Research Catalog

Title

New York Shakespeare Festival music scores, 1965-1991.

Author

New York Shakespeare Festival Productions

Supplementary Content

Finding Aid

Items in the Library & Off-site

Details

Additional Authors

• Papp, Joseph
• Amram, David
• Barron, David
• Colón, Willie, 1950-
• Donizetti, Gaetano, 1797-1848.
• Elliott, William (William F.).
• Finn, William
• Hamlisch, Marvin
• Holmes, Rupert
• Jobriath
• Killian, Scott
• Legrand, Michel, 1932-2019.
• Link, Peter
• MacDermot, Galt
• Milton, James
• Peaslee, Richard
• Penn, William A.
• Puccini, Giacomo, 1858-1924.
• Rundgren, Todd
• Shawn, Allen
• Sherman, Kim D. (Kim Daryl), 1954-
• Shire, David
• Steinman, Jim
• Swados, Elizabeth
• Sullivan, Arthur, 1842-1900.
• Tunick, Jonathan
• Weill, Kurt, 1900-1950.
• Weinstock, Richard
• Delacorte Theater (New York, N.Y.)
• Public Theater (New York, N.Y.)
• Vivian Beaumont Theater (New York, N.Y.)

Description

284 linear feet (415 boxes)

Summary

The New York Shakespeare Festival music scores consist of music scores, scripts, notes, correspondence, and production material relating to productions staged by the New York Shakespeare Festival during Joseph Papp's tenure as administrative and artistic director (1965-1991).

Alternative Title

New York Shakespeare Festival scores.

Subject

• Papp, Joseph
• Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616 > Dramatic production
• Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616 > Musical settings
• New York Shakespeare Festival Productions
• Incidental music > Scores
• Music in the theater
• Musicals > Production and direction
• Musicals > Scores
• Musical theater > New York (State) > New York
• Musical theater > Production and direction
• Theater > New York (State) > New York
• Theater > Production and direction

Genre/Form

• Correspondence.
• Scores.
• Scripts.

Note

• The New York Shakespeare Festival Records are held by the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts and have been separated into four groups: paper records in the Billy Rose Theatre Collection, music in the Music Division, audio materials in the Rodgers and Hammerstein Archives of Recorded Sound and video materials in TOFT.

Location of Other Archival Materials (note)

• See also the New York Shakespeare Festival records (*T-Mss 1993-028) in the Billy Rose Theatre Collection, The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts for

Biography (note)

• Joseph Papp founded the New York Shakespeare Festival in 1954 in New York City.

Indexes/Finding Aids (note)

• Collection guide available in repository and on internet.

Call Number

JPB 04-03

OCLC

NYPG05-A10169

Author

New York Shakespeare Festival Productions.

Title

New York Shakespeare Festival music scores, 1965-1991.

Biography

Joseph Papp founded the New York Shakespeare Festival in 1954 in New York City. Papp's commitment to providing free productions of Shakespeare to New York City audiences led to the development of the New York Shakespeare Festival (NYSF) as a producing entity. With the establishment of the Public Theater as the administrative home of the Festival during the mid-1960s, Papp expanded his institutional mandate to include new American plays. Original music was a key feature of many Public Theater productions and scores were commissioned from an eclectic mix of composers, who straddled the worlds of serious and popular music, including David Amram and Elizabeth Swados, both of whom maintained long associations with the Public Theater during the Papp era. The NSYF also sponsored many productions that updated or put a contemporary spin on classic works, such as Galt MacDermot's musical versions of Shakespeare's Two Gentlemen of Verona (1971) and Saroyan's The Human Comedy (1983), and William Elliott's musical adaptation of Gilbert and Sullivan's The Pirates of Penzance (1980), transformation of Donizetti's opera, Don Pasquale, into Non Pasquale (1983), and modernization of Puccini's La Boheme (1984). The Public Theater also has placed a special emphasis on the development of original musical theater works, starting with Hair (1967). To serve this end, Papp also began a "musical laboratories" program in the late 1980s that offered workshops of new works, including a musical version of Joe Orton's Up Against It (1989), with a score by Todd Rundgren, and William Finn's Depression-era musical, Romance in Hard Times (1989). Perhaps the most influential musical to have been created at the Public, however, was A Chorus Line (1975), which, after opening at the company's downtown theater, later transferred to Broadway and went on to become the longest running Broadway musical at that time in 1983. The international success of A Chorus Line (which ran until 1990) helped to fund many other ambitious programs initiated by Papp, including having the NYSF join as a constituent of the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in 1973. Other musicals that made the move to Broadway include Swados' Runaways (1978) and Rupert Holmes' The Mystery of Edwin Drood (1985). By the late 1980s, Papp had become ill and began to play less of a role in the NYSF's ongoing operations, though he remained a strong advocate for the arts until his death in 1991.

Location of Other Archival Materials

See also the New York Shakespeare Festival records (*T-Mss 1993-028) in the Billy Rose Theatre Collection, The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts for other materials on Joseph Papp and the New York Shakespeare Festival.

Indexes

Collection guide available in repository and on internet.

Connect to:

Request Access to Music & Recorded Sound Division Special Collections material

Finding Aid

Occupation

Arrangers (Musicians).

Composers.

Added Author

Papp, Joseph.

Amram, David. Concerto for small piano.

Barron, David. Mondongo.

Colón, Willie, 1950- Mondongo.

Donizetti, Gaetano, 1797-1848. Don Pasquale.

Elliott, William (William F.). Mutter Courage und ihre Kinder. English.

Elliott, William (William F.). Non Pasquale.

Finn, William. Romance in hard times.

Finn, William. Winter's tale.

Hamlisch, Marvin. Chorus line.

Holmes, Rupert. Mystery of Edwin Drood.

Holmes, Rupert. Twelfth night.

Jobriath. Misanthrope.

Killian, Scott. Lenny and the Heartbreakers.

Legrand, Michel, 1932-2019. Parapluies de Cherbourg. English.

Link, Peter. Comedy of errors.

MacDermot, Galt. Human comedy.

MacDermot, Galt. Two gentlemen of Verona.

Milton, James. Tempest.

Peaslee, Richard. King Henry IV. Part 1.

Peaslee, Richard. King Henry IV. Part 2.

Penn, William A. Midsummer night's dream.

Penn, William A. Pericles.

Puccini, Giacomo, 1858-1924. Bohème. English.

Rundgren, Todd. Up against it.

Shawn, Allen. Midsummer night's dream.

Sherman, Kim D. (Kim Daryl), 1954- Lenny and the Heartbreakers.

Shire, David. As you like it.

Steinman, Jim. More than you deserve.

Swados, Elizabeth. Runaways.

Sullivan, Arthur, 1842-1900. Pirates of Penzance.

Tunick, Jonathan. Timon of Athens.

Weill, Kurt, 1900-1950. Dreigroschenoper. English.

Weinstock, Richard. Composer Taming of the shrew.

Delacorte Theater (New York, N.Y.)

Public Theater (New York, N.Y.)

Vivian Beaumont Theater (New York, N.Y.)

New York Shakespeare Festival.

Research Call Number

JPB 04-03