Performing Arts Collections in Special Collections and Archives: Archives Highlights

Selected Archival Collections 

(Click on the links below to view detailed finding aids for the archival collections listed.)

Kent State University Organizations

Edward W. and Shirley Crosby papers
Includes a series of records on KSU African Community Theater series.

Hugh A. Glauser School of Music performance programs

Kent/Blossom Arts Programs records

Kent State University Theatre records

Porthouse Theater records

Theater

Joseph Chaikin papers: Open Theater founder, actor, and director

Crime Drama collection: a collection of fact-based and crime themed dramatic works

Vincent Dowling papers: actor, director, and artistic director associated with the Abbey Theatre and Great Lakes Theater

Great Lakes Theater papers: Cleveland-based regional theater company

Robert Lewis papers: Group Theatre actor, Broadway and feature film director, Actors Studio co-founder

Arthur Lithgow papers: actor, director, founder of the Great Lakes Shakespeare Festival (now Great Lakes Theater)

Open Theater papers: avant garde theater ensemble founded in 1963

George Bernard Shaw papers: playwright, novelist, and social reformer

Stage Thrillers collection: mystery thrillers for the stage, dating from 1898-2001

J. L. Styan papers: teacher, director, author, and theater historian

Jean-Claude van Itallie papers: playwright, associated with Open Theater and off-Broadway productions

Susan Yankowitz papers: playwright, screenwriter, associated with Open Theater

Hollywood, Film, and Musicals

James Broughton papers: poet, playwright, educator, and award-winning experimental filmmaker

Albert J. Flogge Performing Arts collection: vast collection of Hollywood memorabilia, photographs, posters, and other related materials

Dennis Hearn papers: film actor and KSU graduate

James Robert Parish papers: Hollywood historian and author of numerous celebrity biographies

Sheet Music

Borowitz Sheet Music collection: over 7,00 pieces of sheet music dating from the late 1900s through the 20th century

Donald MacLaren Simmons Sheet Music collection: popular music from the 1930s and 1940s

Dennis Hearn Sheet Music collection: 200 pieces of sheet music dating from the late 1900s through the mid-20th century