Posts by Doug Reside

The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts holds the papers of George Furth including his early drafts of the musical 'Company' which came in useful in the new revival on Broadway.

The musical is documented in several collections of the Library for the Performing Arts, including iterations of some of the promotional materials which are interesting both for what they reveal about the design process and as representations of what the team viewed as important themes in the show.

The current production of Caroline, or Change closed on January 9, but the Theatre on Film and Tape Archive documented the production and it is now cataloged and available for viewing at the Library.

Interest in Sherlock Holmes is as high as ever, with movies, television adaptations, and pastiche novels proliferating each year including the new off-Broadway show 'A Sherlock Carol'. The Theatre Division at New York Public Library has documented many adaptations of the works of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle starring his famous detective—here are some of the highlights of Holmes on stage as represented in our collections. 

The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts is honoring the legacy of late American composer Stephen Sondheim with a moving display of letters and other objects from the archives of the colleagues and friends of the legendary artist. 

Curator Doug Resides shares some of his favorite items in the Library's holdings related to Stephen Sondheim and his body of work.

Lin-Manuel Miranda’s film adaptation of Jonathan Larson’s musical 'Tick, Tick...Boom!' premiered this month on Netflix and in select theatres. At the Library for the Performing Arts, we have fascinating documentation of various theatre productions of the show over the past 28 years.

Over the past half-century The New York Public Library has preserved the history of the production, and we are thrilled it is at last on a Broadway stage.

As part of our preparation for the Harold Prince exhibition that opened last September, The New York Public Library digitized a large number of photographic negatives of production shots from several of Prince’s musicals. As a result it is possible to virtually reconstruct the staging of these original productions by arranging the hundreds of digitized photographs in the order of the show.

Today, we present eight performances from our Across a Crowded Room initiative for the world to see. It was a difficult year in many respects, but the quality of the work created this year is among the best I have seen in the seven years of the program. Enjoy the 2020 Across A Crowded Room Playlist!

This list was part of the free brochure available at the gallery, but now, as the exhibition is closed and coming down, we wanted to ensure the list was still available for those who want to read more about this icon of theatre history.

These production photos (many put together as gifs) have been arranged in the order of the show and may be the closest you'll get to viewing the original production.

From access to recorded performances, digitized photo collections, blog series and librarian appointments, we have a variety of resources for educators and students to use even when we're closed.

The Billy Rose Theatre Division is celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Theatre on Film and Tape Archive this year.

White Studio was the preeminent industry photographer of commercial theatre in the first two decades of the 20th century. NYPL has over 2,000 of its images in our collection available online.

The show not only reflected the theatrical styles of the 1960s, but also demonstrated the curious place that the Broadway musical occupied in American life in the 1960s.

Emerging scholars engage with NYPL's online resources to examine little known works of R.H. Burnside.

Now available: the first edition of composer Clare Kummer's work to be made available by a small group of enthusiasts transcribing her scripts and tracking down her scores. Download the libretto and find out more about this exceptionally prolific musical mind.

Now's the time to prepare abstracts for an upcoming special session of the working group of the IFTR. Abstracts are due March 1, for the session starting May 1.