Profile for dreside

UPDATE: Due to rising numbers of infections in the area, we (the Theatre Division at New York Public Library) have to roll back our re-opening of the Theatre on Film and Tape Archive for now. You can still request free digital copies of paper materials at http://bit.ly/lpacopies. Hopefully we'll be able to offer access to the TOFT archive again very soon.

Email us at theatre@nypl.org, but on the electronic delivery form, the library card # is not a required field.

Anyone can use TOFT if you have a library card. And anyone can get a library card (although depending on where you live it might have different restrictions and expiration dates), but TOFT is not affected by the restrictions. You can get a library card by emailing us at theatre@nypl.org

UPDATE: Sadly, rising numbers of infection in NYC have forced us to roll back our opening for now. You can still request free digital copies of paper materials at http://bit.ly/lpacopies.The Theatre on Film and Tape Archive in the Theatre Division of NYPL is now making appointments to view material at the Library again. You can also request an appointment to view other material (special collections, books, etc.) as well, but the staff encourage you to make use of the electronic document deliv...

Not yet, but the signs point to very soon.

Public service announcement: The Library for the Performing Arts is currently providing "electronic delivery" on demand for most of the paper-based material in our collection. If you need to look at something in our collection, the staff here are able to take reference photographs for you...for free! We'll even try to help you hunt down material. Most of the theatre division staff are now on site at least one day a week and we're here to help! (FYI: We're not currently able to serve our video...

Musical of the Month at the New York Public Library is reborn! Here's a guest blog by Sarah Whitfield and a libretto transcribed by Sarah and Alexander Greenberg:https://www.nypl.org/blog/2019/06/18/clare-kummer-choir-rehearsalThanks to Georgia Stitt and Maestra Music for bringing Clare Kummer to our attention!

Hi All,I worked with colleagues from NYPL, Carnegie Hall, the Museum of the City of New York on this Google Culture exhibit which has just launched:https://www.google.com/culturalinstitute/beta/project/west-side-storyThere's about 1300 images of West Side Story from NYPL's collections in there (many of which have never been seen by anyone other than the photographers). I also conducted a couple of video interviews with original cast members, photographer Carol Rosegg (who worked with Martha S...

Several versions of the libretto of Tenderloin, along with a guest blog by Philip Lambert, can be found here: http://www.nypl.org/blog/2014/12/11/musical-month-tenderloin

You can now hear Jerry Bock's demos of Fiddler streaming from New York Public Library.

Four circa 1927 copies of Show Boat (some with annotations in Hammerstein's hand!) are now online along with a great guest blog by Todd Decker: http://www.nypl.org/blog/2014/07/08/musical-month-show-boat

For those in NYC, there are some great free events happening at my job (the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts at Lincoln Center) From Silver Screen to Great White Way: Adapting Films into Musicals Monday, March 24, 6 P.M. - Bruno Walter Auditorium (111 Amsterdam Ave) http://goo.gl/znxwkS In recent years Broadway has increasingly looked to Hollywood for musical theater source material, and this spring is no exception. Join Ken Cerniglia, Dramaturg for Disney Theatrical Group, Mar...

Hi All, I'm really excited to announce that Jerry Bock's demos for Fiorello! as well as a prompt book for the original production are now on the library website with the very generous permission of the rights holders. First blog + libretto: http://www.nypl.org/blog/2014/02/25/musical-month-fiorello Demos: http://www.nypl.org/blog/2014/02/27/jerry-bocks-fiorello-demos

I’m very excited to announce that, one enchanted evening (6:00-8:30 on October 5th to be precise), we will host the first Across A Crowded Room meet-up at the Library for the Performing Arts at Lincoln Center! For over two hours, our new Library café will become a crowded room where you may, in fact, meet a stranger (or strangers…) with whom you can beautiful musicals together. Participants will be placed into groups of composer, lyricists, book-writers, and singers, and given 60 minutes to a...

The 4th songwriting challenge is now up at NYPL's Across A Crowded Room. Zachary and Weiner (creators of "First Date" on Broadway) ask players to write a song for the following situation: "After Trevor and Sara meet in a bar and have an ensuing night of passion, the two uncomfortably sing a "morning after" duet, having just realized that they are… related."

New prompt at Across A Crowded Room: http://acrossacrowdedroom.nypl.org/2013/07/celebrity-challenge-3-submitted-by.html This time from Josh Schmidt of Adding Machine and Minister's Wife. Doug

The second songwriting challenge is up at acrossacrowdedroom.nypl.org. This week's comes from Nick Blaemire: Write the "I want" song for Kim Kardashian's dastardly world takeover musical.

I'm very pleased to announce "Across A Crowded Room." A game in which we at New York Public Library ask aspiring lyricists and composers to write songs in response to a challenge posed by a musical theater professional. The first challenge (by Jason Robert Brown) has just been posted. Come play!

This month is another revised libretto by Ben West of UnsungMusicals Co. This time it's the 1940s show, Barefoot Boy With Cheek (libretto and archival photos included)

Due to the holidays last week, March's musical of the month is a bit late, but the blog and libretto is linked below.