Mary Lavigne programs collection

Access and use

Location of collection:: George Mason University

2400 Fenwick Library

Special Collections Research Center

Fenwick Library MS2FL

George Mason University

Fairfax, VA 22030

Contact for questions and access:: POC: Mieko Palazzo

Email: speccoll@gmu.edu

Phone: (703) 993-2220

Fax: (703) 993-2669

Web: scrc.gmu.edu

Restrictions:: There are no access restrictions.
Terms of access:: The copyright and related rights status of this collection have not been evaluated (See http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/CNE/1.0/)

Preferred citation:: Mary Lavigne programs collection, C0417, Special Collections Research Center, George Mason University Libraries

Summary

Extent:: 2 Linear Feet 4 boxes
Creator:: Lavigne, Mary
Abstract:: A collection of opera, ballet, concert, art exhibition, and theatrical programs for performances and events in New York City, Richmond, Virginia, Washington, D.C., and various international locations attended by Mary Lavigne.
Language:: English , German .
Preferred citation:: Mary Lavigne programs collection, C0417, Special Collections Research Center, George Mason University Libraries

Background

Scope and content:

A collection of opera, ballet, concert, art exhibition, and theatrical programs for performances and events in New York City, Richmond, Virginia, Washington, D.C., and various international locations attended by Mary Lavigne. Programs include a mix of types including colorful souvenir booklets and Broadway Playbill editions. Most programs include various inserts, including cast change notices and newspaper clippings, which have been removed and placed in the folder with the program. A number of the programs were also originally grouped into two small binders. All of these specifics have been noted at the folder level where applicable.

Musical Celebrities: The Concert Magazine, Vol. XXVII, No. 1. Includes "Revised Program" insert.

Musical Celebrities: The Concert Magazine, Vol. V, No. 12. Metropolitan Opera New Production. Libretto by A. Ghislanzoni, music by Giuseppe Verdi.

At the Virginia Museum Theatre

Playbill. Written by Marcelle Murette, English adaptation by Guy Bolton. Removed from binder 1 of 2.

Playbill, Vol. 1, No. 8. Written by Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee. Removed from binder 1 of 2.

Playbill. Written by Maxwell Anderson. Removed from binder 1 of 2.

Playbill. Fourth performance by the New York City Opera Company. Includes NY City Center flyer and newspaper clipping about the show.

Musical Celebrities: The Concert Magazine, Vol. XXVIII, No. 9.

Includes ticket stub for Mosque Theatre April 29, 1954

The Barber of Seville, libretto by Cesare Sterbini, music by Gioacchino Rossini. Season 1954-1955.

Item is in German

Playbill. Written by Sandy Wilson. July program includes cast change note insert and was removed from binder 1 of 2.

Playbill. Music and lyrics by Irving Berlin, book by Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse. Removed from binder 1 of 2.

Playbill. Music and lyrics by Cole Porter, book by Abe Burrows. Removed from binder 1 of 2.

Includes cast change note insert

Playbill. Written by Tennessee Williams. Removed from binder 1 of 2.

Playbill, Vol. 1, No. 4. Written by William Saroyan; Bijou Theatre Series Production No. 3. Removed from binder 1 of 2. Includes 3 newspaper clippings, including one duplicate of a review by Brooks Atkinson.

Playbill. Written by Enid Bagnold. Removed from binder 1 of 2.

Playbill, Vol. 1, No. 8. Written by William Wycherley. Removed from binder 1 of 2.

Written by Arthur Miller

Featuring Emily Frankel and Mark Ryder

Playbill, Vol. 2, No. 5. Written by William Inge. Removed from binder 1 of 2. Includes magazine clipping of a cartoon depicting characters from play.

Playbill. Written by Frances Goodrich and Albert Hackett. Removed from binder 1 of 2.

Libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte, music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Season 1957-1958.

"This is the first exhibition of the original works in wax by Degas from which the series of bronzes were cast by A.-A. Hébrard". M. Knoedler & Company, Inc.

Off-B'way Showbill. Written by Samuel Beckett; American Premiere.

Playbill, Vol. 2, No. 9. Written by John Osborne. Removed from binder 1 of 2.

Playbill. Book by S.N. Behrman and Joshua Logan, music and lyrics by Harold Rome. Removed from binder 1 of 2.

Libretto by Jules Barbier and Michel Carré, music by Charles Gounod. Season 1955-1956.

The Metropolitan Opera's New English Version. Music by Johann Strauss, lyrics by Howard Dietz, and book by Garson Kanin.

Musical Celebrities: The Concert Magazine, Vol. V, No. 2. The Metropolitan Opera's New English Version. Music by Johann Strauss, lyrics by Howard Dietz, and book by Garson Kanin. Includes ticket stub and flyer; program has handwritten note on front cover.

Written by Tennessee Williams

Werner Singer at the Piano

"In Honor of Professor Mabel Kate Whiteside, Teacher of Greek, 1904-1954"

38th Season, 15th Concert. Featuring The Goldman Band, Edwin Franko Goldman, Conductor.

Playbill. Written by John Van Druten. Removed from binder 1 of 2.

Written by Eugene O'Neill

Manson Hall

Smith Memorial Auditorium

Off-B'way Showbill. Includes ticket stubs.

Includes newspaper clipping on Jose Limon's "Missa Brevis" from May 18, 1958

Musical Celebrities: The Concert Magazine, Vol. XXX, No. 12. Metropolitan Opera New Production. Libretto by F. M. Piave, music by Giuseppe Verdi. Includes 2 newspaper clippings on A Streetcar Named Desire.

Playbill. Written by Graham Greene. Removed from binder 1 of 2.

Musical Celebrities: The Concert Magazine, Vol. XXVIII, No. 6.

21st Season

Playbill. Written by Eugene O'Neill. Both removed from binder 1 of 2. December 1956 program includes The Actor's Fund donation insert. October 1957 Playbill: Vol. 1, No. 3.

Playbill, Vol. 2, No. 5. Written by John Osborne. Removed from binder 1 of 2. Includes newspaper clipping about the show.

Playbill, Vol. 2, No. 16. Written by Ketti Frings. Removed from binder 1 of 2.

Libretto by Salvatore Cammarano, music by Gaetano Donizetti. Season 1956-1957.

Libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa, music by Giacomo Puccini. Season 1957-1958. Includes magazine clipping on the show.

Playbill. Written by George Bernard Shaw. Removed from binder 1 of 2.

Smith Memorial Hall. Repertory by Marcel Marceau.

Playbill, Vol. 2, No. 4

Inscription on last page

Inscription inside front cover

Playbill. Both programs Vol. 2, No. 14.

Institute of Contemporary Arts, Twentieth Anniversary Year. Includes 2 copies of season schedule insert.

Off-B'way Showbill. Written by Friedrich Schiller, new adaptation by Jean Stock Goldstone and John Reich. Includes 2 newspaper clippings about the show.

Playbill. Written by Thornton Wilder. Both removed from binder 1 of 2.

Antal Dorati, Conductor and Gerard Samuel, Assistant Conductor

Playbill. Written by Joshua Logan and Thomas Heggen. Removed from binder 2 of 2.

Playbill, Vol. 1, No. 10. Written by Dorothy and Michael Blankfort. Removed from binder 2 of 2.

Playbill. Book, music, and lyrics by Frank Loesser. Removed from binder 2 of 2. Includes cast change note insert.

Playbill. Lyrics and book/libretto by Alan Jay Lerner, music by Frederick Loewe. Includes two copies of August 1956 program; copy with date written on front and February 1958 programs both removed from binder 2 of 2.

Smith Memorial Hall. Founded by Hans Kindler in 1931, Howard Mitchell Music Director, 26th Season.

Playbill

Playbill, Vol. 1, No. 8 (1957) and Vol. 2, No. 1 (1958). New York City Ballet Company, Winter Season 1957-1958.

Stagebill, Volume III, No. 8

One Hundred Sixteenth Season (1957-1958)

One Hundred Sixteenth Season (1957-1958). Includes magazine clipping on the show.

One Hundred Sixteenth Season (1957-1958)

Manson Hall

Playbill. Written by Ira Levin. Removed from binder 2 of 2.

Playbill, Vol. 1, No. 8. Written by Noel Coward. Removed from binder 2 of 2. Includes newspaper clipping on the show.

Libretto by Arrigo Boito, music by Guiseppe Verdi. Season 1957-1958. Includes special ticket for Working Rehearsal on March 18 and a magazine and newspaper clipping about the show.

Playbill. Book by George Abbott and Richard Bissell, music and lyrics by Richard Adler, and Jerry Ross. Removed from binder 2 of 2.

Written by Robert E. Sherwood

Musical Celebrities: The Concert Magazine, Vol. V, No. 4. Eugene Ormandy, Music Director-Conductor.

Playbill. Removed from binder 2 of 2.

Music by George Gershwin, book and lyrics/libretto by DuBose Heyward and Ira Gershwin

Music by George Gershwin, book and lyrics/libretto by DuBose Heyward and Ira Gershwin. Radio Station WRVA presentation.

Music by George Gershwin, book and lyrics/libretto by DuBose Heyward and Ira Gershwin. Includes Act scene summary insert and inscription on first page.

Smith Memorial Building; with Lucile Turner, Contralto and The Randolph-Macon Glee Club, Jack Moehlenkamp, Pianist.

Robert Shaw, Conductor

Playbill, Vol. 2, No. 4. Written by Morton Wishengrad. Removed from binder 2 of 2.

Formerly the Sadler's Wells Ballet

"Under the Patronage of His Majesty King Frederik IX of Denmark, First Visit to America of the Royal Danish Ballet" from the Royal Theatre in Copenhagen

Magazine II. Howard Mitchell, Director.

Musical Celebrities: The Concert Magazine, Vol. V, No. 8

Covent Garden Books No. 9

Playbill. Two plays by Terence Rattigan. Removed from binder 2 of 2.

Playbill. Written by Joseph Kramm. Removed from binder 2 of 2.

Musical Celebrities: The Concert Magazine, Vol. XXVII, No. 3

Playbill. Music by Richard Rodgers, lyrics and book/libretto by Oscar Hammerstein II, book by Joshua Logan. Removed from binder 2 of 2.

Playbill. Written by Robert Anderson. Removed from binder 2 of 2.

Jose Limon and Dance Company with Pauline Koner, at the Virginia Museum Theatre

Music by Kurt Weill, book and lyrics/libretto by Bertolt (listed in program as Bert) Brecht, English adaptation of book and lyrics by Marc Blitzstein. Each program includes a cast change note insert.

Playbill. Written by Jean Giraudoux, translated by Christopher Fry. Removed from binder 2 of 2.

Playbill, Vol. 2, Nos. 4 and 20. Written by Jean Anouilh, English version by Patricia Moyes. Both removed from binder 2 of 2. January program includes magazine clipping of a cartoon depicting characters from play and May program includes a newspaper clipping photo of Helen Hayes.

Libretto by Victorien Sardou, Luigi Illica, and Giuseppe Giacosa, music by Giacomo Puccini. Season 1957-1958.

A New Play by Norman Rose, based on Dostoyevsky's "The Brothers Karamazov".

Playbill, Vol. 2, No. 15. Written by William Gibson. Removed from binder 2 of 2.

Two copies

Written by Anton Chekhov, translated by Stark Young. Third production in "A Cycle of Four Chekhov Plays".

Playbill. Written by Arthur Miller. Two copies; one removed from binder 2 of 2 and includes a promotional flyer insert on the show.

Adapted and staged by Margaret Perry. Front cover has possible pencil signature from founder and actor Robert Porterfield.

Playbill, Vol. 2, No. 21. Written by Friedrich Duerrenmatt, adapted by Maurice Valency. Removed from binder 2 of 2. Includes newspaper clipping on the show.

Playbill, Vol. 2, No. 4. Book by Arthur Laurents, music by Leonard Bernstein, and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim. Removed from binder 2 of 2. Includes cast change note insert.

Includes pamphlet advertising recordings by Bernstein. Both items in German.

David Stimer at the Piano

Playbill. Written by Agatha Christie. Removed from binder 2 of 2.

Biographical / historical:

Dating back to at least the 18th century, the term "bill" has been used to refer to printed advertisements for a theatrical event, starting first with small printed sheets delivered by hand and known as "handbills." By the middle of the 19th century, the word "bill" was used to refer to large printed papers that were posted in public places and provided information about a theatrical production. The word "programme" or "program" came into use in the mid-19th century to refer to short printed pamphlets, containing a cast list, that was handed to audience members attending a theatrical performance. However, by the 1870s, the status of these as one of the only printed papers that were free and widely distributed led to the introduction of advertising into these play "bills" or "programs."

Seeing an opportunity, in 1884 New York businessman Frank Vance Strauss created the first company to specialize in printing theatrical programs that would be provided free of charge to New York City's larger playhouses. Introducing the standard format for theatrical programs still in use today, Strauss' company expanded the short printed pamphlets into magazine-style multi-page programs containing short articles, advertisements, and information about the individual productions that changed weekly. Known in 1911 as the "Strauss Magazine Theatre Program", the publication would formally adopt the name "The Playbill" in 1934. These higher quality programs led to a new practice of keeping and collecting programs as souvenirs, leading to the creation of specially produced "Souvenir Programs" that were filled with full-color illustrations, photographs, and more detailed information on the productions and performers.

Acquisition information:

Donated in 2019 by Mary Lavigne.

Processing information:

Processing and finding aid completed by Meghan Glasbrenner from November 2023 - January 2024.

Arrangement:

This collection is arranged alphabetically by show title and then chronologically.

Physical location:

R 71, C 1, S 7

Rules or conventions:

Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Collection