Alfred E. Smith – the people’s politician?
This week, we have a guest post from one of the interns who worked with us over the summer, Karis Raeburn, who has since returned to Dayton, Ohio, where she … Continue reading
Golden Boy at the Tonys
This Sunday, an estimated six million theater lovers will gather around their television sets for the live broadcast of the 67th Antoinette Perry (Tony) Awards, the annual event honoring Broadway … Continue reading
100 years of the Actors’ Equity Association
Look at the cast list in any theater program across the country and you will see a small * beside a performer’s name leading to a footnote indicating the performer … Continue reading
What the Academy Took from Broadway
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences was born 86 years ago this June. Its conception was announced at a banquet dinner, and all 36 attendees were named founding … Continue reading
Theater timecapsule – Greatest hits of 1912-1913 season
Talking about a Broadway blockbuster today requires a discourse on the song and dance numbers involved. The musical reigns supreme at the Broadway box office, but this wasn’t always the … Continue reading
Eugene O’Neill: the sailor, the sickness, the stage
In December 1912, a young man experiencing the onset of tuberculosis committed himself to Gaylord Sanatorium in Connecticut. The third son of a well known Irish-American actor, the young man … Continue reading
Forbidden Broadway circa 1900: a look back at lampooning.
Forbidden Broadway is back again this Fall with a new “Alive and Kicking” addition gleefully lampooning the current offerings of the Great White Way. A revue show first conceived in … Continue reading
Lincoln’s last play; or, the continuing fascination with “Our American Cousin”
A distant cousin stands to inherit a large British estate on the brink of financial ruin. Sound familiar? The main storyline from the phenomenally popular British series “Downton Abbey” shares … Continue reading
Treasures and “Shandas” from the Collection on Yiddish theater
In the early decades of the twentieth century, the streets of the Lower East Side were plastered with theatrical advertisements for Der yidisher kenig lir and Mentsh un Tayvl. Second … Continue reading
Opening Night! Top Banana
The digital team has begun digitizing thousands of images from the rarely-seen archives of the Lucas-Pritchard / Lucas-Monroe Studios, preeminent Broadway production photographers in New York City from about 1936 … Continue reading
Belasco’s Ghost
New York is haunted by nature of its constant transformation. Neighborhoods change, leaving only small or hidden remnants of what they were; once thriving communities are slowly eclipsed by others. … Continue reading