Top of page

Category: Theater

Red, White & Royal Love Song

Posted by: Heather Darnell

The following is a guest post by Music Division Assistant Chief, Nicholas Brown. In honor of this Saturday’s National Book Festival, the Music Division is pleased to share a page-to-screen tidbit relating to the new romantic comedy film “Red, White & Royal Blue” (Prime, 2023) that is being released on August 11, 2023. Based on …

Black-and-white portrait of Brando in jacket looking directly at camera.

A Look Back at A Streetcar Named Desire

Posted by: Morgen Stevens-Garmon

On December 3, 1947, A Streetcar Named Desire opened at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre in New York City. It was the third full-length play by Tennessee Williams, a 36-year-old writer whose Broadway debut, The Glass Menagerie, was just two years earlier. Streetcar ran for more than two years clocking in at 855 performances, the longest …

production shot from the world we live in with characters n bug-eyed costumes

What A Long Strange Trip It’s Been: Our 1001st Post

Posted by: Pat Padua

I for one welcome our new insect leaders with open arms. As we celebrate our 1001st blog post (give or take a few), the Music Division also celebrates a major update to the Federal Theatre Project Collection, which features some of the most requested material in the division. Much of the work for this update …

Woman with dark hair, fancy dress and pearls with eyes closed and mouth slightly open, singing

Performing Arts COVID-19 Response Collection

Posted by: Morgen Stevens-Garmon

The following is a guest post from Music Division Archivist Janet McKinney. By their very nature, the performing arts depend on the key element of live interaction. But what happens to this art when that component is taken away? In March 2020, concert halls, theaters, and other live performance venues were forced to close their …

Screenshot from collection announcement video for the Neil Simon Papers. Black and white photograph of Neil Simon.

Neil Simon Papers at the Library of Congress

Posted by: Cait Miller

The Library of Congress celebrated the acquisition of the Neil Simon Papers by hosting a conversation with actors Matthew Broderick and Sarah Jessica Parker who currently star in the Broadway revival of Simon's comedy Plaza Suite. Watch a recording of their conversation with Plaza Suite director John Benjamin Hickey, as well as a video overview of the Simon Papers featuring Senior Music Specialist Mark Horowitz.

Woman with dark hair, fancy dress and pearls with eyes closed and mouth slightly open, singing

Roger L. Stevens, the early years

Posted by: Morgen Stevens-Garmon

First chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts, founding chairman of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, one-time owner of the Empire State Building, producer of more than 100 Broadway plays and musicals, recipient of Tony Awards, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, and a Knight Commander of the British Empire, Roger …