Theater

The Museum of the City of New York's Theater Collection traces the relationship between New York City and theater.  It documents theatrical activity in the city from the late 18th century to the present day.

Holdings include:

• Original set and costume renderings by designers such as Donald Oenslager, Jo Mielziner, Miles White, Alvin Colt, and Robert Edmund Jones

• Posters and window cards that record trends in theatrical advertising

• 17,000 folders documenting local productions since the 1800s

• Original playscripts annotated by Eugene O'Neill

• More than 5,000 costumes and props

• A significant collection of caricatures, drawings, and photographic archives

• A major Yiddish theater collection

The heart of the Theater holdings is the John Golden Archive, which consists of approximately 40,000 folders, organized by production, personality, and theater building. The folders contain such materials as photographs, contracts, correspondence, playbills, manuscripts, advertising materials, reviews, obituaries, clippings, sheet music, autographs, souvenir programs, and prompt books with marginalia on blocking and performance.

For more information about the Theater Collection, please contact Collections Access at research@mcny.org or call 212-534-1672 extension 3399.  For more information on the Museum's research policies, click here

For information about reproducing material from the collection, please visit Rights & Reproductions