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

By Jessie Knoles and Dana Miller

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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 4: Correspondence

Sub-series 1: Letters and Notes

Box 4

Folder 1: Bourke-White, Elaine, undated

Typed note, signed.

Folder 2: Cukor, George (film director), 1966 June 29

Typed and signed letter on Laurents' personal letterhead.

Folder 3: Freedman, Harold (agent), circa 1959-1964

Item 1: "Thursday night", circa 1959: Typed and signed. Written from Quogue, Long Island, New York.
Item 2: "Monday night", circa 1960: Typed and signed. On Laurents’ personal letterhead, two pages.
Item 3: "Saturday", circa 1964: Typed and signed. On Laurents' personal letterhead.

Folder 4: Keenan, Christine, undated

Typed and signed (copy). Keenan was one of Miller’s students who wrote an essay on Laurents’ play.

Folder 5: Miller, Gabriel, 2002

Item 1: Letter, 2002 March 24: Typed and signed with envelope.
Item 2: Letter, 2002 July 3: Typed and signed.
Item 3: Letter, 2002 August 8: Typed and signed.

Folder 6: Nicolas, John, undated

Autograph note, signed on Laurents' letterhead.

Folder 7: Rosmarin, Max, 2007 April 25

Typed and signed (copy).

Sub-series 2: Emails to Gabriel Miller

Box 4

Folder 8: "Mazel Tov", 2002

Item 1: Email, 2002 June 15
Item 2: Email, 2002 June 29
Item 3: Email, 2002 July 1

Folder 9: "Excerpts", 2002 July 7

Folder 10: "interview", 2002 July 17

Folder 11: "Data", 2002

Item 1: Email, 2002 July 30
Item 2: Email, 2002 July 31
Item 3: Email, 2002 August 22
Item 4: Email, 2002 August 24
Item 5: Email, 2002 August 27: 10:27:03
Item 6: Email, 2002 August 27: 17:51:22

Folder 12: "Larry Miller", 2002 August 28

Folder 13: "Kramer piece"

Item 1: Email, 2002 August 30: 10:13:00
Item 2: Email, 2002 August 30: 19:00:00

Folder 14: "Time of the Cuckoo", 2002 September 28

Folder 15: "Re: hello", 2003 January 1

Folder 16: "Your Creation"

Item 1: Email, 2003 January 13
Item 2: Email, 2003 January 14: 12:44:50
Item 3: Email, 2003 January 14: 14:43:57

Folder 17: "The Book", 2003

Item 1: Email, 2003 January 19
Item 2: Email, 2003 March 1
Item 3: Email, 2003 March 3

Folder 18: "Interesting article", 2003 March 1

Folder 19: "Sales", 2003 March 7

Folder 20: "Anthology", 2003

Item 1: Email, 2003 March 12: 18:04:00
Item 2: Email, 2003 March 12: 23:10:42
Item 3: Email, 2003 March 13

Folder 21: [No subject], 2003 March 16

Folder 22: "Boston reviews", 2003 March 18

Folder 23: "Gypsy", 2003

Item 1: Email, 2003 March 27: 09:56:30
Item 2: Email, 2003 March 27: 22:57:26
Item 3: Email, 2003 March 27: 22:57:26 (copy).
Item 4: Email, 2003 March 27: 22:58:53
Item 5: Email, 2003 March 30
Item 6: Email, 2003 March 31

Folder 24: "Re: 2 lives", 2003

Item 1: Email, 2003 April 15
Item 2: Email, 2003 April 16

Folder 25: "curtains up", 2003 May 2

Folder 26: "Re: greetings", 2003

Item 1: Email, 2003 June 6
Item 2: Email, 2003 June 10

Folder 27: "Re: part II", 2003 July 20

Folder 28: "Re:", 2003

Item 1: Email, 2003 September 12
Item 2: Email, 2003 October 3

Folder 29: Inge Conference

Item 1: Email, 2003 November 19
Item 2: Email, 2003 November 21

Folder 30: "Re: [Fwd: Returned mail: User unknown]", 2004

Item 1: Email, 2004 January 4: 12:07 pm
Item 2: Email, 2004 January 4: 4:43 pm

Folder 31: "Cloasing Bell", 2004

Item 1: Email, 2004 January 4: 6:11 pm
Item 2: Email, 2004 January 4: 10:28 pm

Folder 32: "Your essay", 2004 January 7

Mark Glubke cc'd.

Folder 33: "Thin skin", 2004 January 7

Mark Glubke cc'd.

Folder 34: [No subject], 2004

Item 1: Email, 2004 February 23: 6:09 pm
Item 2: Attachment, 2004 February 20: 8:38:27 pm
Item 3: Attachment, 2004 February 20: 10:35 pm

Folder 35: "Collected plays", 2004

Item 1: Email, 2004 April 15
Item 2: Email, 2004 April 30

Folder 36: "POSITIVE THOUGHTS", 2004 September 13

Folder 37: "Re: good luck", 2004

Item 1: Email, 2004 October 11: 3:50 pm
Item 2: Email, 2004 October 11: 4:33 pm

Folder 38: "Re: resurfacing", 2004 December 20

Folder 39: "Re: checking in", 2005

Item 1: Email, 2005 March 23
Item 2: Email, 2005 March 27
Item 3: Email, 2005 March 28
Item 4: Email, 2005 March 29

Folder 40: "Re: A Country Made of….", 2005 May 5

Folder 41: "Ice Cream", 2005

Item 1: Email, 2005 May 6
Item 2: Email, 2005 May 10: 12:01 pm
Item 3: Email, 2005 May 10: 12:38 pm

Folder 42: "Re: star ledger", 2005

Item 1: Email, 2005 May 26: 3:41 pm
Item 2: Email, 2005 May 26: 3:44 pm
Item 3: Email, 2005 May 26: 3:44 pm (copy).
Item 4: Email, 2005 May 27

Folder 43: "Re: tony", 2005 June 9

Folder 44: "Play", 2005

Item 1: Email, 2005 August 8: 4:08 pm
Item 2: Email, 2005 August 8: 5:33 pm
Item 3: Email, 2005 August 8: 5:3? Pm
Item 4: Email, 2005 August 13

Folder 45: "Re: thank you", 2005

Item 1: Email, 2005 October 19
Item 2: Email, 2005 October 24

Folder 46: "Reviews", 2005 October 25

Folder 47: "Schickel", 2005

Item 1: Email, 2005 December 2
Item 2: Email, 2005 December 3
Item 3: "Schnickel minus", 2005 December 4

Folder 48: "Re: brokeback", 2006

Item 1: Email, 2006 January 7
Item 2: "Fwd", 2006 January 8
Item 3: Email, 2006 January 9: 3:49 pm
Item 4: Email, 2006 January 9: 8:19 pm

Folder 49: [No subject], 2006

Item 1: Email, 2006 February 21: 11:16 am
Item 2: Email, 2006 February 21: 5:31 pm
Item 3: Email, 2006 February 24
Item 4: Email, 2006 April 7
Item 5: Email, 2006 May 11
Item 6: Email, 2006 May 12

Folder 50: "Awake and Sing", 2006 May 11

Folder 51: "Odets", 2006

Folder 52: "Reading", 2006

Item 1: Email, 2006 October 23: 19:45:31 + 0000
Item 2: Email, 2006 October 23: 4:39 pm
Item 3: Email, 2006 November 15
Item 4: Email, 2006 November 16: Two pages.

Folder 53: "happy new yeart" and "Reading cancellation", 2006 November 24 and December 29

One item, three emails.

Folder 54: "back in touch", 2007

Item 1: Email, 2007 March 30
Item 2: Email, 2007 April 15: From Miller to Laurents.

Folder 55: "Date", 2007

Item 1: Email, 2007 April 24
Item 2: Email, 2007 April 29: 11:18 am. From Miller to Laurents.
Item 3: Email, 2007 April 29: 5:37 pm

Folder 56: "Gypsy"

Item 1: Email, 2007 June 27: 1:48 pm (from Miller to Laurents) and 5:05 pm.
Item 2: Email, 2008 February 4: From Miller to Laurents.

Folder 57: "how are you", 2007 November 18

From Miller to Laurents.

Folder 58: "Explanation", 2008

Folder 59: "checking in", 2008

Item 1: Email, 2008 September 8-9: From Miller to Laurents.
Item 2: Email, 2008 September 8-9: From Miller to Laurents (duplicate).
Item 3: Email, 2008 September 10: 10:55 am (from Miller to Laurents) and 1:39 pm.

Sub-series 3: Group Emails

Folder 60: Messages, 2003-2004, 2007

Item 1: "2nd reaction", 2003 March 18: From Laurents to Nicholas Martin, and forwarded to Miller and two others.
Item 2: "Quotes", 2003 March 18: From Laurents to Nicholas Martin, and forwarded to Miller and two others.
Item 3: "Gypsy", 2003 March 26: From Laurents to Miller, Todd Graff, and one other.
Item 4: "Gypsy", 2003 March 28: From Laurents to Miller, Todd Graff, and one other.
Item 5: "Gyp", 2003 March 28: From Laurents to Miller, Todd Graff, and one other.
Item 6: [No subject], 2003 July 16: From Andre Bishop to Laurents and forwarded to Miller, Todd Graff, and one other.
Item 7: "Laurents intro", 2005 January 14: Six emails between Miller and Mark Glubke.
Item 8: "Collected Plays", 2004 April 14: From Laurents to nine recipients, including Miller.
Item 9: "NCSA graduation raucous as ever, but has a sad moment (89 years old ans full of fire!)", undated: From Alan Best to Laurents and one other, and forwarded by Laurents to Miller and two others.
Item 10: "my god", 2007 July 15: From Mike Nichols to Laurents, and forwarded by Laurents to four recipients, including Miller.

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]