David Wolf Collection of American Musical Theater
Scope and Contents
The collection consists of stage and film scripts and musical theater librettos, including early versions of Stephen Sondheim’s unproduced Saturday Night (circa 1954) through Assassins (1990), as well as early versions of Harold Prince shows beginning with Cabaret (1966); audio recordings of musical theater and film productions, performances by individual singers, and interviews and presentations by directors, composers and performers; and scrapbooks containing newspaper clippings, photographs, production programs, and other material relating to theater and film productions including Fiddler on the Roof, Cabaret, and A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum.
Dates
- 1953-2000
Creator
- Wolf, David, 1947-2005 (Collector)
Conditions Governing Access
The materials are open for research.
Boxes 11-22 (audiocassettes): Restricted fragile material. Reference copies may be requested. Consult Access Services for further information.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Gift of Lonny Price, 2005.
Arrangement
Arranged by type of material.
Extent
23.75 Linear Feet (29 boxes)
Language of Materials
English
Catalog Record
A record for this collection is available in Orbis, the Yale University Library catalog
Persistent URL
David Wolf (1947-2005)
David Wolf was a member of the New York performing arts community. He worked for the stage director Harold Prince as a stage manager and assistant casting director for musical theater productions including Company, Follies, and A Little Night Music in the early 1970s; as a writer for the children’s television series, The Unicorn Tales, for which he won an Emmy Award in 1978; and in other capacities in the entertainment industry. From childhood he was a collector of musical theater recordings and memorabilia, an interest that continued throughout his life.
Processing Information
This collection received a basic level of processing, including rehousing and in some instances minimal organization in 2005. Additional organization and rehousing was conducted in 2014.
As a rule, descriptive information found in the Collection Contents section is drawn in large part from information supplied with the collection and from an initial survey of the contents. Folder titles appearing in the contents list below are often based on those provided by the creator or previous custodian. Titles have not been verified against the contents of the folders in all cases. Otherwise, folder titles are supplied by staff during initial processing.
This finding aid may be updated periodically to account for new acquisitions to the collection and/or revisions in arrangement and description.
Fomer call number: Uncat MSS 846.
- Audiocassettes -- United States -- 20th Century
- Audiovisual materials -- United States -- 20th Century
- Librettos (documents for music) -- United States -- 20th Century
- Masteroff, Joe (Cabaret)
- Musical theater -- United States
- Musical theater producers and directors -- United States
- Musical theater producers and directors -- United States
- Musicals -- Librettos
- Photographs
- Prince, Harold, 1928-
- Scrapbooks
- Sondheim, Stephen (Assassins)
- Sondheim, Stephen (Funny thing happened on the way to the forum)
- Stein, Joseph (Fiddler on the roof)
- Wolf, David, 1947-2005
- Title
- Guide to the David Wolf Collection of American Musical Theater
- Status
- Under Revision
- Author
- by Beinecke Staff
- Date
- February 2013
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description note
- Finding aid written in English.
Part of the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library Repository
Location
121 Wall Street
New Haven, CT 06511
Opening Hours
Access Information
The Beinecke Library is open to all Yale University students and faculty, and visiting researchers whose work requires use of its special collections. You will need to bring appropriate photo ID the first time you register. Beinecke is a non-circulating, closed stack library. Paging is done by library staff during business hours. You can request collection material online at least two business days in advance of your visit, using the request links in Archives at Yale. For more information, please see Planning Your Research Visit and consult the Reading Room Policies prior to visiting the library.