Gabriel Miller Collection of Arthur Laurents, 1946-2010 | Rare Book & Manuscript Library, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

By Jessie Knoles and Dana Miller

Service Location	Boxes	Request
Rare Book & Manuscript Library, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign 346 Main Library	Box 1	Request Box 1
Rare Book & Manuscript Library, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign 346 Main Library	Box 2	Request Box 2
Rare Book & Manuscript Library, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign 346 Main Library	Box 3	Request Box 3
Rare Book & Manuscript Library, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign 346 Main Library	Box 4	Request Box 4
Rare Book & Manuscript Library, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign 346 Main Library	Folder 5	Request Folder 5

Submit request (Aeon) |

Printer-friendly |

Email Us

Collection Overview

Title: Gabriel Miller Collection of Arthur Laurents, 1946-2010

ID: 01/01/MSS00092

Primary Creator: Laurents, Arthur (1917-2011)

Extent: 4.0 Cubic Feet

Arrangement:

This collection is arranged into five series:

Series 1: Theater Programs (arranged by production location, then date)

Subseries 1: New York City Productions

Subseries 2: New Jersey Productions

Subseries 3: Greater East Coast and International Productions

Subseries 4: Programs for Awards and Honors

Series 2: Promotional Materials (arranged chronologically)

Subseries 1: Souvenirs and Ephemera

Subseries 2: Publications

Subseries 3: Flyers and Brochures

Subseries 4: Photographs

Series 3: Posters and Realia (posters arranged chronologically, realia arranged alphabetically)

Series 4: Correspondence (letters arranged alphabetically by correspondent, emails arranged chronologically)

Subseries 1: Letters and Notes

Subseries 2: Emails to Gabriel Miller

Subseries 3: Group Emails

Series 5: Gabriel Miller Materials (arranged chronologically)

Subjects: Theater

Forms of Material: Playbills

Languages: English

Scope and Contents of the Materials

This collection consists of correspondence, playbills, publications, interviews, photographs, posters, and realia concerning the life and works of Arthur Laurents (1917-2011). Materials were previously from the Library of Gabriel Miller, a modern drama and film scholar at Rutgers University.

Collection Historical Note

Arthur Laurents (1917-2011) was an American playwright, writer, and screenwriter most known for Gypsy and West Side Story. Laurents grew up in Brooklyn, where his father was a lawyer and his mother was a teacher. He graduated from Cornell University with a degree in English, later taking night classes at New York University and selling his first radio play to CBS for $30. After being drafted into the Army in 1941, Laurents wrote for radio dramas, military training programs, and propaganda. He was accused of Communism and blacklisted in the McCarthy Era, as he was active in civil rights issues and had joined a Marxist study group.

Among his stage and film productions, Laurents directed Gypsy (1959), I Can Get It For You On Wholesale (1962), Anyone Can Whistle (1964), The Radical Mystique, and Jolson Sings Again. He also wrote the novels The Way We Were (1972) and The Turning Point (1977). In his 2000 memoir, Laurents discusses his homosexuality, and his ashes were buried alongside his long-time partner Tom Hatcher.

Sources

Berkvist, Robert. "Arthur Laurents, Playwright and Director on Broadway, Dies at 93." New York Times. 05 May 2011.

Subject/Index Terms

Theater

URL: https://go.library.illinois.edu/MillerLaurentsCatalog

Box and Folder Listing

Browse by Series:

[Series 1: Theater Programs],
[Series 2: Promotional Materials],
[Series 3: Posters and Realia],
[Series 4: Correspondence],
[Series 5: Gabriel Miller Materials],
[All]

Series 1: Theater Programs

Sub-series 1: New York City Productions

Box 1

Folder 1: 1946-1957

Item 1: Home of the Brave (Belasco Theatre), 1946 January 7: Playbill. Signed by Laurents on front cover.
Item 2: Home of the Brave (Belasco Theatre), 1946 February 18: Playbill. Signed on an interior page by Laurents, Alan Baxter, Eduard Franz, and Russell Hardie.
Item 3: The Bird Cage (Belasco Theatre), 1950 February 18: Playbill. Opening night program. Signed by Laurents on front cover.
Item 4: The Time of the Cuckoo (The Empire Theatre), 1952 October 20: Playbill. Signed by Laurents on front cover.
Item 5: The Time of the Cuckoo (The Empire Theatre), 1952 December 8: Playbill. Signed by Laurents on front cover.
Item 6: The Time of the Cuckoo (The Empire Theatre), 1953 March 30: Playbill. Signed by Laurents and Shirley Booth on interior page.
Item 7: A Clearing in the Woods (Balasco Theatre), 1957 January 21: Playbill. Signed by Laurents on front cover.
Item 8: West Side Story (Winter Garden Theatre), 1957 September 30: Playbill. Includes an essay by Laurents titled “Musical Origins,” signed.
Item 9: Auntie Mame (Broadhurst Theatre), 1957 December 2: Playbill. Signed by Rosalind Russell (on her photograph) and Peggy Cass (upper corner) on front cover. Includes an essay by Laurents titled “The Lightly Poised Air,” signed by Laurents. Also included is a note sent by Laurents to Miller on July 8, 2005, which reads: “Gabriel—I’m amazed-and pleased-that I wrote this that far back. And rather well, too!”

Folder 2: 1959-1968

Item 1: West Side Story (Broadway Theatre, 1959 May 4: Playbill. Signed by Laurents on interior page.
Item 2: Gypsy (Broadway Theatre), 1959: Playbill. Signed on the front cover by Laurents, Ethel Merman, Jack Klugman, and Sandra Church. Signed on interior pages by Stephen Sondheim, Jule Styne (who adds “Best Wishes”), Jerome Robbins, Marilyn Cooper, and Maria Karnilova.
Item 3: Invitation to a March (The Music Box), 1960 November 7: Playbill. Signed by Laurents and Celest Holm on front cover and by Stephen Sondheim, Eileen Heckart, Jane Fonda, James MacArthur, Richard Derr, and Madeleine Sherwood on interior page.
Item 4: I Can Get It for You Wholesale (Shubert Theatre), 1962 July 16: Playbill. Signed on interior page by Laurents.
Item 5: Anyone Can Whistle (Majestic Theatre), [1964]: Playbill. Signed on front cover by Laurents.
Item 6: Do I Hear a Waltz? (46th Street Theatre), 1965 March 18: Playbill. Premiere performance. Signed by Laurents on front cover.
Item 7: Hallelujah, Baby! (Martin Beck Theatre), 1967 June: Playbill. Signed on front cover by Laurents, Betty Comden, Adolph Green, Jule Styne, Leslie Uggams, Barbara Sharma, Robert Hooks, and Allex Case.
Item 8: Hallelujah, Baby! (Martin Beck Theatre), 1967 August: Playbill. Signed by Laurents and Leslie Uggams on front cover.
Item 9: West Side Story (The Music Theater of Lincoln Center), 1968 June 24-September 7: Playbill. Revival production that ran for 89 performances. Includes an essay by Laurents titled “That Indefinable Word ‘Style’,” signed.

Folder 3: 1973-1995

Item 1: The Enclave (Theatre Four), 1973: Onstage. Signed by Laurents on front cover.
Item 2: Gypsy (Winter Garden Theatre), 1974: Revival production that ran for 120 performances from September 23, 1974-January 4, 1975. Cast included Angela Lansbury, Rex Robbins, Zan Charisse, and Mary Louise Wilson. Signed by Laurents on front cover.
Item 3: The Madwoman of Central Park (22 Steps Theatre), 1979: Showbill. Signed by Laurents on front cover.
Item 4: La Cage Aux Folles (Palace Theatre), 1983: Playbill. Signed on front cover by Laurents.
Item 5: Gypsy (St. James Theatre), 1990: Playbill. 30th anniversary revival production starring Tyne Daly that ran for 581 performances on Broadway from 1989-1991. Signed by Laurents on interior page.
Item 6: Nick & Nora (Marquis Theatre), 1991 October: Playbill.
Item 7: Anyone Can Whistle (Carnegie Hall), 1995 April 8: Performance held as an AIDS benefit concert for Gay Men’s Health Crisis. Directed by Herbert Ross and starred Scott Bakula, Medline Kahn, Bernadette Peters, and Angela Lansbury. Signed on interior page by Laurents.
Item 8: The Radical Mystique (Manhattan Theatre Club at City Center), 1995: Signed by Laurents on front cover.

Folder 4: 2003-2010

Item 1: Gypsy (Shubert Theatre), 2003 October: Playbill. Revival production starring Bernadette Peters that ran for 451 performances from 2000-2004. Signed by Laurents on interior page.
Item 2: Gypsy (NY City Center), 2007: Playbill. Encores! revival production starring Patti LuPone that ran from July 9-29, 2007. Signed by Laurents on front cover and interior page.
Item 3: Gypsy (St. James Theatre), 2008: Playbill. Revival production starring Patti LuPone that ran for 332 performances at the St. James Theatre from 2008-2009. Signed by Laurents on front cover.
Item 4: West Side Story (Palace Theatre), 2009: Dual-language revival production that ran for 748 performances from 2009-2011, starring George Akram, Matt Cavenaugh, Cody Green, Karen Olivio, and Josefina Scaglione. Includes a flyer and ticket for the February 21, 2009 dress rehearsal.
Item 5: Anyone Can Whistle (NY City Center), 2010 April: Playbill. Encores! revival production. Signed by Sutton Foster on front cover.

Sub-series 2: New Jersey Productions

Box 1

Folder 5: George Street Playhouse productions, 1999-2009

Item 1: Jolson Sings Again (George Street Playhouse), 1999 February 27-March 28: East Coast premiere. Inscribed by Laurents on interior page.
Item 2: The Vibrator (George Street Playhouse), 2003 January-February: Double program with Israel Horovitz’s The 75th. Signed by Laurents on front cover.
Item 3: Attacks on the Heart (George Street Playhouse), 2003 October 14-November 9: Signed on front cover by Laurents and on interior page by director David Saint. Includes tickets.
Item 4: Hallelujah, Baby! (George Street Playhouse), 2004 October 5-November 7: Includes a mail flyer and tickets.
Item 5: New Year's Eve (George Street Playhouse), 2009 April 14-May 10: World premiere. Includes tickets.

Sub-series 3: Greater East Coast and International Productions

Box 1

Folder 6: Greater East Coast and International Productions

Item 1: Heartsong (Wilbur Theatre (Boston)), 1947 March 3: Playtime. Out-of-town tryout production that never made it to Broadway. Signed on front cover by Laurents, Lloyd Bridges, Jay Fassett, Susan Douglas, and Vinton Hayworth.
Item 2: Heartsong (Walnut Theatre (Philadelphia)), 1947 March 24: Playgoer. Out-of-town tryout production that never made it to Broadway. Signed on front cover by Laurents.
Item 3: The Bird Cage (Shubert Theatre (New Haven, CT)), 1950 February 2-4: Playgoer. Out-of-town tryout production. Signed on an interior page by Laurents.
Item 4: The Time of the Cuckoo (Philadelphia), circa 1952: Pre-Broadway tryout.
Item 5: Gypsy (Piccadilly Theatre (London)), 1973: This production ran for 300 performances from May 29, 1973-March 2, 1974. Cast included Angela Lansbury, Barrie Ingham, and Zan Chase. Signed by Laurents on interior page.
Item 6: La Cage Aux Folles (Colonial Theatre (Boston)), 1983: Playbill. Original production’s out-of-town tryout. Signed on front cover by Laurents.
Item 7: 2 Lives (The Lyric Stage Company of Boston (Boston)), 2003 March 14-April 12: World premiere. Signed on front cover and title page by Laurents. Includes ticket stubs.

Sub-series 4: Programs for Awards and Honors

Box 1

Folder 7: Programs for Awards and Honors

Item 1: The Theater Hall of Fame (Gershwin Theatre (New York)), 1984 April 9: Playbill for Laurents’ induction into the Theater Hall of Fame. Signed on front cover by Laurents.
Item 2: Let Us Entertain You! George Street Playhouse Annual Spring Gala (New Brunswick, NJ), 2020 May 4: Presentation of Lifetime Achievement Award to Laurents. Signed on title page by Laurents and on insert by Bernadette Peters, who entertained at the event.
Item 3: William Inge Theatre Festival (Independence Community College (Independence, KS)), 2004: Program for the 23rd Annual William Theatre Festival featuring Laurents as 2004 Honoree. Includes quotes, an interview, and photographs of Laurents.

Browse by Series:

[Series 1: Theater Programs],
[Series 2: Promotional Materials],
[Series 3: Posters and Realia],
[Series 4: Correspondence],
[Series 5: Gabriel Miller Materials],
[All]