Theatre

Documentation for approximately three hundred shows, from 1898 to 1981, is provided in Part I. The title of each show is followed by its theatre, opening date, number of performances, complete list of creative personnel, cast credits, and, where appropriate, a list of the show's songs. Each entry also contains a plot summary, a survey of critical comment, and, where significant, an analysis of the show's historical context. Part II includes biographical entries for major performers, writers, and directors, and notes on those organizations which encouraged the growth and development of black theatre in New York City. The Dictionary concludes with a chronology of all shows included in the text, a discography of black shows, and a selected bibliography of studies related to black theatre history and criticism.

Covers the history of theater as well as the literature of America from 1538 to 1880 with over 1000 cross-referenced entries on actors and actresses, directors, playwrights, producers, genres, notable plays and theatres. The years covered by this volume features the rise of the popular stage during the colonial era and the first century of the United States of America, with an emphasis on its practitioners. Offers a chronology, an introductory essay, and an extensive bibliography.

This book covers the history of theater as well as the literature of America from 1880-1930 with over 2,000 cross-referenced entries on actors and actresses, directors, playwrights, producers, genres, notable plays and theatres. The years covered by this volume features the rise of the popular stage in America from the years following the end of the Civil War to the Golden Age of Broadway, with an emphasis on its practitioners. Entries abound on plays of all kinds, from melodrama to the newly-embraced realistic style, ethnic works (Irish, Yiddish, etc.), and such diverse forms as vaudeville, circus, minstrel shows, temperance plays, etc. Offers a chronology, an introductory essay, and an extensive bibliography.

Provides entries on playwrights, plays, actors, directors, producers, songwriters, famous playhouses, dramatic movements, and more. Also covers foreign figures that have influenced American dramatic development and other developments and issues in American theatre.

A dictionary of more than two thousand brief entries about musicals, performers, composers, lyricists, producers, choreographers, and more. Many musicals written specifically for television are included, and many entries follow a work as it moves across genres, from stage, to film, to television.The Companion also includes cross references, a comprehensive listing of recommended recordings, and a useful chronological listing of all the musicals described in the book.

Provides information on 1000 of the most important plays of world theatre. Each entry contains information including title, author, dates of composition and first performance, genre, composition of the cast, a synopsis of the plot, and a brief commentary.

African American theater buildings were theaters owned or managed by blacks or whites for an African American audience. Such theaters were nickelodeons, vaudeville houses, musical houses and neighborhood movie theaters. Although nearly 2000 African American theater buildings existed in the 20th century, very little has been written about them. The 1,850 theater buildings owned or managed from 1900 to 1960, are arranged by state, then by city, and then alphabetically under the name by which they were known to African American audiences. The street address, dates of operation, number of seats, architect, whether it was a member of TOBA (Theater Owners Booking Association), type of theater (nickelodeon, vaudeville, musical, drama or picture), alternate name(s), race and name of manager or owner, whether the audience was mixed, and the fate of the theater are the details given for each. Commentary by theater historians is also provided.

Published in 1997, this comprehensive directory of more than 600 entries features professional, semi-professional, and academic stage organizations and theatres. Included are the earliest organizations that existed before the Civil War, Black minstrel troupes, pioneer musical show companies, selected vaudeville and road show troupes, professional theatrical associations, booking agencies, stock companies, significant amateur and little theatre groups, Black units of the WPA Federal Theatre, and semi-professional groups in Harlem after the Federal Theatre. The A-Z entries are supplemented with a classified appendix that also includes additional organizations not listed in the main directory, a bibliography, and three indexes for shows, showpeople, and general subjects.

Provides group biographies of most resident acting companies in the U.S. Thirty-three scholars authored eighty-one entries of information from hundreds of published and unpublished sources for dates and locations of the company's operations, names of managers with information about their artistic and business practices, as well as facts about key performers, designers, technicians, and other support personnel. Companies are arranged alphabetically. Each entry concludes with a bibliography along with a chronology of theatre companies, list of companies by state and index of personal names and play titles.

Provides group biographies of most resident acting companies in the U.S. Thirty-three scholars authored eighty-one entries of information from hundreds of published and unpublished sources for dates and locations of the company's operations, names of managers with information about their artistic and business practices, as well as facts about key performers, designers, technicians, and other support personnel. Companies are arranged alphabetically. Each entry concludes with a bibliography along with a chronology of theatre companies, list of companies by state and index of personal names and play titles.

Provides group biographies of most resident acting companies in the U.S. The work consists of seventy-eight entries that profile a wide range of types of theatre companies including art theatres, units of the Federal Theatre project, workers' theatre, experimental theatre groups, ethnic theatre groups, children's theatre companies, and regional repertory companies, large and small. The Profiles section contains information-packed narratives from both published and unpublished sources that describe, analyze, and evaluate management policies, facilities, personnel, and repertories of these organizations. Each entry contains an extensive list of key personnel, including managers, designers, actors, and actresses, as well as plays that company produced. Companies are arranged alphabetically. Each entry concludes with a bibliography along with a chronology of theatre companies, list of companies by state and index of personal names and play titles.

Provides detailed histories of many of the largest and most influential companies worldwide. Intended for reference use by students, business persons, librarians, historians, economists, investors, job candidates, and others who want to learn more about the historical development of the world's most important companies

Considered the most comprehensive study of its time. Covering all the professions involved in staging a play, including theatre scholars. The 110 authors cover 55 countries and over 300 theatre companies, from the well known to more obscure. More than just a directory, it offers essays about companies. See the multi volume set, "American Theatre Companies" for a fuller treatment of U.S. companies.

Offers thorough critical assessments of more than 60 African American dramatists from the 19th century to 2004. Alphabetically arranged entries are written by an expert contributor and provides a biography, a discussion of major works and themes, a survey of the dramatist's critical reception, and primary and secondary bibliographies. Also provides a select, general bibliography.

Offers entries about 52 Asian American dramatists of origins from India, Pakistan, Vietnam, the Philippines, Japan, Korea, and China. Each entry includes relevant biographical information that contextualizes the works of a playwright, an interpretive description of selected plays that spotlights recurring themes and plots, a summary of the playwright's critical reception, and a bibliography of primary and secondary works. The entries are written by expert contributors and reflect the ethnic diversity of the Asian American community. Also provides a selected, general bibliography of anthologies, scholarly studies, and periodicals.

Fifty Key Theatre Designers looks at the history of theatrical scenography by examining the work and contributions of fifty ground-breaking set, costume, lighting, and projection designers since the Renaissance. Each chapter features one designer, including basic biographical information and a discussion of that artist's style, aesthetics, and contributions. Each chapter also includes references to other significant designers with similar aesthetics or who made similarly important contributions to the development of that aspect of scenography.

Covers French theater history through a chronology, introduction, bibliography, and over 400 cross-referenced entries on authors, trends, genres, concepts, and literary and historical developments that played a central role in the evolution of French theater.

Covers German theater history through a chronology, an introductory essay, appendixes, and an extensive bibliography. The dictionary section has over 400 cross-referenced entries on directors, designers, producers, and movements, theater production, independent and non-subsidized groups, the role of increasingly massive government subsidies, and cities whose reputations as centers of innovation and excellence that have made the German-language theater one of the most vibrant in the world.

A biographical encyclopaedia of the American theatre.

Published in 1990, this two volume set provides basic biographical facts, citations of obituaries and death notices in selected Anglo-American newspapers, and references to book-length biographies and autobiographies in English of theatrical artists who died between 1850 and 1990. Through thousands of entries and cross references, Stage Deaths details the lives and careers of actors, directors, musical directors, designers, producers, playwrights, composers, screenwriters, scenarists, theatre and company managers, and agents connected with stage, screen, radio, television, vaudeville, circus, menagerie, and carnival. A companion to Stage Lives: A Bibliography and Index to Theatrical Biographies in English.

A comprehensive listing of about 4,000 theater artists by name and 2,500 biographies in English. It is intended as a supplement to other, similar research tools that lack references to book-length biographies and autobiographies. In addition to itemizing collective and individual biographies and autobiographies, Bryan's book contains an index, complete with directions for its proper use, that provides stage, actual, and married names; birth and death dates, nationalities, and areas of specialization.

Available in print or as an eBook. Provides biographies of more than one hundred influential actors, playwrights, composers, directors, designers, dancers, producers, managers, critics, choreographers, and technicians whose careers flourished in the years before the 1969 Stonewall Riots marked the beginning of the gay and lesbian civil rights movement in the U.S.

Provides a selection of reviews of places staged from 1752 through 1934, along with biographical sketches of cast members and critics.

Published in 1979, offers interpretations and criticisms of plays by American dramatists published from 1890 to 1977, indexed by author, with indices of critics and playwrights and lists of books and periodicals drawn upon.