_ssim":["Collection"],"unitid_ssm":["C0277","/repositories/2/resources/602"],"text":["C0277","/repositories/2/resources/602","Living Stage records","Washington (D.C.)","Acting","People with mental disabilities -- Services for -- United States","Performance art -- Photographs","Public schools -- Virginia","Radicalism -- United States -- History -- 20th century","Students -- Photographs","Theater -- United States -- History -- 20th century","Theater -- Washington (D.C.)","Theater programs","Playscript","There are no access restrictions on Series 1 and 2. Please see the Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements note for access information on Series 3.","The collection is divided into three series, each of which is divided into subseries.","Series Series 1: Administrative and Financial Files, 1965-2000 (Boxes 1-56) Series 2: Artistic and Workshop Files, 1966-2001 (Boxes 57-85) Series 3: Audiovisual and Photographic Materials, 1967-1999 (Boxes 86-106)","The Living Stage Theatre Company began in 1966 as a venture of Arena Stage and Robert Alexander. Known from 1966-1968 as The Children's Theatre, the Living Stage from the beginning dedicated itself to programming with a social consciousness and a desire to effect societal change through performance. Robert Alexander was the theatre's founder and until 1995 its director. Alexander brought an adapted street and guerilla theater style to the D.C. area after becoming disenchanted with traditional theatre's \"middle-class\" audience. The Living Stage provided training to actors in the art of improvisational theater through tuition free schooling during the summers, as well as through weekend long workshop training for social workers, teachers, and other professionals throughout their 9 month season. While most of the Stage's workshops were held on site at schools, museums, and prisons, the Living Stage did have its own formal space in Washington, D.C. on 14th and T Streets NW. The Living Stage put on productions across Northern Virginia in schools, youth homes, and even prisons like the Lorton Penitentiary. Senior members of the company, like Jennifer Nelson and Oran Sandel helped to send the Living Stage across the country as well. Their efforts were largely funded through vigorous campaigning for grants and fund raising through the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) and other private foundations. The Living Stage also received substantial financial assistance from its parent company, the Washington Drama Society, Inc. ","The Living Stage performance style consisted of \"The Jam,\" \"The Performance,\" and \"The Workshop,\" a three part study that was used at most of their venues. The first part, or \"Jam,\" consisted of actors working with their audience to \"rap,\" make music, and \"jam\" through spoken or sung words accompanied by instrumentals typically provided by audience members. The actors then moved into the \"performance\" itself. During the performance the actors put on an improvised theater production directed by a senior member of the cast and assisted by one or two audience members. The \"Workshop\" began from there; during the workshop, the audience took over the scene, while still directed by the actors, and was encouraged to make it their own. Audiences gave their opinions and thoughts on each performance in the form of production reports that were collected by the Living Stage. ","The projects that the Living Stage put on typically dealt with controversial and sensitive topics like race, economic inequality, the dangers of an overzealous American foreign policy, the atom bomb, violence, and freedom. The \"Baltimore Incident\" of 1971 is an excellent example of how controversial these productions could be. No matter how mixed opinions were, the Living Stage always elicited a reaction with their improvisational performances. During the 1980s the Living Stage began to reach out extensively to local initiatives like The District's Alcohol and Drug Abuse Services Administration and created their own Community Services Project in order to continue to bring theater and creativity to underserved sections of society. The Living Stage championed New Left ideals like equality and social justice throughout the Reagan years, despite some criticisms about their message being \"anachronistic.\"","The organization began to sunset in the first half of the 1990s as many of its founding and senior members took their skills elsewhere. Robert Alexander himself left in 1995 to start educating people in the art of improvisational theater full time. Jennifer Nelson, David Matthew Proctor, Ezra Knight, and others began to filter away in the 1990s to pursue their own acting goals and the Living Stage would officially close its doors in 2002.","The Special Collections Research Center does not have the equipment necessary to watch or listen to all audiovisual material in Series 3. Additional time and money may be required to digitize this material for access.","Processing completed by Nick Welsh and Elizabeth Beckman in 2016. EAD markup completed by Nick Welsh in June 2016. Finding aid updated by Amanda Menjivar in March 2025.","The Special Collections Research Center holds several collections of personal papers of individuals involved with the Living Stage Theater Company, including the Zelda Fichandler papers, the Thomas C. Fichandler papers, and the Ken Kitch papers. It also holds the Arena Stage records.","The Living Stage records consists of material spanning the length of the organization's history from 1965, when the Living Stage was known as the Children's Theatre, to 2001. Included in the records are administrative files, financial papers, grant requests and applications, correspondence, workshop reports and scripts, as well as audiovisual and photographic materials.","Series 1: Administrative and Financial Files (1965-2000) includes documents relating to the day to day running of the Living Stage Theatre Company as well as programming, project planning, financials, budgets, grants, press releases and printed documents. It is divided further into 4 subseries. Subseries 1.1 Policies, Planning, and Development includes the administrative files of the Living Stage including season summaries by date, long range plans, meeting minutes, and Community Service Project information. Subseries 1.2 Grants and Foundations contains all materials related to grant requests, endowments (including the National Endowment for the Arts), and donations made by both large charitable organizations and private donors. Subseries 1.3 Financials and Correspondence includes budget materials, expense reports, and benefit information, as well as correspondence between members of the LSTC, memos, and fan mail (called \"love letters\") from schools and other workshop sites. Subseries 1.4 Public Relations and Printed Pieces consist of various publications made by the Living Stage such as their newsletters and advertisements, as well as transcripts of speeches made by LSTC executives and press releases promoting the Living Stage.","Series 2: Artistic and Workshop Files (1966-2001), which is split into 3 subseries, contains the creative aspects of the Living Stage, including details about residencies and the personnel of the Company, as well as workshop reports, scripts, and \"Jams.\" Subseries 2.1 Residency and Personnel Files contains all documents related to the people of the Living Stage, including casting information and details about out of state residencies (including those in Stockholm, Boston, Pittsburgh, New York and others). Subseries 2.2 Production Reports and Workshops encompasses the output of the Living Stage Theatre Company in the form of workshops, which are series of performances put on at schools, museums, and communities, and the production reports which sought to analyze audience reception of and reaction to these performances. Look to the \"Baltimore Incident\" for an excellent example of how contentious and revolutionary the Living Stage's performances were. Subseries 2.3 Production Files and Scripts, while small, contains items related to the Living Stage's \"Jams\" including scripts, research, and other assorted play files. ","Series 3: Audiovisual and Photographic Materials (1967-1999) includes all photos, negatives, and film of the Living Stage or their productions. It is divided into three subseries. Subseries 3.1 Photographic Materials includes various photos and negatives showing the cast of the Living Stage at various times, as well as production stills. Unfortunately, the majority of these are undated or have little in the way of description. Subseries 3.2 Audio and film reels includes tapings of various workshops and productions mostly from the 1970s and 1980s. Subseries 3.3 Audio and video tapes contains cassette, VHS, Betamax, and U-matic tapes either used by the Living Stage for performances or made by/about the Living Stage.","The copyright and related rights status of this collection have not been evaluated (See http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/CNE/1.0/)","The Living Stage records documents the Living Stage Theatre Company, founded by Robert Alexander as an offshoot of Arena Stage in Washington, D.C. The records were created from 1965-2001.","R 52, C 6, S 3 - R 53, C 2, S 6\n\nMap Case 8.2","George Mason University. Libraries. Special Collections Research Center","English"],"unitid_tesim":["C0277","/repositories/2/resources/602"],"normalized_title_ssm":["Living Stage records"],"collection_title_tesim":["Living Stage records"],"collection_ssim":["Living Stage records"],"repository_ssm":["George Mason University"],"repository_ssim":["George Mason University"],"geogname_ssm":["Washington (D.C.)"],"geogname_ssim":["Washington (D.C.)"],"places_ssim":["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."],"access_subjects_ssim":["Acting","People with mental disabilities -- Services for -- United States","Performance art -- Photographs","Public schools -- Virginia","Radicalism -- United States -- History -- 20th century","Students -- Photographs","Theater -- United States -- History -- 20th century","Theater -- Washington (D.C.)","Theater programs","Playscript"],"access_subjects_ssm":["Acting","People with mental disabilities -- Services for -- United States","Performance art -- Photographs","Public schools -- Virginia","Radicalism -- United States -- History -- 20th century","Students -- Photographs","Theater -- United States -- History -- 20th century","Theater -- Washington (D.C.)","Theater programs","Playscript"],"has_online_content_ssim":["false"],"extent_ssm":["48.0 Linear Feet 106 boxes"],"extent_tesim":["48.0 Linear Feet 106 boxes"],"genreform_ssim":["Playscript"],"date_range_isim":[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],"accessrestrict_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eThere are no access restrictions on Series 1 and 2. Please see the Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements note for access information on Series 3.\u003c/p\u003e"],"accessrestrict_heading_ssm":["Access Restrictions"],"accessrestrict_tesim":["There are no access restrictions on Series 1 and 2. Please see the Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements note for access information on Series 3."],"arrangement_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eThe collection is divided into three series, each of which is divided into subseries.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003clist type=\"ordered\"\u003e\n      \u003chead\u003eSeries\u003c/head\u003e\n      \u003citem\u003eSeries 1: Administrative and Financial Files, 1965-2000 (Boxes 1-56)\u003c/item\u003e\n      \u003citem\u003eSeries 2: Artistic and Workshop Files, 1966-2001 (Boxes 57-85)\u003c/item\u003e\n      \u003citem\u003eSeries 3: Audiovisual and Photographic Materials, 1967-1999 (Boxes 86-106)\u003c/item\u003e\n    \u003c/list\u003e"],"arrangement_heading_ssm":["Arrangement"],"arrangement_tesim":["The collection is divided into three series, each of which is divided into subseries.","Series Series 1: Administrative and Financial Files, 1965-2000 (Boxes 1-56) Series 2: Artistic and Workshop Files, 1966-2001 (Boxes 57-85) Series 3: Audiovisual and Photographic Materials, 1967-1999 (Boxes 86-106)"],"bioghist_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eThe Living Stage Theatre Company began in 1966 as a venture of Arena Stage and Robert Alexander. Known from 1966-1968 as The Children's Theatre, the Living Stage from the beginning dedicated itself to programming with a social consciousness and a desire to effect societal change through performance. Robert Alexander was the theatre's founder and until 1995 its director. Alexander brought an adapted street and guerilla theater style to the D.C. area after becoming disenchanted with traditional theatre's \"middle-class\" audience. The Living Stage provided training to actors in the art of improvisational theater through tuition free schooling during the summers, as well as through weekend long workshop training for social workers, teachers, and other professionals throughout their 9 month season. While most of the Stage's workshops were held on site at schools, museums, and prisons, the Living Stage did have its own formal space in Washington, D.C. on 14th and T Streets NW. The Living Stage put on productions across Northern Virginia in schools, youth homes, and even prisons like the Lorton Penitentiary. Senior members of the company, like Jennifer Nelson and Oran Sandel helped to send the Living Stage across the country as well. Their efforts were largely funded through vigorous campaigning for grants and fund raising through the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) and other private foundations. The Living Stage also received substantial financial assistance from its parent company, the Washington Drama Society, Inc. \u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eThe Living Stage performance style consisted of \"The Jam,\" \"The Performance,\" and \"The Workshop,\" a three part study that was used at most of their venues. The first part, or \"Jam,\" consisted of actors working with their audience to \"rap,\" make music, and \"jam\" through spoken or sung words accompanied by instrumentals typically provided by audience members. The actors then moved into the \"performance\" itself. During the performance the actors put on an improvised theater production directed by a senior member of the cast and assisted by one or two audience members. The \"Workshop\" began from there; during the workshop, the audience took over the scene, while still directed by the actors, and was encouraged to make it their own. Audiences gave their opinions and thoughts on each performance in the form of production reports that were collected by the Living Stage. \u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eThe projects that the Living Stage put on typically dealt with controversial and sensitive topics like race, economic inequality, the dangers of an overzealous American foreign policy, the atom bomb, violence, and freedom. The \"Baltimore Incident\" of 1971 is an excellent example of how controversial these productions could be. No matter how mixed opinions were, the Living Stage always elicited a reaction with their improvisational performances. During the 1980s the Living Stage began to reach out extensively to local initiatives like The District's Alcohol and Drug Abuse Services Administration and created their own Community Services Project in order to continue to bring theater and creativity to underserved sections of society. The Living Stage championed New Left ideals like equality and social justice throughout the Reagan years, despite some criticisms about their message being \"anachronistic.\"\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eThe organization began to sunset in the first half of the 1990s as many of its founding and senior members took their skills elsewhere. Robert Alexander himself left in 1995 to start educating people in the art of improvisational theater full time. Jennifer Nelson, David Matthew Proctor, Ezra Knight, and others began to filter away in the 1990s to pursue their own acting goals and the Living Stage would officially close its doors in 2002.\u003c/p\u003e"],"bioghist_heading_ssm":["Historical Information"],"bioghist_tesim":["The Living Stage Theatre Company began in 1966 as a venture of Arena Stage and Robert Alexander. Known from 1966-1968 as The Children's Theatre, the Living Stage from the beginning dedicated itself to programming with a social consciousness and a desire to effect societal change through performance. Robert Alexander was the theatre's founder and until 1995 its director. Alexander brought an adapted street and guerilla theater style to the D.C. area after becoming disenchanted with traditional theatre's \"middle-class\" audience. The Living Stage provided training to actors in the art of improvisational theater through tuition free schooling during the summers, as well as through weekend long workshop training for social workers, teachers, and other professionals throughout their 9 month season. While most of the Stage's workshops were held on site at schools, museums, and prisons, the Living Stage did have its own formal space in Washington, D.C. on 14th and T Streets NW. The Living Stage put on productions across Northern Virginia in schools, youth homes, and even prisons like the Lorton Penitentiary. Senior members of the company, like Jennifer Nelson and Oran Sandel helped to send the Living Stage across the country as well. Their efforts were largely funded through vigorous campaigning for grants and fund raising through the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) and other private foundations. The Living Stage also received substantial financial assistance from its parent company, the Washington Drama Society, Inc. ","The Living Stage performance style consisted of \"The Jam,\" \"The Performance,\" and \"The Workshop,\" a three part study that was used at most of their venues. The first part, or \"Jam,\" consisted of actors working with their audience to \"rap,\" make music, and \"jam\" through spoken or sung words accompanied by instrumentals typically provided by audience members. The actors then moved into the \"performance\" itself. During the performance the actors put on an improvised theater production directed by a senior member of the cast and assisted by one or two audience members. The \"Workshop\" began from there; during the workshop, the audience took over the scene, while still directed by the actors, and was encouraged to make it their own. Audiences gave their opinions and thoughts on each performance in the form of production reports that were collected by the Living Stage. ","The projects that the Living Stage put on typically dealt with controversial and sensitive topics like race, economic inequality, the dangers of an overzealous American foreign policy, the atom bomb, violence, and freedom. The \"Baltimore Incident\" of 1971 is an excellent example of how controversial these productions could be. No matter how mixed opinions were, the Living Stage always elicited a reaction with their improvisational performances. During the 1980s the Living Stage began to reach out extensively to local initiatives like The District's Alcohol and Drug Abuse Services Administration and created their own Community Services Project in order to continue to bring theater and creativity to underserved sections of society. The Living Stage championed New Left ideals like equality and social justice throughout the Reagan years, despite some criticisms about their message being \"anachronistic.\"","The organization began to sunset in the first half of the 1990s as many of its founding and senior members took their skills elsewhere. Robert Alexander himself left in 1995 to start educating people in the art of improvisational theater full time. Jennifer Nelson, David Matthew Proctor, Ezra Knight, and others began to filter away in the 1990s to pursue their own acting goals and the Living Stage would officially close its doors in 2002."],"phystech_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eThe Special Collections Research Center does not have the equipment necessary to watch or listen to all audiovisual material in Series 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 watch or listen to all audiovisual material in Series 3. Additional time and money may be required to digitize this material for access."],"prefercite_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eLiving Stage records, C0277, Special Collections Reserch Center, George Mason University Libraries.\u003c/p\u003e"],"prefercite_tesim":["Living Stage records, C0277, Special Collections Reserch Center, George Mason University Libraries."],"processinfo_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eProcessing completed by Nick Welsh and Elizabeth Beckman in 2016. EAD markup completed by Nick Welsh in June 2016. Finding aid updated by Amanda Menjivar in March 2025.\u003c/p\u003e"],"processinfo_heading_ssm":["Processing Information"],"processinfo_tesim":["Processing completed by Nick Welsh and Elizabeth Beckman in 2016. EAD markup completed by Nick Welsh in June 2016. Finding aid updated by Amanda Menjivar in March 2025."],"relatedmaterial_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eThe Special Collections Research Center holds several collections of personal papers of individuals involved with the Living Stage Theater Company, including the Zelda Fichandler papers, the Thomas C. Fichandler papers, and the Ken Kitch papers. It also holds the Arena Stage records.\u003c/p\u003e"],"relatedmaterial_heading_ssm":["Related Material"],"relatedmaterial_tesim":["The Special Collections Research Center holds several collections of personal papers of individuals involved with the Living Stage Theater Company, including the Zelda Fichandler papers, the Thomas C. Fichandler papers, and the Ken Kitch papers. It also holds the Arena Stage records."],"scopecontent_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eThe Living Stage records consists of material spanning the length of the organization's history from 1965, when the Living Stage was known as the Children's Theatre, to 2001. Included in the records are administrative files, financial papers, grant requests and applications, correspondence, workshop reports and scripts, as well as audiovisual and photographic materials.\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eSeries 1: Administrative and Financial Files (1965-2000) includes documents relating to the day to day running of the Living Stage Theatre Company as well as programming, project planning, financials, budgets, grants, press releases and printed documents. It is divided further into 4 subseries. Subseries 1.1 Policies, Planning, and Development includes the administrative files of the Living Stage including season summaries by date, long range plans, meeting minutes, and Community Service Project information. Subseries 1.2 Grants and Foundations contains all materials related to grant requests, endowments (including the National Endowment for the Arts), and donations made by both large charitable organizations and private donors. Subseries 1.3 Financials and Correspondence includes budget materials, expense reports, and benefit information, as well as correspondence between members of the LSTC, memos, and fan mail (called \"love letters\") from schools and other workshop sites. Subseries 1.4 Public Relations and Printed Pieces consist of various publications made by the Living Stage such as their newsletters and advertisements, as well as transcripts of speeches made by LSTC executives and press releases promoting the Living Stage.\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eSeries 2: Artistic and Workshop Files (1966-2001), which is split into 3 subseries, contains the creative aspects of the Living Stage, including details about residencies and the personnel of the Company, as well as workshop reports, scripts, and \"Jams.\" Subseries 2.1 Residency and Personnel Files contains all documents related to the people of the Living Stage, including casting information and details about out of state residencies (including those in Stockholm, Boston, Pittsburgh, New York and others). Subseries 2.2 Production Reports and Workshops encompasses the output of the Living Stage Theatre Company in the form of workshops, which are series of performances put on at schools, museums, and communities, and the production reports which sought to analyze audience reception of and reaction to these performances. Look to the \"Baltimore Incident\" for an excellent example of how contentious and revolutionary the Living Stage's performances were. Subseries 2.3 Production Files and Scripts, while small, contains items related to the Living Stage's \"Jams\" including scripts, research, and other assorted play files. \u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eSeries 3: Audiovisual and Photographic Materials (1967-1999) includes all photos, negatives, and film of the Living Stage or their productions. It is divided into three subseries. Subseries 3.1 Photographic Materials includes various photos and negatives showing the cast of the Living Stage at various times, as well as production stills. Unfortunately, the majority of these are undated or have little in the way of description. Subseries 3.2 Audio and film reels includes tapings of various workshops and productions mostly from the 1970s and 1980s. Subseries 3.3 Audio and video tapes contains cassette, VHS, Betamax, and U-matic tapes either used by the Living Stage for performances or made by/about the Living Stage.\u003c/p\u003e"],"scopecontent_heading_ssm":["Scope and Content"],"scopecontent_tesim":["The Living Stage records consists of material spanning the length of the organization's history from 1965, when the Living Stage was known as the Children's Theatre, to 2001. Included in the records are administrative files, financial papers, grant requests and applications, correspondence, workshop reports and scripts, as well as audiovisual and photographic materials.","Series 1: Administrative and Financial Files (1965-2000) includes documents relating to the day to day running of the Living Stage Theatre Company as well as programming, project planning, financials, budgets, grants, press releases and printed documents. It is divided further into 4 subseries. Subseries 1.1 Policies, Planning, and Development includes the administrative files of the Living Stage including season summaries by date, long range plans, meeting minutes, and Community Service Project information. Subseries 1.2 Grants and Foundations contains all materials related to grant requests, endowments (including the National Endowment for the Arts), and donations made by both large charitable organizations and private donors. Subseries 1.3 Financials and Correspondence includes budget materials, expense reports, and benefit information, as well as correspondence between members of the LSTC, memos, and fan mail (called \"love letters\") from schools and other workshop sites. Subseries 1.4 Public Relations and Printed Pieces consist of various publications made by the Living Stage such as their newsletters and advertisements, as well as transcripts of speeches made by LSTC executives and press releases promoting the Living Stage.","Series 2: Artistic and Workshop Files (1966-2001), which is split into 3 subseries, contains the creative aspects of the Living Stage, including details about residencies and the personnel of the Company, as well as workshop reports, scripts, and \"Jams.\" Subseries 2.1 Residency and Personnel Files contains all documents related to the people of the Living Stage, including casting information and details about out of state residencies (including those in Stockholm, Boston, Pittsburgh, New York and others). Subseries 2.2 Production Reports and Workshops encompasses the output of the Living Stage Theatre Company in the form of workshops, which are series of performances put on at schools, museums, and communities, and the production reports which sought to analyze audience reception of and reaction to these performances. Look to the \"Baltimore Incident\" for an excellent example of how contentious and revolutionary the Living Stage's performances were. Subseries 2.3 Production Files and Scripts, while small, contains items related to the Living Stage's \"Jams\" including scripts, research, and other assorted play files. ","Series 3: Audiovisual and Photographic Materials (1967-1999) includes all photos, negatives, and film of the Living Stage or their productions. It is divided into three subseries. Subseries 3.1 Photographic Materials includes various photos and negatives showing the cast of the Living Stage at various times, as well as production stills. Unfortunately, the majority of these are undated or have little in the way of description. Subseries 3.2 Audio and film reels includes tapings of various workshops and productions mostly from the 1970s and 1980s. Subseries 3.3 Audio and video tapes contains cassette, VHS, Betamax, and U-matic tapes either used by the Living Stage for performances or made by/about the Living Stage."],"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 Living Stage records documents the Living Stage Theatre Company, founded by Robert Alexander as an offshoot of Arena Stage in Washington, D.C. The records were created from 1965-2001.\u003c/abstract\u003e"],"abstract_tesim":["The Living Stage records documents the Living Stage Theatre Company, founded by Robert Alexander as an offshoot of Arena Stage in Washington, D.C. The records were created from 1965-2001."],"physloc_html_tesm":["\u003cphysloc id=\"aspace_e176c0c8972614dd614b2ea45cfacaaf\"\u003eR 52, C 6, S 3 - R 53, C 2, S 6\n\nMap Case 8.2\u003c/physloc\u003e"],"physloc_tesim":["R 52, C 6, S 3 - R 53, C 2, S 6\n\nMap Case 8.2"],"names_ssim":["George Mason University. Libraries. Special Collections Research Center"],"corpname_ssim":["George Mason University. Libraries. Special Collections Research Center"],"language_ssim":["English"],"descrules_ssm":["Describing Archives: A Content Standard"],"total_component_count_is":1502,"online_item_count_is":0,"component_level_isim":[0],"sort_isi":0,"timestamp":"2026-05-01T00:33:57.755Z"}]}},"label":"Breadcrumbs"}}},"links":{"self":"https://search.arvasarchive.org/catalog/vifgm_repositories_2_resources_602_c01_c03"}},{"id":"vifgm_LivingStage_c01_c03","type":"Subseries","attributes":{"title":"Financials and correspondence","breadcrumbs":{"id":"https://search.arvasarchive.org/catalog/vifgm_LivingStage_c01_c03#breadcrumbs","type":"document_value","attributes":{"value":{"ref_ssi":"vifgm_LivingStage_c01_c03","ref_ssm":["vifgm_LivingStage_c01_c03"],"id":"vifgm_LivingStage_c01_c03","ead_ssi":"vifgm_LivingStage","_root_":"vifgm_LivingStage","_nest_parent_":"vifgm_LivingStage_c01","parent_ssi":"vifgm_LivingStage_c01","parent_ssim":["vifgm_LivingStage","vifgm_LivingStage_c01"],"parent_ids_ssim":["vifgm_LivingStage","vifgm_LivingStage_c01"],"parent_unittitles_ssm":["Living Stage records","Series 1: Administrative and financial files"],"parent_unittitles_tesim":["Living Stage records","Series 1: Administrative and financial files"],"text":["Living Stage records","Series 1: Administrative and financial files","Financials and correspondence"],"title_filing_ssi":"Financials and correspondence","title_ssm":["Financials and correspondence"],"title_tesim":["Financials and correspondence"],"unitdate_other_ssim":["1965-1996"],"normalized_date_ssm":["1965/1996"],"normalized_title_ssm":["Financials and correspondence"],"component_level_isim":[2],"repository_ssim":["George Mason University"],"collection_ssim":["Living Stage records"],"has_online_content_ssim":["false"],"child_component_count_isi":210,"level_ssm":["Subseries"],"level_ssim":["Subseries"],"sort_isi":489,"parent_access_restrict_tesm":["There are no access restrictions."],"parent_access_terms_tesm":["There are no restrictions on personal use. Permission to publish material from the Living Stage Records must be obtained from Special Collections and Archives, George Mason University Libraries."],"date_range_isim":[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],"_nest_path_":"/components#0/components#2","timestamp":"2026-05-01T00:50:06.728Z","collection":{"numFound":1,"start":0,"numFoundExact":true,"docs":[{"id":"vifgm_LivingStage","ead_ssi":"vifgm_LivingStage","_root_":"vifgm_LivingStage","_nest_parent_":"vifgm_LivingStage","ead_source_url_ssi":"data/gmu/LivingStage.xml","aspace_url_ssi":"http://sca.gmu.edu/finding_aids/livingstage.html","title_ssm":["Living Stage records"],"title_tesim":["Living Stage records"],"unitdate_ssm":["1965-2001"],"unitdate_inclusive_ssm":["1965-2001"],"level_ssm":["collection"],"level_ssim":["Collection"],"unitid_ssm":["C0277"],"text":["C0277","Living Stage records","Acting.","People with mental disabilities--Services for--United States.","Performance art--Photographs.","Public schools--Virginia.","Radicalism--United States--History--20th century.","Students--Photographs.","Theater--United States--History--20th century.","Theater--Washington (D.C.)","Playscripts.","Theatre programs.","There are no access restrictions.","The collection is divided into three series, each of which is divided into subseries.","Series 1: Administrative and Financial Files, 1965-2000 (Boxes 1-56) Series 2: Artistic and Workshop Files, 1966-2001 (Boxes 57-85) Series 3: Audiovisual Materials, 1967-1998 (Boxes 86-106)","The Living Stage Theatre Company began in 1966 as a venture of the Arena Stage and Robert Alexander. Known from 1966-1968 as the Children's Theatre, the Living Stage from the beginning dedicated itself to programming with a social consciousness and a desire to effect societal change through performance. Robert Alexander was the theatre's founder and until 1995 its director. Alexander brought an adapted street and guerilla theater style to the DC area after becoming disenchanted with traditional theater's \"middle-class\" audience. The Living Stage provided training to actors in the art of improvisational theater through tuition free schooling during the summers, as well as through weekend long workshop training for social workers, teachers, and other professionals throughout their 9 month season. While most of the Stage's workshops were held on site at schools, museums, and prisons, the Living Stage did have its own formal space in Washington DC on 14th and T Streets NW. The Living Stage put on productions across Northern Virginia in schools, youth homes, and even prisons like the Lorton Penitentiary. Senior members of the company, like Jennifer Nelson and Oran Sandel helped to send the Living Stage across the country as well. Their efforts were largely funded through vigorous campaigning for grants and fund raising through the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) and other private foundations. The Living Stage also received substantial financial assistance from its parent company, the Washington Drama Society, Inc. ","The Living Stage performance style consisted of \"The Jam\", \"The Performance\" and \"The Workshop\"; a three part study that was used at most of their venues. The first part, or \"Jam\", consisted of actors working with their audience to \"rap\", make music, and \"jam\" through spoken or sung words accompanied by instrumentals typically provided by audience members. Then the actors moved into the \"performance\" itself. During the performance, the actors put on an improvised theater production directed by a senior member of the cast and assisted by one or two audience members. The \"Workshop\" began from there; during the workshop, the audience took over the scene, while still directed by the actors, and was encouraged to make it their own. Audiences gave their opinions and thoughts on each performance in the form of production reports that were collected by the Living Stage. ","The projects that the Living Stage put on typically dealt with controversial and sensitive topics like race, economic inequality, the dangers of an overzealous American foreign policy, the atom bomb, violence, and freedom. The \"Baltimore Incident\" of 1971 is an excellent example of how controversial these productions could be. No matter how mixed opinions were, the Living Stage always elicited a reaction with their improvisational performances. During the 1980s the Living Stage began to reach out extensively to local initiatives like The District's Alcohol and Drug Abuse Services Administration and created their own Community Services Project in order to continue to bring theater and creativity to underserved sections of society. The Living Stage championed New Left ideals like equality and social justice throughout the Reagan years, despite some criticisms about their message being \"anachronistic\". "," The organization began its twilight years in the first half of the 1990s as many of its founding and senior members began to take their skills elsewhere. Robert Alexander himself left in 1995 to start educating people in the art of improvisational theater full time. Jennifer Nelson, David Matthew Proctor, Ezra Knight, and others began to filter away in the 1990s to pursue their own acting goals and the Living Stage would officially close its doors in 2002.","The Special Collections Research Center does not have the equipment necessary to watch Betacam, U-matic, reel-to-reel film and audio tapes contained in Series 3. Additional time and money may be required to digitize this material for access.","Processing completed by Nick Welsh and Elizabeth Beckman in 2016. EAD markup completed by Nick Welsh in June 2016.","The Special Collections and Research Center holds several collections of personal papers of individuals involved with the Living Stage Theater Company collection Arena Stage, including the Zelda Fichandler papers, the Thomas Fichandler papers, and the Ken Kitch papers, as well as the Arena Stage collection and many other theater collections."," The Living Stage records consist of materials spanning the length of that organization's history from about 1965, when the Living Stage was known as the Children's Theatre, to 2001. Included in the records are administrative files including financial papers, grant requests and applications, printed pieces, and correspondence and more creative materials including workshop reports and scripts, audiovisual files on reel-to-reel tapes, and photographic materials. ","Series 1: Administrative and Financial Files (1965-2000) includes documents relating to the day to day running of the Living Stage Theatre Company as well as programming, project planning, financials, budgets, grants, press releases and printed documents. It is divided further into 4 subseries. Subseries 1.1 Policies, Planning, and Development includes the administrative files of the Living Stage including season summaries by date, long range plans, meeting minutes, and Community Service Project information. Subseries 1.2 Grants and Foundations contains all materials related to grant requests, endowments (including the National Endowment for the Arts), and donations made by both large charitable organizations and private donors. Subseries 1.3 Financials and Correspondence includes budget materials, expense reports, and benefit information, as well as correspondence between members of the LSTC, memos, and fan mail (called \"love letters\") from schools and other workshop sites. Subseries 1.4 Public Relations and Printed Pieces consist of various publications made by the Living Stage such as their newsletters and advertisements, as well as transcripts of speeches made by LSTC executives and press releases promoting the Living Stage."," Series 2: Artistic and Workshop Files (1966-2001), which is split into 3 subseries, contains the creative aspects of the Living Stage, including details about residencies and the personnel of the Company, as well as workshop reports, scripts, and \"Jams\". Subseries 2.1 Residency and Personnel Files contains all documents related to the people of the Living Stage, including casting information and details about out of state residencies (including those in Stockholm, Boston, Pittsburgh, New York and others). Subseries 2.2 Production Reports and Workshops encompasses the output of the Living Stage Theatre Company in the form of workshops, which are series of performances put on at schools, museums, and communities, and the production reports which sought to analyze audience reception of and reaction to these performances. Look to the \"Baltimore Incident\" for an excellent example of how contentious and revolutionary the Living Stage's performances were. Subseries 2.3 Production Files and Scripts, while small, contains items related to the Living Stage's \"Jams\" including scripts, research, and other assorted play files. ","Series 3: Audiovisual Materials (1967-1998) includes all photos, negatives, and film of the Living Stage or their productions. It is divided into three subseries. Subseries 3.1 Photographic Materials includes various photos and negatives showing the cast of the Living Stage at various times as well as production stills. Unfortunately, the majority of these are undated or have little in the way of description. Subseries 3.2 Reel to Reel Materials includes tapings of various workshops and productions mostly from the 1970s and 1980s. Subseries 3.3 Cassete and VHS tapes contains cassette, VHS, Betamax, and U-matic tapes either used by the Living Stage for performances or made by/about the Living Stage.","There are no restrictions on personal use. Permission to publish material from the Living Stage Records must be obtained from Special Collections and Archives, George Mason University Libraries.","The Living Stage records include pieces related to the traveling theater company, which was founded by Robert Alexander, between 1965 and 2001.","George Mason University. Libraries. Special Collections Research Center.","English\n\t\t"],"unitid_tesim":["C0277"],"normalized_title_ssm":["Living Stage records"],"collection_title_tesim":["Living Stage records"],"collection_ssim":["Living Stage records"],"repository_ssm":["George Mason University"],"repository_ssim":["George Mason University"],"access_terms_ssm":["There are no restrictions on personal use. Permission to publish material from the Living Stage Records must be obtained from Special Collections and Archives, George Mason University Libraries."],"acqinfo_ssim":["Donated by Arena Stage in 2000."],"access_subjects_ssim":["Acting.","People with mental disabilities--Services for--United States.","Performance art--Photographs.","Public schools--Virginia.","Radicalism--United States--History--20th century.","Students--Photographs.","Theater--United States--History--20th century.","Theater--Washington (D.C.)","Playscripts.","Theatre programs."],"access_subjects_ssm":["Acting.","People with mental disabilities--Services for--United States.","Performance art--Photographs.","Public schools--Virginia.","Radicalism--United States--History--20th century.","Students--Photographs.","Theater--United States--History--20th century.","Theater--Washington (D.C.)","Playscripts.","Theatre programs."],"has_online_content_ssim":["false"],"extent_ssm":["48.0 linear feet (106 boxes)"],"extent_tesim":["48.0 linear feet (106 boxes)"],"date_range_isim":[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],"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\u003eThe collection is divided into three series, each of which is divided into subseries.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003clist type=\"ordered\"\u003e\n        \u003citem\u003eSeries 1: Administrative and Financial Files, 1965-2000 (Boxes 1-56)\u003c/item\u003e\n        \u003citem\u003eSeries 2: Artistic and Workshop Files, 1966-2001 (Boxes 57-85)\u003c/item\u003e\n        \u003citem\u003eSeries 3: Audiovisual Materials, 1967-1998 (Boxes 86-106)\u003c/item\u003e\n      \u003c/list\u003e"],"arrangement_heading_ssm":["Arrangement"],"arrangement_tesim":["The collection is divided into three series, each of which is divided into subseries.","Series 1: Administrative and Financial Files, 1965-2000 (Boxes 1-56) Series 2: Artistic and Workshop Files, 1966-2001 (Boxes 57-85) Series 3: Audiovisual Materials, 1967-1998 (Boxes 86-106)"],"bioghist_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eThe Living Stage Theatre Company began in 1966 as a venture of the Arena Stage and Robert Alexander. Known from 1966-1968 as the Children's Theatre, the Living Stage from the beginning dedicated itself to programming with a social consciousness and a desire to effect societal change through performance. Robert Alexander was the theatre's founder and until 1995 its director. Alexander brought an adapted street and guerilla theater style to the DC area after becoming disenchanted with traditional theater's \"middle-class\" audience. The Living Stage provided training to actors in the art of improvisational theater through tuition free schooling during the summers, as well as through weekend long workshop training for social workers, teachers, and other professionals throughout their 9 month season. While most of the Stage's workshops were held on site at schools, museums, and prisons, the Living Stage did have its own formal space in Washington DC on 14th and T Streets NW. The Living Stage put on productions across Northern Virginia in schools, youth homes, and even prisons like the Lorton Penitentiary. Senior members of the company, like Jennifer Nelson and Oran Sandel helped to send the Living Stage across the country as well. Their efforts were largely funded through vigorous campaigning for grants and fund raising through the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) and other private foundations. The Living Stage also received substantial financial assistance from its parent company, the Washington Drama Society, Inc. \u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eThe Living Stage performance style consisted of \"The Jam\", \"The Performance\" and \"The Workshop\"; a three part study that was used at most of their venues. The first part, or \"Jam\", consisted of actors working with their audience to \"rap\", make music, and \"jam\" through spoken or sung words accompanied by instrumentals typically provided by audience members. Then the actors moved into the \"performance\" itself. During the performance, the actors put on an improvised theater production directed by a senior member of the cast and assisted by one or two audience members. The \"Workshop\" began from there; during the workshop, the audience took over the scene, while still directed by the actors, and was encouraged to make it their own. Audiences gave their opinions and thoughts on each performance in the form of production reports that were collected by the Living Stage. \u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eThe projects that the Living Stage put on typically dealt with controversial and sensitive topics like race, economic inequality, the dangers of an overzealous American foreign policy, the atom bomb, violence, and freedom. The \"Baltimore Incident\" of 1971 is an excellent example of how controversial these productions could be. No matter how mixed opinions were, the Living Stage always elicited a reaction with their improvisational performances. During the 1980s the Living Stage began to reach out extensively to local initiatives like The District's Alcohol and Drug Abuse Services Administration and created their own Community Services Project in order to continue to bring theater and creativity to underserved sections of society. The Living Stage championed New Left ideals like equality and social justice throughout the Reagan years, despite some criticisms about their message being \"anachronistic\". \u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003e The organization began its twilight years in the first half of the 1990s as many of its founding and senior members began to take their skills elsewhere. Robert Alexander himself left in 1995 to start educating people in the art of improvisational theater full time. Jennifer Nelson, David Matthew Proctor, Ezra Knight, and others began to filter away in the 1990s to pursue their own acting goals and the Living Stage would officially close its doors in 2002.\u003c/p\u003e"],"bioghist_heading_ssm":["Historical Information"],"bioghist_tesim":["The Living Stage Theatre Company began in 1966 as a venture of the Arena Stage and Robert Alexander. Known from 1966-1968 as the Children's Theatre, the Living Stage from the beginning dedicated itself to programming with a social consciousness and a desire to effect societal change through performance. Robert Alexander was the theatre's founder and until 1995 its director. Alexander brought an adapted street and guerilla theater style to the DC area after becoming disenchanted with traditional theater's \"middle-class\" audience. The Living Stage provided training to actors in the art of improvisational theater through tuition free schooling during the summers, as well as through weekend long workshop training for social workers, teachers, and other professionals throughout their 9 month season. While most of the Stage's workshops were held on site at schools, museums, and prisons, the Living Stage did have its own formal space in Washington DC on 14th and T Streets NW. The Living Stage put on productions across Northern Virginia in schools, youth homes, and even prisons like the Lorton Penitentiary. Senior members of the company, like Jennifer Nelson and Oran Sandel helped to send the Living Stage across the country as well. Their efforts were largely funded through vigorous campaigning for grants and fund raising through the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) and other private foundations. The Living Stage also received substantial financial assistance from its parent company, the Washington Drama Society, Inc. ","The Living Stage performance style consisted of \"The Jam\", \"The Performance\" and \"The Workshop\"; a three part study that was used at most of their venues. The first part, or \"Jam\", consisted of actors working with their audience to \"rap\", make music, and \"jam\" through spoken or sung words accompanied by instrumentals typically provided by audience members. Then the actors moved into the \"performance\" itself. During the performance, the actors put on an improvised theater production directed by a senior member of the cast and assisted by one or two audience members. The \"Workshop\" began from there; during the workshop, the audience took over the scene, while still directed by the actors, and was encouraged to make it their own. Audiences gave their opinions and thoughts on each performance in the form of production reports that were collected by the Living Stage. ","The projects that the Living Stage put on typically dealt with controversial and sensitive topics like race, economic inequality, the dangers of an overzealous American foreign policy, the atom bomb, violence, and freedom. The \"Baltimore Incident\" of 1971 is an excellent example of how controversial these productions could be. No matter how mixed opinions were, the Living Stage always elicited a reaction with their improvisational performances. During the 1980s the Living Stage began to reach out extensively to local initiatives like The District's Alcohol and Drug Abuse Services Administration and created their own Community Services Project in order to continue to bring theater and creativity to underserved sections of society. The Living Stage championed New Left ideals like equality and social justice throughout the Reagan years, despite some criticisms about their message being \"anachronistic\". "," The organization began its twilight years in the first half of the 1990s as many of its founding and senior members began to take their skills elsewhere. Robert Alexander himself left in 1995 to start educating people in the art of improvisational theater full time. Jennifer Nelson, David Matthew Proctor, Ezra Knight, and others began to filter away in the 1990s to pursue their own acting goals and the Living Stage would officially close its doors in 2002."],"phystech_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eThe Special Collections Research Center does not have the equipment necessary to watch Betacam, U-matic, reel-to-reel film and audio tapes contained in Series 3. Additional time and money may be required to digitize this material for access.\u003c/p\u003e"],"phystech_heading_ssm":["Technical Requirements"],"phystech_tesim":["The Special Collections Research Center does not have the equipment necessary to watch Betacam, U-matic, reel-to-reel film and audio tapes contained in Series 3. Additional time and money may be required to digitize this material for access."],"prefercite_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eLiving Stage Records, C0277, Special Collections and Archives, George Mason University Libraries.\u003c/p\u003e"],"prefercite_tesim":["Living Stage Records, C0277, Special Collections and Archives, George Mason University Libraries."],"processinfo_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eProcessing completed by Nick Welsh and Elizabeth Beckman in 2016. EAD markup completed by Nick Welsh in June 2016.\u003c/p\u003e"],"processinfo_heading_ssm":["Processing Information"],"processinfo_tesim":["Processing completed by Nick Welsh and Elizabeth Beckman in 2016. EAD markup completed by Nick Welsh in June 2016."],"relatedmaterial_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eThe Special Collections and Research Center holds several collections of personal papers of individuals involved with the Living Stage Theater Company collection Arena Stage, including the Zelda Fichandler papers, the Thomas Fichandler papers, and the Ken Kitch papers, as well as the Arena Stage collection and many other theater collections.\u003c/p\u003e"],"relatedmaterial_heading_ssm":["Related Material"],"relatedmaterial_tesim":["The Special Collections and Research Center holds several collections of personal papers of individuals involved with the Living Stage Theater Company collection Arena Stage, including the Zelda Fichandler papers, the Thomas Fichandler papers, and the Ken Kitch papers, as well as the Arena Stage collection and many other theater collections."],"scopecontent_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003e The Living Stage records consist of materials spanning the length of that organization's history from about 1965, when the Living Stage was known as the Children's Theatre, to 2001. Included in the records are administrative files including financial papers, grant requests and applications, printed pieces, and correspondence and more creative materials including workshop reports and scripts, audiovisual files on reel-to-reel tapes, and photographic materials. \u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eSeries 1: Administrative and Financial Files (1965-2000) includes documents relating to the day to day running of the Living Stage Theatre Company as well as programming, project planning, financials, budgets, grants, press releases and printed documents. It is divided further into 4 subseries. Subseries 1.1 Policies, Planning, and Development includes the administrative files of the Living Stage including season summaries by date, long range plans, meeting minutes, and Community Service Project information. Subseries 1.2 Grants and Foundations contains all materials related to grant requests, endowments (including the National Endowment for the Arts), and donations made by both large charitable organizations and private donors. Subseries 1.3 Financials and Correspondence includes budget materials, expense reports, and benefit information, as well as correspondence between members of the LSTC, memos, and fan mail (called \"love letters\") from schools and other workshop sites. Subseries 1.4 Public Relations and Printed Pieces consist of various publications made by the Living Stage such as their newsletters and advertisements, as well as transcripts of speeches made by LSTC executives and press releases promoting the Living Stage.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003e Series 2: Artistic and Workshop Files (1966-2001), which is split into 3 subseries, contains the creative aspects of the Living Stage, including details about residencies and the personnel of the Company, as well as workshop reports, scripts, and \"Jams\". Subseries 2.1 Residency and Personnel Files contains all documents related to the people of the Living Stage, including casting information and details about out of state residencies (including those in Stockholm, Boston, Pittsburgh, New York and others). Subseries 2.2 Production Reports and Workshops encompasses the output of the Living Stage Theatre Company in the form of workshops, which are series of performances put on at schools, museums, and communities, and the production reports which sought to analyze audience reception of and reaction to these performances. Look to the \"Baltimore Incident\" for an excellent example of how contentious and revolutionary the Living Stage's performances were. Subseries 2.3 Production Files and Scripts, while small, contains items related to the Living Stage's \"Jams\" including scripts, research, and other assorted play files. \u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eSeries 3: Audiovisual Materials (1967-1998) includes all photos, negatives, and film of the Living Stage or their productions. It is divided into three subseries. Subseries 3.1 Photographic Materials includes various photos and negatives showing the cast of the Living Stage at various times as well as production stills. Unfortunately, the majority of these are undated or have little in the way of description. Subseries 3.2 Reel to Reel Materials includes tapings of various workshops and productions mostly from the 1970s and 1980s. Subseries 3.3 Cassete and VHS tapes contains cassette, VHS, Betamax, and U-matic tapes either used by the Living Stage for performances or made by/about the Living Stage.\u003c/p\u003e"],"scopecontent_heading_ssm":["Scope and Content"],"scopecontent_tesim":[" The Living Stage records consist of materials spanning the length of that organization's history from about 1965, when the Living Stage was known as the Children's Theatre, to 2001. Included in the records are administrative files including financial papers, grant requests and applications, printed pieces, and correspondence and more creative materials including workshop reports and scripts, audiovisual files on reel-to-reel tapes, and photographic materials. ","Series 1: Administrative and Financial Files (1965-2000) includes documents relating to the day to day running of the Living Stage Theatre Company as well as programming, project planning, financials, budgets, grants, press releases and printed documents. It is divided further into 4 subseries. Subseries 1.1 Policies, Planning, and Development includes the administrative files of the Living Stage including season summaries by date, long range plans, meeting minutes, and Community Service Project information. Subseries 1.2 Grants and Foundations contains all materials related to grant requests, endowments (including the National Endowment for the Arts), and donations made by both large charitable organizations and private donors. Subseries 1.3 Financials and Correspondence includes budget materials, expense reports, and benefit information, as well as correspondence between members of the LSTC, memos, and fan mail (called \"love letters\") from schools and other workshop sites. Subseries 1.4 Public Relations and Printed Pieces consist of various publications made by the Living Stage such as their newsletters and advertisements, as well as transcripts of speeches made by LSTC executives and press releases promoting the Living Stage."," Series 2: Artistic and Workshop Files (1966-2001), which is split into 3 subseries, contains the creative aspects of the Living Stage, including details about residencies and the personnel of the Company, as well as workshop reports, scripts, and \"Jams\". Subseries 2.1 Residency and Personnel Files contains all documents related to the people of the Living Stage, including casting information and details about out of state residencies (including those in Stockholm, Boston, Pittsburgh, New York and others). Subseries 2.2 Production Reports and Workshops encompasses the output of the Living Stage Theatre Company in the form of workshops, which are series of performances put on at schools, museums, and communities, and the production reports which sought to analyze audience reception of and reaction to these performances. Look to the \"Baltimore Incident\" for an excellent example of how contentious and revolutionary the Living Stage's performances were. Subseries 2.3 Production Files and Scripts, while small, contains items related to the Living Stage's \"Jams\" including scripts, research, and other assorted play files. ","Series 3: Audiovisual Materials (1967-1998) includes all photos, negatives, and film of the Living Stage or their productions. It is divided into three subseries. Subseries 3.1 Photographic Materials includes various photos and negatives showing the cast of the Living Stage at various times as well as production stills. Unfortunately, the majority of these are undated or have little in the way of description. Subseries 3.2 Reel to Reel Materials includes tapings of various workshops and productions mostly from the 1970s and 1980s. Subseries 3.3 Cassete and VHS tapes contains cassette, VHS, Betamax, and U-matic tapes either used by the Living Stage for performances or made by/about the Living Stage."],"userestrict_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eThere are no restrictions on personal use. Permission to publish material from the Living Stage Records must be obtained from Special Collections and Archives, George Mason University Libraries.\u003c/p\u003e"],"userestrict_heading_ssm":["Use Restrictions"],"userestrict_tesim":["There are no restrictions on personal use. Permission to publish material from the Living Stage Records must be obtained from Special Collections and Archives, George Mason University Libraries."],"abstract_html_tesm":["\u003cabstract id=\"ref348\" label=\"Abstract\"\u003eThe Living Stage records include pieces related to the traveling theater company, which was founded by Robert Alexander, between 1965 and 2001.\u003c/abstract\u003e"],"abstract_tesim":["The Living Stage records include pieces related to the traveling theater company, which was founded by Robert Alexander, between 1965 and 2001."],"names_ssim":["George Mason University. Libraries. Special Collections Research Center."],"corpname_ssim":["George Mason University. Libraries. Special Collections Research Center."],"language_ssim":["English\n\t\t"],"descrules_ssm":["Describing Archives: A Content Standard"],"total_component_count_is":1502,"online_item_count_is":0,"component_level_isim":[0],"sort_isi":0,"timestamp":"2026-05-01T00:50:06.728Z"}]}},"label":"Breadcrumbs"}}},"links":{"self":"https://search.arvasarchive.org/catalog/vifgm_LivingStage_c01_c03"}},{"id":"vifgm_repositories_2_resources_602_c01_c02","type":"Subseries","attributes":{"title":"Grants and foundations","breadcrumbs":{"id":"https://search.arvasarchive.org/catalog/vifgm_repositories_2_resources_602_c01_c02#breadcrumbs","type":"document_value","attributes":{"value":{"ref_ssi":"vifgm_repositories_2_resources_602_c01_c02","ref_ssm":["vifgm_repositories_2_resources_602_c01_c02"],"id":"vifgm_repositories_2_resources_602_c01_c02","ead_ssi":"vifgm_repositories_2_resources_602","_root_":"vifgm_repositories_2_resources_602","_nest_parent_":"vifgm_repositories_2_resources_602_c01","parent_ssi":"vifgm_repositories_2_resources_602_c01","parent_ssim":["vifgm_repositories_2_resources_602","vifgm_repositories_2_resources_602_c01"],"parent_ids_ssim":["vifgm_repositories_2_resources_602","vifgm_repositories_2_resources_602_c01"],"parent_unittitles_ssm":["Living Stage records","Series 1: Administrative and financial files"],"parent_unittitles_tesim":["Living Stage records","Series 1: Administrative and financial files"],"text":["Living Stage records","Series 1: Administrative and financial files","Grants and foundations"],"title_filing_ssi":"Grants and foundations","title_ssm":["Grants and foundations"],"title_tesim":["Grants and foundations"],"unitdate_other_ssim":["1967-1997"],"normalized_date_ssm":["1967/1997"],"normalized_title_ssm":["Grants and foundations"],"component_level_isim":[2],"repository_ssim":["George Mason University"],"collection_ssim":["Living Stage records"],"has_online_content_ssim":["false"],"child_component_count_isi":221,"level_ssm":["Subseries"],"level_ssim":["Subseries"],"sort_isi":267,"parent_access_restrict_tesm":["There are no access restrictions on Series 1 and 2. Please see the Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements note for access information on Series 3."],"parent_access_terms_tesm":["The copyright and related rights status of this collection have not been evaluated (See http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/CNE/1.0/)"],"date_range_isim":[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],"_nest_path_":"/components#0/components#1","timestamp":"2026-05-01T00:33:57.755Z","collection":{"numFound":1,"start":0,"numFoundExact":true,"docs":[{"id":"vifgm_repositories_2_resources_602","ead_ssi":"vifgm_repositories_2_resources_602","_root_":"vifgm_repositories_2_resources_602","_nest_parent_":"vifgm_repositories_2_resources_602","ead_source_url_ssi":"data/oai/GMU/repositories_2_resources_602.xml","title_filing_ssi":"Living Stage records","title_ssm":["Living Stage records"],"title_tesim":["Living Stage records"],"unitdate_ssm":["1965-2001"],"unitdate_inclusive_ssm":["1965-2001"],"level_ssm":["collection"],"level_ssim":["Collection"],"unitid_ssm":["C0277","/repositories/2/resources/602"],"text":["C0277","/repositories/2/resources/602","Living Stage records","Washington (D.C.)","Acting","People with mental disabilities -- Services for -- United States","Performance art -- Photographs","Public schools -- Virginia","Radicalism -- United States -- History -- 20th century","Students -- Photographs","Theater -- United States -- History -- 20th century","Theater -- Washington (D.C.)","Theater programs","Playscript","There are no access restrictions on Series 1 and 2. Please see the Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements note for access information on Series 3.","The collection is divided into three series, each of which is divided into subseries.","Series Series 1: Administrative and Financial Files, 1965-2000 (Boxes 1-56) Series 2: Artistic and Workshop Files, 1966-2001 (Boxes 57-85) Series 3: Audiovisual and Photographic Materials, 1967-1999 (Boxes 86-106)","The Living Stage Theatre Company began in 1966 as a venture of Arena Stage and Robert Alexander. Known from 1966-1968 as The Children's Theatre, the Living Stage from the beginning dedicated itself to programming with a social consciousness and a desire to effect societal change through performance. Robert Alexander was the theatre's founder and until 1995 its director. Alexander brought an adapted street and guerilla theater style to the D.C. area after becoming disenchanted with traditional theatre's \"middle-class\" audience. The Living Stage provided training to actors in the art of improvisational theater through tuition free schooling during the summers, as well as through weekend long workshop training for social workers, teachers, and other professionals throughout their 9 month season. While most of the Stage's workshops were held on site at schools, museums, and prisons, the Living Stage did have its own formal space in Washington, D.C. on 14th and T Streets NW. The Living Stage put on productions across Northern Virginia in schools, youth homes, and even prisons like the Lorton Penitentiary. Senior members of the company, like Jennifer Nelson and Oran Sandel helped to send the Living Stage across the country as well. Their efforts were largely funded through vigorous campaigning for grants and fund raising through the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) and other private foundations. The Living Stage also received substantial financial assistance from its parent company, the Washington Drama Society, Inc. ","The Living Stage performance style consisted of \"The Jam,\" \"The Performance,\" and \"The Workshop,\" a three part study that was used at most of their venues. The first part, or \"Jam,\" consisted of actors working with their audience to \"rap,\" make music, and \"jam\" through spoken or sung words accompanied by instrumentals typically provided by audience members. The actors then moved into the \"performance\" itself. During the performance the actors put on an improvised theater production directed by a senior member of the cast and assisted by one or two audience members. The \"Workshop\" began from there; during the workshop, the audience took over the scene, while still directed by the actors, and was encouraged to make it their own. Audiences gave their opinions and thoughts on each performance in the form of production reports that were collected by the Living Stage. ","The projects that the Living Stage put on typically dealt with controversial and sensitive topics like race, economic inequality, the dangers of an overzealous American foreign policy, the atom bomb, violence, and freedom. The \"Baltimore Incident\" of 1971 is an excellent example of how controversial these productions could be. No matter how mixed opinions were, the Living Stage always elicited a reaction with their improvisational performances. During the 1980s the Living Stage began to reach out extensively to local initiatives like The District's Alcohol and Drug Abuse Services Administration and created their own Community Services Project in order to continue to bring theater and creativity to underserved sections of society. The Living Stage championed New Left ideals like equality and social justice throughout the Reagan years, despite some criticisms about their message being \"anachronistic.\"","The organization began to sunset in the first half of the 1990s as many of its founding and senior members took their skills elsewhere. Robert Alexander himself left in 1995 to start educating people in the art of improvisational theater full time. Jennifer Nelson, David Matthew Proctor, Ezra Knight, and others began to filter away in the 1990s to pursue their own acting goals and the Living Stage would officially close its doors in 2002.","The Special Collections Research Center does not have the equipment necessary to watch or listen to all audiovisual material in Series 3. Additional time and money may be required to digitize this material for access.","Processing completed by Nick Welsh and Elizabeth Beckman in 2016. EAD markup completed by Nick Welsh in June 2016. Finding aid updated by Amanda Menjivar in March 2025.","The Special Collections Research Center holds several collections of personal papers of individuals involved with the Living Stage Theater Company, including the Zelda Fichandler papers, the Thomas C. Fichandler papers, and the Ken Kitch papers. It also holds the Arena Stage records.","The Living Stage records consists of material spanning the length of the organization's history from 1965, when the Living Stage was known as the Children's Theatre, to 2001. Included in the records are administrative files, financial papers, grant requests and applications, correspondence, workshop reports and scripts, as well as audiovisual and photographic materials.","Series 1: Administrative and Financial Files (1965-2000) includes documents relating to the day to day running of the Living Stage Theatre Company as well as programming, project planning, financials, budgets, grants, press releases and printed documents. It is divided further into 4 subseries. Subseries 1.1 Policies, Planning, and Development includes the administrative files of the Living Stage including season summaries by date, long range plans, meeting minutes, and Community Service Project information. Subseries 1.2 Grants and Foundations contains all materials related to grant requests, endowments (including the National Endowment for the Arts), and donations made by both large charitable organizations and private donors. Subseries 1.3 Financials and Correspondence includes budget materials, expense reports, and benefit information, as well as correspondence between members of the LSTC, memos, and fan mail (called \"love letters\") from schools and other workshop sites. Subseries 1.4 Public Relations and Printed Pieces consist of various publications made by the Living Stage such as their newsletters and advertisements, as well as transcripts of speeches made by LSTC executives and press releases promoting the Living Stage.","Series 2: Artistic and Workshop Files (1966-2001), which is split into 3 subseries, contains the creative aspects of the Living Stage, including details about residencies and the personnel of the Company, as well as workshop reports, scripts, and \"Jams.\" Subseries 2.1 Residency and Personnel Files contains all documents related to the people of the Living Stage, including casting information and details about out of state residencies (including those in Stockholm, Boston, Pittsburgh, New York and others). Subseries 2.2 Production Reports and Workshops encompasses the output of the Living Stage Theatre Company in the form of workshops, which are series of performances put on at schools, museums, and communities, and the production reports which sought to analyze audience reception of and reaction to these performances. Look to the \"Baltimore Incident\" for an excellent example of how contentious and revolutionary the Living Stage's performances were. Subseries 2.3 Production Files and Scripts, while small, contains items related to the Living Stage's \"Jams\" including scripts, research, and other assorted play files. ","Series 3: Audiovisual and Photographic Materials (1967-1999) includes all photos, negatives, and film of the Living Stage or their productions. It is divided into three subseries. Subseries 3.1 Photographic Materials includes various photos and negatives showing the cast of the Living Stage at various times, as well as production stills. Unfortunately, the majority of these are undated or have little in the way of description. Subseries 3.2 Audio and film reels includes tapings of various workshops and productions mostly from the 1970s and 1980s. Subseries 3.3 Audio and video tapes contains cassette, VHS, Betamax, and U-matic tapes either used by the Living Stage for performances or made by/about the Living Stage.","The copyright and related rights status of this collection have not been evaluated (See http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/CNE/1.0/)","The Living Stage records documents the Living Stage Theatre Company, founded by Robert Alexander as an offshoot of Arena Stage in Washington, D.C. The records were created from 1965-2001.","R 52, C 6, S 3 - R 53, C 2, S 6\n\nMap Case 8.2","George Mason University. Libraries. Special Collections Research Center","English"],"unitid_tesim":["C0277","/repositories/2/resources/602"],"normalized_title_ssm":["Living Stage records"],"collection_title_tesim":["Living Stage records"],"collection_ssim":["Living Stage records"],"repository_ssm":["George Mason University"],"repository_ssim":["George Mason University"],"geogname_ssm":["Washington (D.C.)"],"geogname_ssim":["Washington (D.C.)"],"places_ssim":["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."],"access_subjects_ssim":["Acting","People with mental disabilities -- Services for -- United States","Performance art -- Photographs","Public schools -- Virginia","Radicalism -- United States -- History -- 20th century","Students -- Photographs","Theater -- United States -- History -- 20th century","Theater -- Washington (D.C.)","Theater programs","Playscript"],"access_subjects_ssm":["Acting","People with mental disabilities -- Services for -- United States","Performance art -- Photographs","Public schools -- Virginia","Radicalism -- United States -- History -- 20th century","Students -- Photographs","Theater -- United States -- History -- 20th century","Theater -- Washington (D.C.)","Theater programs","Playscript"],"has_online_content_ssim":["false"],"extent_ssm":["48.0 Linear Feet 106 boxes"],"extent_tesim":["48.0 Linear Feet 106 boxes"],"genreform_ssim":["Playscript"],"date_range_isim":[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],"accessrestrict_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eThere are no access restrictions on Series 1 and 2. Please see the Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements note for access information on Series 3.\u003c/p\u003e"],"accessrestrict_heading_ssm":["Access Restrictions"],"accessrestrict_tesim":["There are no access restrictions on Series 1 and 2. Please see the Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements note for access information on Series 3."],"arrangement_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eThe collection is divided into three series, each of which is divided into subseries.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003clist type=\"ordered\"\u003e\n      \u003chead\u003eSeries\u003c/head\u003e\n      \u003citem\u003eSeries 1: Administrative and Financial Files, 1965-2000 (Boxes 1-56)\u003c/item\u003e\n      \u003citem\u003eSeries 2: Artistic and Workshop Files, 1966-2001 (Boxes 57-85)\u003c/item\u003e\n      \u003citem\u003eSeries 3: Audiovisual and Photographic Materials, 1967-1999 (Boxes 86-106)\u003c/item\u003e\n    \u003c/list\u003e"],"arrangement_heading_ssm":["Arrangement"],"arrangement_tesim":["The collection is divided into three series, each of which is divided into subseries.","Series Series 1: Administrative and Financial Files, 1965-2000 (Boxes 1-56) Series 2: Artistic and Workshop Files, 1966-2001 (Boxes 57-85) Series 3: Audiovisual and Photographic Materials, 1967-1999 (Boxes 86-106)"],"bioghist_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eThe Living Stage Theatre Company began in 1966 as a venture of Arena Stage and Robert Alexander. Known from 1966-1968 as The Children's Theatre, the Living Stage from the beginning dedicated itself to programming with a social consciousness and a desire to effect societal change through performance. Robert Alexander was the theatre's founder and until 1995 its director. Alexander brought an adapted street and guerilla theater style to the D.C. area after becoming disenchanted with traditional theatre's \"middle-class\" audience. The Living Stage provided training to actors in the art of improvisational theater through tuition free schooling during the summers, as well as through weekend long workshop training for social workers, teachers, and other professionals throughout their 9 month season. While most of the Stage's workshops were held on site at schools, museums, and prisons, the Living Stage did have its own formal space in Washington, D.C. on 14th and T Streets NW. The Living Stage put on productions across Northern Virginia in schools, youth homes, and even prisons like the Lorton Penitentiary. Senior members of the company, like Jennifer Nelson and Oran Sandel helped to send the Living Stage across the country as well. Their efforts were largely funded through vigorous campaigning for grants and fund raising through the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) and other private foundations. The Living Stage also received substantial financial assistance from its parent company, the Washington Drama Society, Inc. \u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eThe Living Stage performance style consisted of \"The Jam,\" \"The Performance,\" and \"The Workshop,\" a three part study that was used at most of their venues. The first part, or \"Jam,\" consisted of actors working with their audience to \"rap,\" make music, and \"jam\" through spoken or sung words accompanied by instrumentals typically provided by audience members. The actors then moved into the \"performance\" itself. During the performance the actors put on an improvised theater production directed by a senior member of the cast and assisted by one or two audience members. The \"Workshop\" began from there; during the workshop, the audience took over the scene, while still directed by the actors, and was encouraged to make it their own. Audiences gave their opinions and thoughts on each performance in the form of production reports that were collected by the Living Stage. \u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eThe projects that the Living Stage put on typically dealt with controversial and sensitive topics like race, economic inequality, the dangers of an overzealous American foreign policy, the atom bomb, violence, and freedom. The \"Baltimore Incident\" of 1971 is an excellent example of how controversial these productions could be. No matter how mixed opinions were, the Living Stage always elicited a reaction with their improvisational performances. During the 1980s the Living Stage began to reach out extensively to local initiatives like The District's Alcohol and Drug Abuse Services Administration and created their own Community Services Project in order to continue to bring theater and creativity to underserved sections of society. The Living Stage championed New Left ideals like equality and social justice throughout the Reagan years, despite some criticisms about their message being \"anachronistic.\"\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eThe organization began to sunset in the first half of the 1990s as many of its founding and senior members took their skills elsewhere. Robert Alexander himself left in 1995 to start educating people in the art of improvisational theater full time. Jennifer Nelson, David Matthew Proctor, Ezra Knight, and others began to filter away in the 1990s to pursue their own acting goals and the Living Stage would officially close its doors in 2002.\u003c/p\u003e"],"bioghist_heading_ssm":["Historical Information"],"bioghist_tesim":["The Living Stage Theatre Company began in 1966 as a venture of Arena Stage and Robert Alexander. Known from 1966-1968 as The Children's Theatre, the Living Stage from the beginning dedicated itself to programming with a social consciousness and a desire to effect societal change through performance. Robert Alexander was the theatre's founder and until 1995 its director. Alexander brought an adapted street and guerilla theater style to the D.C. area after becoming disenchanted with traditional theatre's \"middle-class\" audience. The Living Stage provided training to actors in the art of improvisational theater through tuition free schooling during the summers, as well as through weekend long workshop training for social workers, teachers, and other professionals throughout their 9 month season. While most of the Stage's workshops were held on site at schools, museums, and prisons, the Living Stage did have its own formal space in Washington, D.C. on 14th and T Streets NW. The Living Stage put on productions across Northern Virginia in schools, youth homes, and even prisons like the Lorton Penitentiary. Senior members of the company, like Jennifer Nelson and Oran Sandel helped to send the Living Stage across the country as well. Their efforts were largely funded through vigorous campaigning for grants and fund raising through the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) and other private foundations. The Living Stage also received substantial financial assistance from its parent company, the Washington Drama Society, Inc. ","The Living Stage performance style consisted of \"The Jam,\" \"The Performance,\" and \"The Workshop,\" a three part study that was used at most of their venues. The first part, or \"Jam,\" consisted of actors working with their audience to \"rap,\" make music, and \"jam\" through spoken or sung words accompanied by instrumentals typically provided by audience members. The actors then moved into the \"performance\" itself. During the performance the actors put on an improvised theater production directed by a senior member of the cast and assisted by one or two audience members. The \"Workshop\" began from there; during the workshop, the audience took over the scene, while still directed by the actors, and was encouraged to make it their own. Audiences gave their opinions and thoughts on each performance in the form of production reports that were collected by the Living Stage. ","The projects that the Living Stage put on typically dealt with controversial and sensitive topics like race, economic inequality, the dangers of an overzealous American foreign policy, the atom bomb, violence, and freedom. The \"Baltimore Incident\" of 1971 is an excellent example of how controversial these productions could be. No matter how mixed opinions were, the Living Stage always elicited a reaction with their improvisational performances. During the 1980s the Living Stage began to reach out extensively to local initiatives like The District's Alcohol and Drug Abuse Services Administration and created their own Community Services Project in order to continue to bring theater and creativity to underserved sections of society. The Living Stage championed New Left ideals like equality and social justice throughout the Reagan years, despite some criticisms about their message being \"anachronistic.\"","The organization began to sunset in the first half of the 1990s as many of its founding and senior members took their skills elsewhere. Robert Alexander himself left in 1995 to start educating people in the art of improvisational theater full time. Jennifer Nelson, David Matthew Proctor, Ezra Knight, and others began to filter away in the 1990s to pursue their own acting goals and the Living Stage would officially close its doors in 2002."],"phystech_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eThe Special Collections Research Center does not have the equipment necessary to watch or listen to all audiovisual material in Series 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 watch or listen to all audiovisual material in Series 3. Additional time and money may be required to digitize this material for access."],"prefercite_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eLiving Stage records, C0277, Special Collections Reserch Center, George Mason University Libraries.\u003c/p\u003e"],"prefercite_tesim":["Living Stage records, C0277, Special Collections Reserch Center, George Mason University Libraries."],"processinfo_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eProcessing completed by Nick Welsh and Elizabeth Beckman in 2016. EAD markup completed by Nick Welsh in June 2016. Finding aid updated by Amanda Menjivar in March 2025.\u003c/p\u003e"],"processinfo_heading_ssm":["Processing Information"],"processinfo_tesim":["Processing completed by Nick Welsh and Elizabeth Beckman in 2016. EAD markup completed by Nick Welsh in June 2016. Finding aid updated by Amanda Menjivar in March 2025."],"relatedmaterial_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eThe Special Collections Research Center holds several collections of personal papers of individuals involved with the Living Stage Theater Company, including the Zelda Fichandler papers, the Thomas C. Fichandler papers, and the Ken Kitch papers. It also holds the Arena Stage records.\u003c/p\u003e"],"relatedmaterial_heading_ssm":["Related Material"],"relatedmaterial_tesim":["The Special Collections Research Center holds several collections of personal papers of individuals involved with the Living Stage Theater Company, including the Zelda Fichandler papers, the Thomas C. Fichandler papers, and the Ken Kitch papers. It also holds the Arena Stage records."],"scopecontent_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eThe Living Stage records consists of material spanning the length of the organization's history from 1965, when the Living Stage was known as the Children's Theatre, to 2001. Included in the records are administrative files, financial papers, grant requests and applications, correspondence, workshop reports and scripts, as well as audiovisual and photographic materials.\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eSeries 1: Administrative and Financial Files (1965-2000) includes documents relating to the day to day running of the Living Stage Theatre Company as well as programming, project planning, financials, budgets, grants, press releases and printed documents. It is divided further into 4 subseries. Subseries 1.1 Policies, Planning, and Development includes the administrative files of the Living Stage including season summaries by date, long range plans, meeting minutes, and Community Service Project information. Subseries 1.2 Grants and Foundations contains all materials related to grant requests, endowments (including the National Endowment for the Arts), and donations made by both large charitable organizations and private donors. Subseries 1.3 Financials and Correspondence includes budget materials, expense reports, and benefit information, as well as correspondence between members of the LSTC, memos, and fan mail (called \"love letters\") from schools and other workshop sites. Subseries 1.4 Public Relations and Printed Pieces consist of various publications made by the Living Stage such as their newsletters and advertisements, as well as transcripts of speeches made by LSTC executives and press releases promoting the Living Stage.\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eSeries 2: Artistic and Workshop Files (1966-2001), which is split into 3 subseries, contains the creative aspects of the Living Stage, including details about residencies and the personnel of the Company, as well as workshop reports, scripts, and \"Jams.\" Subseries 2.1 Residency and Personnel Files contains all documents related to the people of the Living Stage, including casting information and details about out of state residencies (including those in Stockholm, Boston, Pittsburgh, New York and others). Subseries 2.2 Production Reports and Workshops encompasses the output of the Living Stage Theatre Company in the form of workshops, which are series of performances put on at schools, museums, and communities, and the production reports which sought to analyze audience reception of and reaction to these performances. Look to the \"Baltimore Incident\" for an excellent example of how contentious and revolutionary the Living Stage's performances were. Subseries 2.3 Production Files and Scripts, while small, contains items related to the Living Stage's \"Jams\" including scripts, research, and other assorted play files. \u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eSeries 3: Audiovisual and Photographic Materials (1967-1999) includes all photos, negatives, and film of the Living Stage or their productions. It is divided into three subseries. Subseries 3.1 Photographic Materials includes various photos and negatives showing the cast of the Living Stage at various times, as well as production stills. Unfortunately, the majority of these are undated or have little in the way of description. Subseries 3.2 Audio and film reels includes tapings of various workshops and productions mostly from the 1970s and 1980s. Subseries 3.3 Audio and video tapes contains cassette, VHS, Betamax, and U-matic tapes either used by the Living Stage for performances or made by/about the Living Stage.\u003c/p\u003e"],"scopecontent_heading_ssm":["Scope and Content"],"scopecontent_tesim":["The Living Stage records consists of material spanning the length of the organization's history from 1965, when the Living Stage was known as the Children's Theatre, to 2001. Included in the records are administrative files, financial papers, grant requests and applications, correspondence, workshop reports and scripts, as well as audiovisual and photographic materials.","Series 1: Administrative and Financial Files (1965-2000) includes documents relating to the day to day running of the Living Stage Theatre Company as well as programming, project planning, financials, budgets, grants, press releases and printed documents. It is divided further into 4 subseries. Subseries 1.1 Policies, Planning, and Development includes the administrative files of the Living Stage including season summaries by date, long range plans, meeting minutes, and Community Service Project information. Subseries 1.2 Grants and Foundations contains all materials related to grant requests, endowments (including the National Endowment for the Arts), and donations made by both large charitable organizations and private donors. Subseries 1.3 Financials and Correspondence includes budget materials, expense reports, and benefit information, as well as correspondence between members of the LSTC, memos, and fan mail (called \"love letters\") from schools and other workshop sites. Subseries 1.4 Public Relations and Printed Pieces consist of various publications made by the Living Stage such as their newsletters and advertisements, as well as transcripts of speeches made by LSTC executives and press releases promoting the Living Stage.","Series 2: Artistic and Workshop Files (1966-2001), which is split into 3 subseries, contains the creative aspects of the Living Stage, including details about residencies and the personnel of the Company, as well as workshop reports, scripts, and \"Jams.\" Subseries 2.1 Residency and Personnel Files contains all documents related to the people of the Living Stage, including casting information and details about out of state residencies (including those in Stockholm, Boston, Pittsburgh, New York and others). Subseries 2.2 Production Reports and Workshops encompasses the output of the Living Stage Theatre Company in the form of workshops, which are series of performances put on at schools, museums, and communities, and the production reports which sought to analyze audience reception of and reaction to these performances. Look to the \"Baltimore Incident\" for an excellent example of how contentious and revolutionary the Living Stage's performances were. Subseries 2.3 Production Files and Scripts, while small, contains items related to the Living Stage's \"Jams\" including scripts, research, and other assorted play files. ","Series 3: Audiovisual and Photographic Materials (1967-1999) includes all photos, negatives, and film of the Living Stage or their productions. It is divided into three subseries. Subseries 3.1 Photographic Materials includes various photos and negatives showing the cast of the Living Stage at various times, as well as production stills. Unfortunately, the majority of these are undated or have little in the way of description. Subseries 3.2 Audio and film reels includes tapings of various workshops and productions mostly from the 1970s and 1980s. Subseries 3.3 Audio and video tapes contains cassette, VHS, Betamax, and U-matic tapes either used by the Living Stage for performances or made by/about the Living Stage."],"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 Living Stage records documents the Living Stage Theatre Company, founded by Robert Alexander as an offshoot of Arena Stage in Washington, D.C. The records were created from 1965-2001.\u003c/abstract\u003e"],"abstract_tesim":["The Living Stage records documents the Living Stage Theatre Company, founded by Robert Alexander as an offshoot of Arena Stage in Washington, D.C. The records were created from 1965-2001."],"physloc_html_tesm":["\u003cphysloc id=\"aspace_e176c0c8972614dd614b2ea45cfacaaf\"\u003eR 52, C 6, S 3 - R 53, C 2, S 6\n\nMap Case 8.2\u003c/physloc\u003e"],"physloc_tesim":["R 52, C 6, S 3 - R 53, C 2, S 6\n\nMap Case 8.2"],"names_ssim":["George Mason University. Libraries. Special Collections Research Center"],"corpname_ssim":["George Mason University. Libraries. Special Collections Research Center"],"language_ssim":["English"],"descrules_ssm":["Describing Archives: A Content Standard"],"total_component_count_is":1502,"online_item_count_is":0,"component_level_isim":[0],"sort_isi":0,"timestamp":"2026-05-01T00:33:57.755Z"}]}},"label":"Breadcrumbs"}}},"links":{"self":"https://search.arvasarchive.org/catalog/vifgm_repositories_2_resources_602_c01_c02"}},{"id":"vifgm_LivingStage_c01_c02","type":"Subseries","attributes":{"title":"Grants and foundations","breadcrumbs":{"id":"https://search.arvasarchive.org/catalog/vifgm_LivingStage_c01_c02#breadcrumbs","type":"document_value","attributes":{"value":{"ref_ssi":"vifgm_LivingStage_c01_c02","ref_ssm":["vifgm_LivingStage_c01_c02"],"id":"vifgm_LivingStage_c01_c02","ead_ssi":"vifgm_LivingStage","_root_":"vifgm_LivingStage","_nest_parent_":"vifgm_LivingStage_c01","parent_ssi":"vifgm_LivingStage_c01","parent_ssim":["vifgm_LivingStage","vifgm_LivingStage_c01"],"parent_ids_ssim":["vifgm_LivingStage","vifgm_LivingStage_c01"],"parent_unittitles_ssm":["Living Stage records","Series 1: Administrative and financial files"],"parent_unittitles_tesim":["Living Stage records","Series 1: Administrative and financial files"],"text":["Living Stage records","Series 1: Administrative and financial files","Grants and foundations"],"title_filing_ssi":"Grants and foundations","title_ssm":["Grants and foundations"],"title_tesim":["Grants and foundations"],"unitdate_other_ssim":["1967-1997"],"normalized_date_ssm":["1967/1997"],"normalized_title_ssm":["Grants and foundations"],"component_level_isim":[2],"repository_ssim":["George Mason University"],"collection_ssim":["Living Stage records"],"has_online_content_ssim":["false"],"child_component_count_isi":221,"level_ssm":["Subseries"],"level_ssim":["Subseries"],"sort_isi":267,"parent_access_restrict_tesm":["There are no access restrictions."],"parent_access_terms_tesm":["There are no restrictions on personal use. Permission to publish material from the Living Stage Records must be obtained from Special Collections and Archives, George Mason University Libraries."],"date_range_isim":[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],"_nest_path_":"/components#0/components#1","timestamp":"2026-05-01T00:50:06.728Z","collection":{"numFound":1,"start":0,"numFoundExact":true,"docs":[{"id":"vifgm_LivingStage","ead_ssi":"vifgm_LivingStage","_root_":"vifgm_LivingStage","_nest_parent_":"vifgm_LivingStage","ead_source_url_ssi":"data/gmu/LivingStage.xml","aspace_url_ssi":"http://sca.gmu.edu/finding_aids/livingstage.html","title_ssm":["Living Stage records"],"title_tesim":["Living Stage records"],"unitdate_ssm":["1965-2001"],"unitdate_inclusive_ssm":["1965-2001"],"level_ssm":["collection"],"level_ssim":["Collection"],"unitid_ssm":["C0277"],"text":["C0277","Living Stage records","Acting.","People with mental disabilities--Services for--United States.","Performance art--Photographs.","Public schools--Virginia.","Radicalism--United States--History--20th century.","Students--Photographs.","Theater--United States--History--20th century.","Theater--Washington (D.C.)","Playscripts.","Theatre programs.","There are no access restrictions.","The collection is divided into three series, each of which is divided into subseries.","Series 1: Administrative and Financial Files, 1965-2000 (Boxes 1-56) Series 2: Artistic and Workshop Files, 1966-2001 (Boxes 57-85) Series 3: Audiovisual Materials, 1967-1998 (Boxes 86-106)","The Living Stage Theatre Company began in 1966 as a venture of the Arena Stage and Robert Alexander. Known from 1966-1968 as the Children's Theatre, the Living Stage from the beginning dedicated itself to programming with a social consciousness and a desire to effect societal change through performance. Robert Alexander was the theatre's founder and until 1995 its director. Alexander brought an adapted street and guerilla theater style to the DC area after becoming disenchanted with traditional theater's \"middle-class\" audience. The Living Stage provided training to actors in the art of improvisational theater through tuition free schooling during the summers, as well as through weekend long workshop training for social workers, teachers, and other professionals throughout their 9 month season. While most of the Stage's workshops were held on site at schools, museums, and prisons, the Living Stage did have its own formal space in Washington DC on 14th and T Streets NW. The Living Stage put on productions across Northern Virginia in schools, youth homes, and even prisons like the Lorton Penitentiary. Senior members of the company, like Jennifer Nelson and Oran Sandel helped to send the Living Stage across the country as well. Their efforts were largely funded through vigorous campaigning for grants and fund raising through the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) and other private foundations. The Living Stage also received substantial financial assistance from its parent company, the Washington Drama Society, Inc. ","The Living Stage performance style consisted of \"The Jam\", \"The Performance\" and \"The Workshop\"; a three part study that was used at most of their venues. The first part, or \"Jam\", consisted of actors working with their audience to \"rap\", make music, and \"jam\" through spoken or sung words accompanied by instrumentals typically provided by audience members. Then the actors moved into the \"performance\" itself. During the performance, the actors put on an improvised theater production directed by a senior member of the cast and assisted by one or two audience members. The \"Workshop\" began from there; during the workshop, the audience took over the scene, while still directed by the actors, and was encouraged to make it their own. Audiences gave their opinions and thoughts on each performance in the form of production reports that were collected by the Living Stage. ","The projects that the Living Stage put on typically dealt with controversial and sensitive topics like race, economic inequality, the dangers of an overzealous American foreign policy, the atom bomb, violence, and freedom. The \"Baltimore Incident\" of 1971 is an excellent example of how controversial these productions could be. No matter how mixed opinions were, the Living Stage always elicited a reaction with their improvisational performances. During the 1980s the Living Stage began to reach out extensively to local initiatives like The District's Alcohol and Drug Abuse Services Administration and created their own Community Services Project in order to continue to bring theater and creativity to underserved sections of society. The Living Stage championed New Left ideals like equality and social justice throughout the Reagan years, despite some criticisms about their message being \"anachronistic\". "," The organization began its twilight years in the first half of the 1990s as many of its founding and senior members began to take their skills elsewhere. Robert Alexander himself left in 1995 to start educating people in the art of improvisational theater full time. Jennifer Nelson, David Matthew Proctor, Ezra Knight, and others began to filter away in the 1990s to pursue their own acting goals and the Living Stage would officially close its doors in 2002.","The Special Collections Research Center does not have the equipment necessary to watch Betacam, U-matic, reel-to-reel film and audio tapes contained in Series 3. Additional time and money may be required to digitize this material for access.","Processing completed by Nick Welsh and Elizabeth Beckman in 2016. EAD markup completed by Nick Welsh in June 2016.","The Special Collections and Research Center holds several collections of personal papers of individuals involved with the Living Stage Theater Company collection Arena Stage, including the Zelda Fichandler papers, the Thomas Fichandler papers, and the Ken Kitch papers, as well as the Arena Stage collection and many other theater collections."," The Living Stage records consist of materials spanning the length of that organization's history from about 1965, when the Living Stage was known as the Children's Theatre, to 2001. Included in the records are administrative files including financial papers, grant requests and applications, printed pieces, and correspondence and more creative materials including workshop reports and scripts, audiovisual files on reel-to-reel tapes, and photographic materials. ","Series 1: Administrative and Financial Files (1965-2000) includes documents relating to the day to day running of the Living Stage Theatre Company as well as programming, project planning, financials, budgets, grants, press releases and printed documents. It is divided further into 4 subseries. Subseries 1.1 Policies, Planning, and Development includes the administrative files of the Living Stage including season summaries by date, long range plans, meeting minutes, and Community Service Project information. Subseries 1.2 Grants and Foundations contains all materials related to grant requests, endowments (including the National Endowment for the Arts), and donations made by both large charitable organizations and private donors. Subseries 1.3 Financials and Correspondence includes budget materials, expense reports, and benefit information, as well as correspondence between members of the LSTC, memos, and fan mail (called \"love letters\") from schools and other workshop sites. Subseries 1.4 Public Relations and Printed Pieces consist of various publications made by the Living Stage such as their newsletters and advertisements, as well as transcripts of speeches made by LSTC executives and press releases promoting the Living Stage."," Series 2: Artistic and Workshop Files (1966-2001), which is split into 3 subseries, contains the creative aspects of the Living Stage, including details about residencies and the personnel of the Company, as well as workshop reports, scripts, and \"Jams\". Subseries 2.1 Residency and Personnel Files contains all documents related to the people of the Living Stage, including casting information and details about out of state residencies (including those in Stockholm, Boston, Pittsburgh, New York and others). Subseries 2.2 Production Reports and Workshops encompasses the output of the Living Stage Theatre Company in the form of workshops, which are series of performances put on at schools, museums, and communities, and the production reports which sought to analyze audience reception of and reaction to these performances. Look to the \"Baltimore Incident\" for an excellent example of how contentious and revolutionary the Living Stage's performances were. Subseries 2.3 Production Files and Scripts, while small, contains items related to the Living Stage's \"Jams\" including scripts, research, and other assorted play files. ","Series 3: Audiovisual Materials (1967-1998) includes all photos, negatives, and film of the Living Stage or their productions. It is divided into three subseries. Subseries 3.1 Photographic Materials includes various photos and negatives showing the cast of the Living Stage at various times as well as production stills. Unfortunately, the majority of these are undated or have little in the way of description. Subseries 3.2 Reel to Reel Materials includes tapings of various workshops and productions mostly from the 1970s and 1980s. Subseries 3.3 Cassete and VHS tapes contains cassette, VHS, Betamax, and U-matic tapes either used by the Living Stage for performances or made by/about the Living Stage.","There are no restrictions on personal use. Permission to publish material from the Living Stage Records must be obtained from Special Collections and Archives, George Mason University Libraries.","The Living Stage records include pieces related to the traveling theater company, which was founded by Robert Alexander, between 1965 and 2001.","George Mason University. Libraries. Special Collections Research Center.","English\n\t\t"],"unitid_tesim":["C0277"],"normalized_title_ssm":["Living Stage records"],"collection_title_tesim":["Living Stage records"],"collection_ssim":["Living Stage records"],"repository_ssm":["George Mason University"],"repository_ssim":["George Mason University"],"access_terms_ssm":["There are no restrictions on personal use. Permission to publish material from the Living Stage Records must be obtained from Special Collections and Archives, George Mason University Libraries."],"acqinfo_ssim":["Donated by Arena Stage in 2000."],"access_subjects_ssim":["Acting.","People with mental disabilities--Services for--United States.","Performance art--Photographs.","Public schools--Virginia.","Radicalism--United States--History--20th century.","Students--Photographs.","Theater--United States--History--20th century.","Theater--Washington (D.C.)","Playscripts.","Theatre programs."],"access_subjects_ssm":["Acting.","People with mental disabilities--Services for--United States.","Performance art--Photographs.","Public schools--Virginia.","Radicalism--United States--History--20th century.","Students--Photographs.","Theater--United States--History--20th century.","Theater--Washington (D.C.)","Playscripts.","Theatre programs."],"has_online_content_ssim":["false"],"extent_ssm":["48.0 linear feet (106 boxes)"],"extent_tesim":["48.0 linear feet (106 boxes)"],"date_range_isim":[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],"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\u003eThe collection is divided into three series, each of which is divided into subseries.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003clist type=\"ordered\"\u003e\n        \u003citem\u003eSeries 1: Administrative and Financial Files, 1965-2000 (Boxes 1-56)\u003c/item\u003e\n        \u003citem\u003eSeries 2: Artistic and Workshop Files, 1966-2001 (Boxes 57-85)\u003c/item\u003e\n        \u003citem\u003eSeries 3: Audiovisual Materials, 1967-1998 (Boxes 86-106)\u003c/item\u003e\n      \u003c/list\u003e"],"arrangement_heading_ssm":["Arrangement"],"arrangement_tesim":["The collection is divided into three series, each of which is divided into subseries.","Series 1: Administrative and Financial Files, 1965-2000 (Boxes 1-56) Series 2: Artistic and Workshop Files, 1966-2001 (Boxes 57-85) Series 3: Audiovisual Materials, 1967-1998 (Boxes 86-106)"],"bioghist_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eThe Living Stage Theatre Company began in 1966 as a venture of the Arena Stage and Robert Alexander. Known from 1966-1968 as the Children's Theatre, the Living Stage from the beginning dedicated itself to programming with a social consciousness and a desire to effect societal change through performance. Robert Alexander was the theatre's founder and until 1995 its director. Alexander brought an adapted street and guerilla theater style to the DC area after becoming disenchanted with traditional theater's \"middle-class\" audience. The Living Stage provided training to actors in the art of improvisational theater through tuition free schooling during the summers, as well as through weekend long workshop training for social workers, teachers, and other professionals throughout their 9 month season. While most of the Stage's workshops were held on site at schools, museums, and prisons, the Living Stage did have its own formal space in Washington DC on 14th and T Streets NW. The Living Stage put on productions across Northern Virginia in schools, youth homes, and even prisons like the Lorton Penitentiary. Senior members of the company, like Jennifer Nelson and Oran Sandel helped to send the Living Stage across the country as well. Their efforts were largely funded through vigorous campaigning for grants and fund raising through the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) and other private foundations. The Living Stage also received substantial financial assistance from its parent company, the Washington Drama Society, Inc. \u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eThe Living Stage performance style consisted of \"The Jam\", \"The Performance\" and \"The Workshop\"; a three part study that was used at most of their venues. The first part, or \"Jam\", consisted of actors working with their audience to \"rap\", make music, and \"jam\" through spoken or sung words accompanied by instrumentals typically provided by audience members. Then the actors moved into the \"performance\" itself. During the performance, the actors put on an improvised theater production directed by a senior member of the cast and assisted by one or two audience members. The \"Workshop\" began from there; during the workshop, the audience took over the scene, while still directed by the actors, and was encouraged to make it their own. Audiences gave their opinions and thoughts on each performance in the form of production reports that were collected by the Living Stage. \u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eThe projects that the Living Stage put on typically dealt with controversial and sensitive topics like race, economic inequality, the dangers of an overzealous American foreign policy, the atom bomb, violence, and freedom. The \"Baltimore Incident\" of 1971 is an excellent example of how controversial these productions could be. No matter how mixed opinions were, the Living Stage always elicited a reaction with their improvisational performances. During the 1980s the Living Stage began to reach out extensively to local initiatives like The District's Alcohol and Drug Abuse Services Administration and created their own Community Services Project in order to continue to bring theater and creativity to underserved sections of society. The Living Stage championed New Left ideals like equality and social justice throughout the Reagan years, despite some criticisms about their message being \"anachronistic\". \u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003e The organization began its twilight years in the first half of the 1990s as many of its founding and senior members began to take their skills elsewhere. Robert Alexander himself left in 1995 to start educating people in the art of improvisational theater full time. Jennifer Nelson, David Matthew Proctor, Ezra Knight, and others began to filter away in the 1990s to pursue their own acting goals and the Living Stage would officially close its doors in 2002.\u003c/p\u003e"],"bioghist_heading_ssm":["Historical Information"],"bioghist_tesim":["The Living Stage Theatre Company began in 1966 as a venture of the Arena Stage and Robert Alexander. Known from 1966-1968 as the Children's Theatre, the Living Stage from the beginning dedicated itself to programming with a social consciousness and a desire to effect societal change through performance. Robert Alexander was the theatre's founder and until 1995 its director. Alexander brought an adapted street and guerilla theater style to the DC area after becoming disenchanted with traditional theater's \"middle-class\" audience. The Living Stage provided training to actors in the art of improvisational theater through tuition free schooling during the summers, as well as through weekend long workshop training for social workers, teachers, and other professionals throughout their 9 month season. While most of the Stage's workshops were held on site at schools, museums, and prisons, the Living Stage did have its own formal space in Washington DC on 14th and T Streets NW. The Living Stage put on productions across Northern Virginia in schools, youth homes, and even prisons like the Lorton Penitentiary. Senior members of the company, like Jennifer Nelson and Oran Sandel helped to send the Living Stage across the country as well. Their efforts were largely funded through vigorous campaigning for grants and fund raising through the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) and other private foundations. The Living Stage also received substantial financial assistance from its parent company, the Washington Drama Society, Inc. ","The Living Stage performance style consisted of \"The Jam\", \"The Performance\" and \"The Workshop\"; a three part study that was used at most of their venues. The first part, or \"Jam\", consisted of actors working with their audience to \"rap\", make music, and \"jam\" through spoken or sung words accompanied by instrumentals typically provided by audience members. Then the actors moved into the \"performance\" itself. During the performance, the actors put on an improvised theater production directed by a senior member of the cast and assisted by one or two audience members. The \"Workshop\" began from there; during the workshop, the audience took over the scene, while still directed by the actors, and was encouraged to make it their own. Audiences gave their opinions and thoughts on each performance in the form of production reports that were collected by the Living Stage. ","The projects that the Living Stage put on typically dealt with controversial and sensitive topics like race, economic inequality, the dangers of an overzealous American foreign policy, the atom bomb, violence, and freedom. The \"Baltimore Incident\" of 1971 is an excellent example of how controversial these productions could be. No matter how mixed opinions were, the Living Stage always elicited a reaction with their improvisational performances. During the 1980s the Living Stage began to reach out extensively to local initiatives like The District's Alcohol and Drug Abuse Services Administration and created their own Community Services Project in order to continue to bring theater and creativity to underserved sections of society. The Living Stage championed New Left ideals like equality and social justice throughout the Reagan years, despite some criticisms about their message being \"anachronistic\". "," The organization began its twilight years in the first half of the 1990s as many of its founding and senior members began to take their skills elsewhere. Robert Alexander himself left in 1995 to start educating people in the art of improvisational theater full time. Jennifer Nelson, David Matthew Proctor, Ezra Knight, and others began to filter away in the 1990s to pursue their own acting goals and the Living Stage would officially close its doors in 2002."],"phystech_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eThe Special Collections Research Center does not have the equipment necessary to watch Betacam, U-matic, reel-to-reel film and audio tapes contained in Series 3. Additional time and money may be required to digitize this material for access.\u003c/p\u003e"],"phystech_heading_ssm":["Technical Requirements"],"phystech_tesim":["The Special Collections Research Center does not have the equipment necessary to watch Betacam, U-matic, reel-to-reel film and audio tapes contained in Series 3. Additional time and money may be required to digitize this material for access."],"prefercite_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eLiving Stage Records, C0277, Special Collections and Archives, George Mason University Libraries.\u003c/p\u003e"],"prefercite_tesim":["Living Stage Records, C0277, Special Collections and Archives, George Mason University Libraries."],"processinfo_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eProcessing completed by Nick Welsh and Elizabeth Beckman in 2016. EAD markup completed by Nick Welsh in June 2016.\u003c/p\u003e"],"processinfo_heading_ssm":["Processing Information"],"processinfo_tesim":["Processing completed by Nick Welsh and Elizabeth Beckman in 2016. EAD markup completed by Nick Welsh in June 2016."],"relatedmaterial_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eThe Special Collections and Research Center holds several collections of personal papers of individuals involved with the Living Stage Theater Company collection Arena Stage, including the Zelda Fichandler papers, the Thomas Fichandler papers, and the Ken Kitch papers, as well as the Arena Stage collection and many other theater collections.\u003c/p\u003e"],"relatedmaterial_heading_ssm":["Related Material"],"relatedmaterial_tesim":["The Special Collections and Research Center holds several collections of personal papers of individuals involved with the Living Stage Theater Company collection Arena Stage, including the Zelda Fichandler papers, the Thomas Fichandler papers, and the Ken Kitch papers, as well as the Arena Stage collection and many other theater collections."],"scopecontent_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003e The Living Stage records consist of materials spanning the length of that organization's history from about 1965, when the Living Stage was known as the Children's Theatre, to 2001. Included in the records are administrative files including financial papers, grant requests and applications, printed pieces, and correspondence and more creative materials including workshop reports and scripts, audiovisual files on reel-to-reel tapes, and photographic materials. \u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eSeries 1: Administrative and Financial Files (1965-2000) includes documents relating to the day to day running of the Living Stage Theatre Company as well as programming, project planning, financials, budgets, grants, press releases and printed documents. It is divided further into 4 subseries. Subseries 1.1 Policies, Planning, and Development includes the administrative files of the Living Stage including season summaries by date, long range plans, meeting minutes, and Community Service Project information. Subseries 1.2 Grants and Foundations contains all materials related to grant requests, endowments (including the National Endowment for the Arts), and donations made by both large charitable organizations and private donors. Subseries 1.3 Financials and Correspondence includes budget materials, expense reports, and benefit information, as well as correspondence between members of the LSTC, memos, and fan mail (called \"love letters\") from schools and other workshop sites. Subseries 1.4 Public Relations and Printed Pieces consist of various publications made by the Living Stage such as their newsletters and advertisements, as well as transcripts of speeches made by LSTC executives and press releases promoting the Living Stage.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003e Series 2: Artistic and Workshop Files (1966-2001), which is split into 3 subseries, contains the creative aspects of the Living Stage, including details about residencies and the personnel of the Company, as well as workshop reports, scripts, and \"Jams\". Subseries 2.1 Residency and Personnel Files contains all documents related to the people of the Living Stage, including casting information and details about out of state residencies (including those in Stockholm, Boston, Pittsburgh, New York and others). Subseries 2.2 Production Reports and Workshops encompasses the output of the Living Stage Theatre Company in the form of workshops, which are series of performances put on at schools, museums, and communities, and the production reports which sought to analyze audience reception of and reaction to these performances. Look to the \"Baltimore Incident\" for an excellent example of how contentious and revolutionary the Living Stage's performances were. Subseries 2.3 Production Files and Scripts, while small, contains items related to the Living Stage's \"Jams\" including scripts, research, and other assorted play files. \u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eSeries 3: Audiovisual Materials (1967-1998) includes all photos, negatives, and film of the Living Stage or their productions. It is divided into three subseries. Subseries 3.1 Photographic Materials includes various photos and negatives showing the cast of the Living Stage at various times as well as production stills. Unfortunately, the majority of these are undated or have little in the way of description. Subseries 3.2 Reel to Reel Materials includes tapings of various workshops and productions mostly from the 1970s and 1980s. Subseries 3.3 Cassete and VHS tapes contains cassette, VHS, Betamax, and U-matic tapes either used by the Living Stage for performances or made by/about the Living Stage.\u003c/p\u003e"],"scopecontent_heading_ssm":["Scope and Content"],"scopecontent_tesim":[" The Living Stage records consist of materials spanning the length of that organization's history from about 1965, when the Living Stage was known as the Children's Theatre, to 2001. Included in the records are administrative files including financial papers, grant requests and applications, printed pieces, and correspondence and more creative materials including workshop reports and scripts, audiovisual files on reel-to-reel tapes, and photographic materials. ","Series 1: Administrative and Financial Files (1965-2000) includes documents relating to the day to day running of the Living Stage Theatre Company as well as programming, project planning, financials, budgets, grants, press releases and printed documents. It is divided further into 4 subseries. Subseries 1.1 Policies, Planning, and Development includes the administrative files of the Living Stage including season summaries by date, long range plans, meeting minutes, and Community Service Project information. Subseries 1.2 Grants and Foundations contains all materials related to grant requests, endowments (including the National Endowment for the Arts), and donations made by both large charitable organizations and private donors. Subseries 1.3 Financials and Correspondence includes budget materials, expense reports, and benefit information, as well as correspondence between members of the LSTC, memos, and fan mail (called \"love letters\") from schools and other workshop sites. Subseries 1.4 Public Relations and Printed Pieces consist of various publications made by the Living Stage such as their newsletters and advertisements, as well as transcripts of speeches made by LSTC executives and press releases promoting the Living Stage."," Series 2: Artistic and Workshop Files (1966-2001), which is split into 3 subseries, contains the creative aspects of the Living Stage, including details about residencies and the personnel of the Company, as well as workshop reports, scripts, and \"Jams\". Subseries 2.1 Residency and Personnel Files contains all documents related to the people of the Living Stage, including casting information and details about out of state residencies (including those in Stockholm, Boston, Pittsburgh, New York and others). Subseries 2.2 Production Reports and Workshops encompasses the output of the Living Stage Theatre Company in the form of workshops, which are series of performances put on at schools, museums, and communities, and the production reports which sought to analyze audience reception of and reaction to these performances. Look to the \"Baltimore Incident\" for an excellent example of how contentious and revolutionary the Living Stage's performances were. Subseries 2.3 Production Files and Scripts, while small, contains items related to the Living Stage's \"Jams\" including scripts, research, and other assorted play files. ","Series 3: Audiovisual Materials (1967-1998) includes all photos, negatives, and film of the Living Stage or their productions. It is divided into three subseries. Subseries 3.1 Photographic Materials includes various photos and negatives showing the cast of the Living Stage at various times as well as production stills. Unfortunately, the majority of these are undated or have little in the way of description. Subseries 3.2 Reel to Reel Materials includes tapings of various workshops and productions mostly from the 1970s and 1980s. Subseries 3.3 Cassete and VHS tapes contains cassette, VHS, Betamax, and U-matic tapes either used by the Living Stage for performances or made by/about the Living Stage."],"userestrict_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eThere are no restrictions on personal use. Permission to publish material from the Living Stage Records must be obtained from Special Collections and Archives, George Mason University Libraries.\u003c/p\u003e"],"userestrict_heading_ssm":["Use Restrictions"],"userestrict_tesim":["There are no restrictions on personal use. Permission to publish material from the Living Stage Records must be obtained from Special Collections and Archives, George Mason University Libraries."],"abstract_html_tesm":["\u003cabstract id=\"ref348\" label=\"Abstract\"\u003eThe Living Stage records include pieces related to the traveling theater company, which was founded by Robert Alexander, between 1965 and 2001.\u003c/abstract\u003e"],"abstract_tesim":["The Living Stage records include pieces related to the traveling theater company, which was founded by Robert Alexander, between 1965 and 2001."],"names_ssim":["George Mason University. Libraries. Special Collections Research Center."],"corpname_ssim":["George Mason University. Libraries. Special Collections Research Center."],"language_ssim":["English\n\t\t"],"descrules_ssm":["Describing Archives: A Content Standard"],"total_component_count_is":1502,"online_item_count_is":0,"component_level_isim":[0],"sort_isi":0,"timestamp":"2026-05-01T00:50:06.728Z"}]}},"label":"Breadcrumbs"}}},"links":{"self":"https://search.arvasarchive.org/catalog/vifgm_LivingStage_c01_c02"}},{"id":"vifgm_repositories_2_resources_602_c03_c01","type":"Subseries","attributes":{"title":"Photographic materials","breadcrumbs":{"id":"https://search.arvasarchive.org/catalog/vifgm_repositories_2_resources_602_c03_c01#breadcrumbs","type":"document_value","attributes":{"value":{"ref_ssi":"vifgm_repositories_2_resources_602_c03_c01","ref_ssm":["vifgm_repositories_2_resources_602_c03_c01"],"id":"vifgm_repositories_2_resources_602_c03_c01","ead_ssi":"vifgm_repositories_2_resources_602","_root_":"vifgm_repositories_2_resources_602","_nest_parent_":"vifgm_repositories_2_resources_602_c03","parent_ssi":"vifgm_repositories_2_resources_602_c03","parent_ssim":["vifgm_repositories_2_resources_602","vifgm_repositories_2_resources_602_c03"],"parent_ids_ssim":["vifgm_repositories_2_resources_602","vifgm_repositories_2_resources_602_c03"],"parent_unittitles_ssm":["Living Stage records","Series 3: Audiovisual and photographic materials"],"parent_unittitles_tesim":["Living Stage records","Series 3: Audiovisual and photographic materials"],"text":["Living Stage records","Series 3: Audiovisual and photographic materials","Photographic materials"],"title_filing_ssi":"Photographic materials","title_ssm":["Photographic materials"],"title_tesim":["Photographic materials"],"unitdate_other_ssim":["1967-1998"],"normalized_date_ssm":["1967/1998"],"normalized_title_ssm":["Photographic materials"],"component_level_isim":[2],"repository_ssim":["George Mason University"],"collection_ssim":["Living Stage records"],"has_online_content_ssim":["false"],"child_component_count_isi":79,"level_ssm":["Subseries"],"level_ssim":["Subseries"],"sort_isi":1174,"parent_access_restrict_tesm":["There are no access restrictions on Series 1 and 2. Please see the Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements note for access information on Series 3."],"parent_access_terms_tesm":["The copyright and related rights status of this collection have not been evaluated (See http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/CNE/1.0/)"],"date_range_isim":[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],"_nest_path_":"/components#2/components#0","timestamp":"2026-05-01T00:33:57.755Z","collection":{"numFound":1,"start":0,"numFoundExact":true,"docs":[{"id":"vifgm_repositories_2_resources_602","ead_ssi":"vifgm_repositories_2_resources_602","_root_":"vifgm_repositories_2_resources_602","_nest_parent_":"vifgm_repositories_2_resources_602","ead_source_url_ssi":"data/oai/GMU/repositories_2_resources_602.xml","title_filing_ssi":"Living Stage records","title_ssm":["Living Stage records"],"title_tesim":["Living Stage records"],"unitdate_ssm":["1965-2001"],"unitdate_inclusive_ssm":["1965-2001"],"level_ssm":["collection"],"level_ssim":["Collection"],"unitid_ssm":["C0277","/repositories/2/resources/602"],"text":["C0277","/repositories/2/resources/602","Living Stage records","Washington (D.C.)","Acting","People with mental disabilities -- Services for -- United States","Performance art -- Photographs","Public schools -- Virginia","Radicalism -- United States -- History -- 20th century","Students -- Photographs","Theater -- United States -- History -- 20th century","Theater -- Washington (D.C.)","Theater programs","Playscript","There are no access restrictions on Series 1 and 2. Please see the Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements note for access information on Series 3.","The collection is divided into three series, each of which is divided into subseries.","Series Series 1: Administrative and Financial Files, 1965-2000 (Boxes 1-56) Series 2: Artistic and Workshop Files, 1966-2001 (Boxes 57-85) Series 3: Audiovisual and Photographic Materials, 1967-1999 (Boxes 86-106)","The Living Stage Theatre Company began in 1966 as a venture of Arena Stage and Robert Alexander. Known from 1966-1968 as The Children's Theatre, the Living Stage from the beginning dedicated itself to programming with a social consciousness and a desire to effect societal change through performance. Robert Alexander was the theatre's founder and until 1995 its director. Alexander brought an adapted street and guerilla theater style to the D.C. area after becoming disenchanted with traditional theatre's \"middle-class\" audience. The Living Stage provided training to actors in the art of improvisational theater through tuition free schooling during the summers, as well as through weekend long workshop training for social workers, teachers, and other professionals throughout their 9 month season. While most of the Stage's workshops were held on site at schools, museums, and prisons, the Living Stage did have its own formal space in Washington, D.C. on 14th and T Streets NW. The Living Stage put on productions across Northern Virginia in schools, youth homes, and even prisons like the Lorton Penitentiary. Senior members of the company, like Jennifer Nelson and Oran Sandel helped to send the Living Stage across the country as well. Their efforts were largely funded through vigorous campaigning for grants and fund raising through the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) and other private foundations. The Living Stage also received substantial financial assistance from its parent company, the Washington Drama Society, Inc. ","The Living Stage performance style consisted of \"The Jam,\" \"The Performance,\" and \"The Workshop,\" a three part study that was used at most of their venues. The first part, or \"Jam,\" consisted of actors working with their audience to \"rap,\" make music, and \"jam\" through spoken or sung words accompanied by instrumentals typically provided by audience members. The actors then moved into the \"performance\" itself. During the performance the actors put on an improvised theater production directed by a senior member of the cast and assisted by one or two audience members. The \"Workshop\" began from there; during the workshop, the audience took over the scene, while still directed by the actors, and was encouraged to make it their own. Audiences gave their opinions and thoughts on each performance in the form of production reports that were collected by the Living Stage. ","The projects that the Living Stage put on typically dealt with controversial and sensitive topics like race, economic inequality, the dangers of an overzealous American foreign policy, the atom bomb, violence, and freedom. The \"Baltimore Incident\" of 1971 is an excellent example of how controversial these productions could be. No matter how mixed opinions were, the Living Stage always elicited a reaction with their improvisational performances. During the 1980s the Living Stage began to reach out extensively to local initiatives like The District's Alcohol and Drug Abuse Services Administration and created their own Community Services Project in order to continue to bring theater and creativity to underserved sections of society. The Living Stage championed New Left ideals like equality and social justice throughout the Reagan years, despite some criticisms about their message being \"anachronistic.\"","The organization began to sunset in the first half of the 1990s as many of its founding and senior members took their skills elsewhere. Robert Alexander himself left in 1995 to start educating people in the art of improvisational theater full time. Jennifer Nelson, David Matthew Proctor, Ezra Knight, and others began to filter away in the 1990s to pursue their own acting goals and the Living Stage would officially close its doors in 2002.","The Special Collections Research Center does not have the equipment necessary to watch or listen to all audiovisual material in Series 3. Additional time and money may be required to digitize this material for access.","Processing completed by Nick Welsh and Elizabeth Beckman in 2016. EAD markup completed by Nick Welsh in June 2016. Finding aid updated by Amanda Menjivar in March 2025.","The Special Collections Research Center holds several collections of personal papers of individuals involved with the Living Stage Theater Company, including the Zelda Fichandler papers, the Thomas C. Fichandler papers, and the Ken Kitch papers. It also holds the Arena Stage records.","The Living Stage records consists of material spanning the length of the organization's history from 1965, when the Living Stage was known as the Children's Theatre, to 2001. Included in the records are administrative files, financial papers, grant requests and applications, correspondence, workshop reports and scripts, as well as audiovisual and photographic materials.","Series 1: Administrative and Financial Files (1965-2000) includes documents relating to the day to day running of the Living Stage Theatre Company as well as programming, project planning, financials, budgets, grants, press releases and printed documents. It is divided further into 4 subseries. Subseries 1.1 Policies, Planning, and Development includes the administrative files of the Living Stage including season summaries by date, long range plans, meeting minutes, and Community Service Project information. Subseries 1.2 Grants and Foundations contains all materials related to grant requests, endowments (including the National Endowment for the Arts), and donations made by both large charitable organizations and private donors. Subseries 1.3 Financials and Correspondence includes budget materials, expense reports, and benefit information, as well as correspondence between members of the LSTC, memos, and fan mail (called \"love letters\") from schools and other workshop sites. Subseries 1.4 Public Relations and Printed Pieces consist of various publications made by the Living Stage such as their newsletters and advertisements, as well as transcripts of speeches made by LSTC executives and press releases promoting the Living Stage.","Series 2: Artistic and Workshop Files (1966-2001), which is split into 3 subseries, contains the creative aspects of the Living Stage, including details about residencies and the personnel of the Company, as well as workshop reports, scripts, and \"Jams.\" Subseries 2.1 Residency and Personnel Files contains all documents related to the people of the Living Stage, including casting information and details about out of state residencies (including those in Stockholm, Boston, Pittsburgh, New York and others). Subseries 2.2 Production Reports and Workshops encompasses the output of the Living Stage Theatre Company in the form of workshops, which are series of performances put on at schools, museums, and communities, and the production reports which sought to analyze audience reception of and reaction to these performances. Look to the \"Baltimore Incident\" for an excellent example of how contentious and revolutionary the Living Stage's performances were. Subseries 2.3 Production Files and Scripts, while small, contains items related to the Living Stage's \"Jams\" including scripts, research, and other assorted play files. ","Series 3: Audiovisual and Photographic Materials (1967-1999) includes all photos, negatives, and film of the Living Stage or their productions. It is divided into three subseries. Subseries 3.1 Photographic Materials includes various photos and negatives showing the cast of the Living Stage at various times, as well as production stills. Unfortunately, the majority of these are undated or have little in the way of description. Subseries 3.2 Audio and film reels includes tapings of various workshops and productions mostly from the 1970s and 1980s. Subseries 3.3 Audio and video tapes contains cassette, VHS, Betamax, and U-matic tapes either used by the Living Stage for performances or made by/about the Living Stage.","The copyright and related rights status of this collection have not been evaluated (See http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/CNE/1.0/)","The Living Stage records documents the Living Stage Theatre Company, founded by Robert Alexander as an offshoot of Arena Stage in Washington, D.C. The records were created from 1965-2001.","R 52, C 6, S 3 - R 53, C 2, S 6\n\nMap Case 8.2","George Mason University. Libraries. Special Collections Research Center","English"],"unitid_tesim":["C0277","/repositories/2/resources/602"],"normalized_title_ssm":["Living Stage records"],"collection_title_tesim":["Living Stage records"],"collection_ssim":["Living Stage records"],"repository_ssm":["George Mason University"],"repository_ssim":["George Mason University"],"geogname_ssm":["Washington (D.C.)"],"geogname_ssim":["Washington (D.C.)"],"places_ssim":["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."],"access_subjects_ssim":["Acting","People with mental disabilities -- Services for -- United States","Performance art -- Photographs","Public schools -- Virginia","Radicalism -- United States -- History -- 20th century","Students -- Photographs","Theater -- United States -- History -- 20th century","Theater -- Washington (D.C.)","Theater programs","Playscript"],"access_subjects_ssm":["Acting","People with mental disabilities -- Services for -- United States","Performance art -- Photographs","Public schools -- Virginia","Radicalism -- United States -- History -- 20th century","Students -- Photographs","Theater -- United States -- History -- 20th century","Theater -- Washington (D.C.)","Theater programs","Playscript"],"has_online_content_ssim":["false"],"extent_ssm":["48.0 Linear Feet 106 boxes"],"extent_tesim":["48.0 Linear Feet 106 boxes"],"genreform_ssim":["Playscript"],"date_range_isim":[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],"accessrestrict_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eThere are no access restrictions on Series 1 and 2. Please see the Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements note for access information on Series 3.\u003c/p\u003e"],"accessrestrict_heading_ssm":["Access Restrictions"],"accessrestrict_tesim":["There are no access restrictions on Series 1 and 2. Please see the Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements note for access information on Series 3."],"arrangement_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eThe collection is divided into three series, each of which is divided into subseries.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003clist type=\"ordered\"\u003e\n      \u003chead\u003eSeries\u003c/head\u003e\n      \u003citem\u003eSeries 1: Administrative and Financial Files, 1965-2000 (Boxes 1-56)\u003c/item\u003e\n      \u003citem\u003eSeries 2: Artistic and Workshop Files, 1966-2001 (Boxes 57-85)\u003c/item\u003e\n      \u003citem\u003eSeries 3: Audiovisual and Photographic Materials, 1967-1999 (Boxes 86-106)\u003c/item\u003e\n    \u003c/list\u003e"],"arrangement_heading_ssm":["Arrangement"],"arrangement_tesim":["The collection is divided into three series, each of which is divided into subseries.","Series Series 1: Administrative and Financial Files, 1965-2000 (Boxes 1-56) Series 2: Artistic and Workshop Files, 1966-2001 (Boxes 57-85) Series 3: Audiovisual and Photographic Materials, 1967-1999 (Boxes 86-106)"],"bioghist_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eThe Living Stage Theatre Company began in 1966 as a venture of Arena Stage and Robert Alexander. Known from 1966-1968 as The Children's Theatre, the Living Stage from the beginning dedicated itself to programming with a social consciousness and a desire to effect societal change through performance. Robert Alexander was the theatre's founder and until 1995 its director. Alexander brought an adapted street and guerilla theater style to the D.C. area after becoming disenchanted with traditional theatre's \"middle-class\" audience. The Living Stage provided training to actors in the art of improvisational theater through tuition free schooling during the summers, as well as through weekend long workshop training for social workers, teachers, and other professionals throughout their 9 month season. While most of the Stage's workshops were held on site at schools, museums, and prisons, the Living Stage did have its own formal space in Washington, D.C. on 14th and T Streets NW. The Living Stage put on productions across Northern Virginia in schools, youth homes, and even prisons like the Lorton Penitentiary. Senior members of the company, like Jennifer Nelson and Oran Sandel helped to send the Living Stage across the country as well. Their efforts were largely funded through vigorous campaigning for grants and fund raising through the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) and other private foundations. The Living Stage also received substantial financial assistance from its parent company, the Washington Drama Society, Inc. \u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eThe Living Stage performance style consisted of \"The Jam,\" \"The Performance,\" and \"The Workshop,\" a three part study that was used at most of their venues. The first part, or \"Jam,\" consisted of actors working with their audience to \"rap,\" make music, and \"jam\" through spoken or sung words accompanied by instrumentals typically provided by audience members. The actors then moved into the \"performance\" itself. During the performance the actors put on an improvised theater production directed by a senior member of the cast and assisted by one or two audience members. The \"Workshop\" began from there; during the workshop, the audience took over the scene, while still directed by the actors, and was encouraged to make it their own. Audiences gave their opinions and thoughts on each performance in the form of production reports that were collected by the Living Stage. \u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eThe projects that the Living Stage put on typically dealt with controversial and sensitive topics like race, economic inequality, the dangers of an overzealous American foreign policy, the atom bomb, violence, and freedom. The \"Baltimore Incident\" of 1971 is an excellent example of how controversial these productions could be. No matter how mixed opinions were, the Living Stage always elicited a reaction with their improvisational performances. During the 1980s the Living Stage began to reach out extensively to local initiatives like The District's Alcohol and Drug Abuse Services Administration and created their own Community Services Project in order to continue to bring theater and creativity to underserved sections of society. The Living Stage championed New Left ideals like equality and social justice throughout the Reagan years, despite some criticisms about their message being \"anachronistic.\"\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eThe organization began to sunset in the first half of the 1990s as many of its founding and senior members took their skills elsewhere. Robert Alexander himself left in 1995 to start educating people in the art of improvisational theater full time. Jennifer Nelson, David Matthew Proctor, Ezra Knight, and others began to filter away in the 1990s to pursue their own acting goals and the Living Stage would officially close its doors in 2002.\u003c/p\u003e"],"bioghist_heading_ssm":["Historical Information"],"bioghist_tesim":["The Living Stage Theatre Company began in 1966 as a venture of Arena Stage and Robert Alexander. Known from 1966-1968 as The Children's Theatre, the Living Stage from the beginning dedicated itself to programming with a social consciousness and a desire to effect societal change through performance. Robert Alexander was the theatre's founder and until 1995 its director. Alexander brought an adapted street and guerilla theater style to the D.C. area after becoming disenchanted with traditional theatre's \"middle-class\" audience. The Living Stage provided training to actors in the art of improvisational theater through tuition free schooling during the summers, as well as through weekend long workshop training for social workers, teachers, and other professionals throughout their 9 month season. While most of the Stage's workshops were held on site at schools, museums, and prisons, the Living Stage did have its own formal space in Washington, D.C. on 14th and T Streets NW. The Living Stage put on productions across Northern Virginia in schools, youth homes, and even prisons like the Lorton Penitentiary. Senior members of the company, like Jennifer Nelson and Oran Sandel helped to send the Living Stage across the country as well. Their efforts were largely funded through vigorous campaigning for grants and fund raising through the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) and other private foundations. The Living Stage also received substantial financial assistance from its parent company, the Washington Drama Society, Inc. ","The Living Stage performance style consisted of \"The Jam,\" \"The Performance,\" and \"The Workshop,\" a three part study that was used at most of their venues. The first part, or \"Jam,\" consisted of actors working with their audience to \"rap,\" make music, and \"jam\" through spoken or sung words accompanied by instrumentals typically provided by audience members. The actors then moved into the \"performance\" itself. During the performance the actors put on an improvised theater production directed by a senior member of the cast and assisted by one or two audience members. The \"Workshop\" began from there; during the workshop, the audience took over the scene, while still directed by the actors, and was encouraged to make it their own. Audiences gave their opinions and thoughts on each performance in the form of production reports that were collected by the Living Stage. ","The projects that the Living Stage put on typically dealt with controversial and sensitive topics like race, economic inequality, the dangers of an overzealous American foreign policy, the atom bomb, violence, and freedom. The \"Baltimore Incident\" of 1971 is an excellent example of how controversial these productions could be. No matter how mixed opinions were, the Living Stage always elicited a reaction with their improvisational performances. During the 1980s the Living Stage began to reach out extensively to local initiatives like The District's Alcohol and Drug Abuse Services Administration and created their own Community Services Project in order to continue to bring theater and creativity to underserved sections of society. The Living Stage championed New Left ideals like equality and social justice throughout the Reagan years, despite some criticisms about their message being \"anachronistic.\"","The organization began to sunset in the first half of the 1990s as many of its founding and senior members took their skills elsewhere. Robert Alexander himself left in 1995 to start educating people in the art of improvisational theater full time. Jennifer Nelson, David Matthew Proctor, Ezra Knight, and others began to filter away in the 1990s to pursue their own acting goals and the Living Stage would officially close its doors in 2002."],"phystech_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eThe Special Collections Research Center does not have the equipment necessary to watch or listen to all audiovisual material in Series 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 watch or listen to all audiovisual material in Series 3. Additional time and money may be required to digitize this material for access."],"prefercite_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eLiving Stage records, C0277, Special Collections Reserch Center, George Mason University Libraries.\u003c/p\u003e"],"prefercite_tesim":["Living Stage records, C0277, Special Collections Reserch Center, George Mason University Libraries."],"processinfo_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eProcessing completed by Nick Welsh and Elizabeth Beckman in 2016. EAD markup completed by Nick Welsh in June 2016. Finding aid updated by Amanda Menjivar in March 2025.\u003c/p\u003e"],"processinfo_heading_ssm":["Processing Information"],"processinfo_tesim":["Processing completed by Nick Welsh and Elizabeth Beckman in 2016. EAD markup completed by Nick Welsh in June 2016. Finding aid updated by Amanda Menjivar in March 2025."],"relatedmaterial_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eThe Special Collections Research Center holds several collections of personal papers of individuals involved with the Living Stage Theater Company, including the Zelda Fichandler papers, the Thomas C. Fichandler papers, and the Ken Kitch papers. It also holds the Arena Stage records.\u003c/p\u003e"],"relatedmaterial_heading_ssm":["Related Material"],"relatedmaterial_tesim":["The Special Collections Research Center holds several collections of personal papers of individuals involved with the Living Stage Theater Company, including the Zelda Fichandler papers, the Thomas C. Fichandler papers, and the Ken Kitch papers. It also holds the Arena Stage records."],"scopecontent_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eThe Living Stage records consists of material spanning the length of the organization's history from 1965, when the Living Stage was known as the Children's Theatre, to 2001. Included in the records are administrative files, financial papers, grant requests and applications, correspondence, workshop reports and scripts, as well as audiovisual and photographic materials.\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eSeries 1: Administrative and Financial Files (1965-2000) includes documents relating to the day to day running of the Living Stage Theatre Company as well as programming, project planning, financials, budgets, grants, press releases and printed documents. It is divided further into 4 subseries. Subseries 1.1 Policies, Planning, and Development includes the administrative files of the Living Stage including season summaries by date, long range plans, meeting minutes, and Community Service Project information. Subseries 1.2 Grants and Foundations contains all materials related to grant requests, endowments (including the National Endowment for the Arts), and donations made by both large charitable organizations and private donors. Subseries 1.3 Financials and Correspondence includes budget materials, expense reports, and benefit information, as well as correspondence between members of the LSTC, memos, and fan mail (called \"love letters\") from schools and other workshop sites. Subseries 1.4 Public Relations and Printed Pieces consist of various publications made by the Living Stage such as their newsletters and advertisements, as well as transcripts of speeches made by LSTC executives and press releases promoting the Living Stage.\u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eSeries 2: Artistic and Workshop Files (1966-2001), which is split into 3 subseries, contains the creative aspects of the Living Stage, including details about residencies and the personnel of the Company, as well as workshop reports, scripts, and \"Jams.\" Subseries 2.1 Residency and Personnel Files contains all documents related to the people of the Living Stage, including casting information and details about out of state residencies (including those in Stockholm, Boston, Pittsburgh, New York and others). Subseries 2.2 Production Reports and Workshops encompasses the output of the Living Stage Theatre Company in the form of workshops, which are series of performances put on at schools, museums, and communities, and the production reports which sought to analyze audience reception of and reaction to these performances. Look to the \"Baltimore Incident\" for an excellent example of how contentious and revolutionary the Living Stage's performances were. Subseries 2.3 Production Files and Scripts, while small, contains items related to the Living Stage's \"Jams\" including scripts, research, and other assorted play files. \u003c/p\u003e\n","\u003cp\u003eSeries 3: Audiovisual and Photographic Materials (1967-1999) includes all photos, negatives, and film of the Living Stage or their productions. It is divided into three subseries. Subseries 3.1 Photographic Materials includes various photos and negatives showing the cast of the Living Stage at various times, as well as production stills. Unfortunately, the majority of these are undated or have little in the way of description. Subseries 3.2 Audio and film reels includes tapings of various workshops and productions mostly from the 1970s and 1980s. Subseries 3.3 Audio and video tapes contains cassette, VHS, Betamax, and U-matic tapes either used by the Living Stage for performances or made by/about the Living Stage.\u003c/p\u003e"],"scopecontent_heading_ssm":["Scope and Content"],"scopecontent_tesim":["The Living Stage records consists of material spanning the length of the organization's history from 1965, when the Living Stage was known as the Children's Theatre, to 2001. Included in the records are administrative files, financial papers, grant requests and applications, correspondence, workshop reports and scripts, as well as audiovisual and photographic materials.","Series 1: Administrative and Financial Files (1965-2000) includes documents relating to the day to day running of the Living Stage Theatre Company as well as programming, project planning, financials, budgets, grants, press releases and printed documents. It is divided further into 4 subseries. Subseries 1.1 Policies, Planning, and Development includes the administrative files of the Living Stage including season summaries by date, long range plans, meeting minutes, and Community Service Project information. Subseries 1.2 Grants and Foundations contains all materials related to grant requests, endowments (including the National Endowment for the Arts), and donations made by both large charitable organizations and private donors. Subseries 1.3 Financials and Correspondence includes budget materials, expense reports, and benefit information, as well as correspondence between members of the LSTC, memos, and fan mail (called \"love letters\") from schools and other workshop sites. Subseries 1.4 Public Relations and Printed Pieces consist of various publications made by the Living Stage such as their newsletters and advertisements, as well as transcripts of speeches made by LSTC executives and press releases promoting the Living Stage.","Series 2: Artistic and Workshop Files (1966-2001), which is split into 3 subseries, contains the creative aspects of the Living Stage, including details about residencies and the personnel of the Company, as well as workshop reports, scripts, and \"Jams.\" Subseries 2.1 Residency and Personnel Files contains all documents related to the people of the Living Stage, including casting information and details about out of state residencies (including those in Stockholm, Boston, Pittsburgh, New York and others). Subseries 2.2 Production Reports and Workshops encompasses the output of the Living Stage Theatre Company in the form of workshops, which are series of performances put on at schools, museums, and communities, and the production reports which sought to analyze audience reception of and reaction to these performances. Look to the \"Baltimore Incident\" for an excellent example of how contentious and revolutionary the Living Stage's performances were. Subseries 2.3 Production Files and Scripts, while small, contains items related to the Living Stage's \"Jams\" including scripts, research, and other assorted play files. ","Series 3: Audiovisual and Photographic Materials (1967-1999) includes all photos, negatives, and film of the Living Stage or their productions. It is divided into three subseries. Subseries 3.1 Photographic Materials includes various photos and negatives showing the cast of the Living Stage at various times, as well as production stills. Unfortunately, the majority of these are undated or have little in the way of description. Subseries 3.2 Audio and film reels includes tapings of various workshops and productions mostly from the 1970s and 1980s. Subseries 3.3 Audio and video tapes contains cassette, VHS, Betamax, and U-matic tapes either used by the Living Stage for performances or made by/about the Living Stage."],"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 Living Stage records documents the Living Stage Theatre Company, founded by Robert Alexander as an offshoot of Arena Stage in Washington, D.C. The records were created from 1965-2001.\u003c/abstract\u003e"],"abstract_tesim":["The Living Stage records documents the Living Stage Theatre Company, founded by Robert Alexander as an offshoot of Arena Stage in Washington, D.C. The records were created from 1965-2001."],"physloc_html_tesm":["\u003cphysloc id=\"aspace_e176c0c8972614dd614b2ea45cfacaaf\"\u003eR 52, C 6, S 3 - R 53, C 2, S 6\n\nMap Case 8.2\u003c/physloc\u003e"],"physloc_tesim":["R 52, C 6, S 3 - R 53, C 2, S 6\n\nMap Case 8.2"],"names_ssim":["George Mason University. Libraries. Special Collections Research Center"],"corpname_ssim":["George Mason University. Libraries. Special Collections Research Center"],"language_ssim":["English"],"descrules_ssm":["Describing Archives: A Content Standard"],"total_component_count_is":1502,"online_item_count_is":0,"component_level_isim":[0],"sort_isi":0,"timestamp":"2026-05-01T00:33:57.755Z"}]}},"label":"Breadcrumbs"}}},"links":{"self":"https://search.arvasarchive.org/catalog/vifgm_repositories_2_resources_602_c03_c01"}}],"included":[{"type":"facet","id":"repository_ssim","attributes":{"label":"Repository","items":[{"attributes":{"label":"George Mason University","value":"George Mason University","hits":494},"links":{"remove":"https://search.arvasarchive.org/catalog.json?f%5Blevel%5D%5B%5D=Subseries\u0026f%5Brepository%5D%5B%5D=George+Mason+University\u0026view=list"}}]},"links":{"self":"https://search.arvasarchive.org/catalog/facet/repository_ssim.json?f%5Blevel%5D%5B%5D=Subseries\u0026f%5Brepository%5D%5B%5D=George+Mason+University\u0026view=list"}},{"type":"facet","id":"collection_ssim","attributes":{"label":"Collection","items":[{"attributes":{"label":"Alexander Haight family collection","value":"Alexander Haight family collection","hits":2},"links":{"self":"https://search.arvasarchive.org/catalog.json?f%5Bcollection%5D%5B%5D=Alexander+Haight+family+collection\u0026f%5Blevel%5D%5B%5D=Subseries\u0026f%5Brepository%5D%5B%5D=George+Mason+University\u0026view=list"}},{"attributes":{"label":"Arena Stage records","value":"Arena Stage records","hits":44},"links":{"self":"https://search.arvasarchive.org/catalog.json?f%5Bcollection%5D%5B%5D=Arena+Stage+records\u0026f%5Blevel%5D%5B%5D=Subseries\u0026f%5Brepository%5D%5B%5D=George+Mason+University\u0026view=list"}},{"attributes":{"label":"Art Attack records","value":"Art Attack records","hits":2},"links":{"self":"https://search.arvasarchive.org/catalog.json?f%5Bcollection%5D%5B%5D=Art+Attack+records\u0026f%5Blevel%5D%5B%5D=Subseries\u0026f%5Brepository%5D%5B%5D=George+Mason+University\u0026view=list"}},{"attributes":{"label":"Arthur E. 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