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Category: Theater

Bright red advertising poster with "West Side Story" in yellow type beneath an image of a couple dancing energetically.

Broadway Comes to the Library, and the Library Goes to Broadway

Posted by: Neely Tucker

The papers of Jonathan Larson and Leonard Bernstein are among many of the Library's musical holdings that have been used extensively by composers, actors and musicians in producing works on Broadway and in Hollywood. Lin-Manuel Miranda drew on Larson's papers for his production of "tick...tick...BOOM!" and the creative team behind the Bernstein documentary "Bernstein's Wall" and the feature film "Maestro" used Library collections for their works.

Posted in: Alexander Hamilton, LCM, Library Work and Employees, Music, Performing Arts, Researcher Stories, Theater

Head and shoulders portrait of a middle-aged Shakespeare, with beard and moustachek facing right.

Nobody Would Edit Shakespeare, Right? Right?

Posted by: Neely Tucker

You thought no one edits Shakespeare? Actually, they did. All the time. The Rare Book and Special Collections Division holds seven printings of William Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet” that include scenes being cut out entirely, characters' roles being reduced and even an added conversation between Romeo and Juliet in the play’s final scene (he lives just a wee bit longer in this version). These alterations over the centuries challenge our contemporary reverence for Shakespeare as an untouchable genius.

Posted in: LCM, Performing Arts, Theater, Writers