Subject Guide: Performing Arts

Adler Family Papers, P-890

The collection consists of manuscripts and printed versions of plays, lectures, reviews, poems, songs, press notices, flyers, correspondence, memorabilia, Russian theater books, drawings, programs, and posters. There are photos and drawings of Lazar Freed and of the Adler family in performances and publicity stills. There are manuscript pages of an English translation of Celia Adler’s autobiography, which was never published.

Federal Theatre, Radio Division (New York, N.Y.) records, I-478

Collection consists of press releases and program schedules relating to Federal Theatre's first Yiddish series entitled "Clinton Street" and a presentation of Dr. Joseph Goldberger's discovery of a cure for Pellagra. The Radio Division was a project of the WPA.

Friends of Ida Kaminska Theatre Foundation, Inc. Records,  I-122

The Foundation was formed in 1969 to establish, fund, and promote the Ida Kaminska Theatre in New York. The foundation put together one theatrical production, as financial difficulties forced it to stop activities in 1973. The collection includes correspondence, clippings, donor records, advertising and promotional brochures, mailing lists, board of director meeting minutes and attendance, as well as tax and financial documents. The collection contains mostly photocopied materials.

Jacob Fishman theater collection, P-37

This collection contains the prompt-books for numerous plays, both those originally written in Yiddish as well as Yiddish translations of well-known authors. There is also an original play by Boaz Young and notes for a study on female Jewish writers.

The Molly Picon Papers, P-38

The collection consist of materials relating to Picon's career as a performer, especially in the Yiddish theater. Material includes plays, scripts, music, programs, and other theater items. The collection also includes personal material, such as correspondence, photographs, and scrapbooks. Much of the collection is in Yiddish. When possible, Yiddish transliterations were made directly from the Yiddish titles as written on the material itself and were made according to a consistent method, even when other transliterations were provided.

Theater and Film Poster Collection of Abram Kanof, P-978 [Digitized and available online]

The collection consists of 331 posters representing 205 different theater and film productions. The earliest was produced in 1899 and the latest in 1970. The production with the most posters is The Green Millionaire, presented in 1915 in New York City. These posters are an important resource of information regarding the state of Yiddish theater and the cultural life of Jewish immigrants in the early 1900s, especially on the Lower East Side.

Artef Theater, RG 531 [Digitized and available online]

Acronym for Arbeter Teater Farband (Workers Theater Association). ARTEF was organized ca. 1929 by the Young Workers' League and influenced by communist groups. Its repertoire included plays of strong ideological content. At its founding Kalman Marmor was president, Y. Adler, G. Sander and David Abrams were secretaries and Jacob Mestel was the director. The ARTEF was dissolved in 1940. The collection includes: playscripts, musical scores, programs, posters, photographs of actors and stage scenes, clippings, and miscellaneous materials.

Papers of Abraham Goldfaden, RG 219

Most of the collection consists of original papers of Abraham Goldfaden relating to his career in the Yiddish theater, including manuscripts of plays, poems, articles, correspondence with members of the Yiddish theater, newspaper clippings, playbills, and front pages of published plays. The materials were gathered by the historian Jacob Shatzky in connection with his work on the history of Yiddish theater. 

Papers of David Licht, RG 797

Licht was an actor, director, playwright, writer. He was a member of the Vilna Troupe and Director, Folksbiene Theater in New York. The papers consist of manuscripts, typescripts, photographs, clippings, correspondence, programs, posters, personal documents and sheet music relating to David Licht's theatrical career.

Esther-Rachel Kaminska Theater Museum Collection, RG 8 [Digitized and available online]

The collection comprises materials that were once part of the Esther Rachel Kaminska Theater Museum at the YIVO Institute in Vilna. It contains play manuscripts, programs, playbills, posters, photographs, correspondence, agreements, scrapbooks, clippings, printed ephemera, and memorabilia relating to Yiddish theater, primarily in the early twentieth century, especially the interwar period.

Records of the Hebrew Actors' Union, RG 1843

This collection consists of the administrative records of the Hebrew Actors’ Union and relates to the professional lives of celebrated actors, producers, directors, and playwrights, as well as materials concerning several Yiddish theaters in New York and in other cities. The materials include hundreds of music scores, dozens of play scripts and thousands of pieces of correspondence with numerous individuals, theaters, unions, and other organizations.

The Folksbeine Theatre Collection, RG 512

A Yiddish theater group in NYC established in 1915 by the Workmen's Circle. This collection includes manuscripts of plays, photographs of Folksbiene productions, and scrapbooks of ads, reviews and articles about the Folksbiene.13 tapes of performances in the 1950s-1960s.

The Yiddish Plays Collection, RG 114

This collection consists of manuscripts and copies of manuscripts of Yiddish plays and translations or adaptations from plays in other languages.

The Yiddish Theater Collection, RG 118

A collection of dramas, radio programs, film and stage actor biographies, theatrical posters, programs, invitations, tickets, correspondence, circulars, playscripts, clippings, photographs and contracts relating to the Yiddish theater throughout the world. Including large files on David Kessler, Boris Thomashefsky and Jacob P. Adler.

Berlin to Broadway Collection, AR 25584 [Digitized and available online]

This collection contains scripts, clippings, musical scores, playbills, correspondence, reviews, advertisements, photos, and other documents related to the production of “Berlin to Broadway with Kurt Weill: A Musical Voyage.” It was written and produced by Hank Kaufman and Gene Lerner who created the show to honor the life of Kurt Weill through his music.

Jewish Theater Collection, AR 2371 [Digitized and available online]

This collection contains posters, programs, and newspaper reviews for performances of Jewish theater in cities in Germany, Austria, and Lithuania, including theater produced by and about displaced persons in post-World War II Germany.

The Kurt Hirschfeld Collection, AR 7066 [Digitized and available online]

This collection, dating 1910-1966, contains manuscripts, lectures, clippings, photos, notebooks by Kurt Hirschfeld (a theatrical director and dramaturge) and others concerning the theater, plays, director's scripts, photos, and set designs. The collection includes correspondence of Hirschfeld with various individuals and institutions.