JSTOR performance photos
Chronology of the production or production history
- Cambridge History of the American Theaterv. 1. Beginnings to 1870 -- v. 2. 1870-1945 -- v. 3. Post-World War II to the 1990s
- Encyclopedia of the New York Stage, 1920-1950These volumes cover brief production history. The preface contains the key to reading the entries. Each entry includes an historical background, summary of the plot, and “idea of the critical reaction to the play and performance” taken from a variety of review sources. These
sources are noted but the exact date of the review article isn’t given. - Guide to Critical Reviews, Foreign Drama, 1909-1977 (Print)Foreign Drama, 1909 - 1977
- Guide to Critical Reviews - American Drama (Print)American drama, 1909-1982. Find the author, play title and the book provides production and review information.
- International Dictionary of Theater (Print)Although this print source is current through 1992, valuable information about performance and history of well known plays/playwrights.
- Internet Broadway DatabaseSame idea as IMDB, but for productions, it's hit or miss, but worth a try.
- New York Times Theatre Reviews (Print/Annex)Facsimile reprints of the reviews of theater productions as they appeared in the New York Times. Arranged chronologically, the set also includes appendices of awards and prizes and of productions and runs by season as well as indexes by title, production company, and personal name. The first 21 volumes cover the years 1870-1970. Since then volumes have been published biannually. [NOTE: these reviews can also be found online through Proquest Historical Newspapers]
- Theatre World, 1950-2012Annual still being published. Exact title, editors, and publishers have changed over time.
- Covers Broadway and Off-Broadway productions.
- For each play: lists theatre, opening/closing night, number of performances, complete
cast, understudies, setting, synopsis. Includes some photos from the production.
Production Photos
Finding production photos can be difficult to locate, depending the year of the production, how often the production was performed, and copyright issues, there are many things to consider when looking for photos.
- JSTOR - great place to start.
- Advanced Search
- Enter search terms and choose: CAPTIONS (from the drop down menu)
- US Newsstream - reviews/images and criticism after 1980 from major US newspapers.
- Search ALICE: Hamlet AND (stage production OR production history)
- Performing Arts Database (IIPA) - You can limit by 'photograph', but notice you will have to open PDF in order to find the pix.