J. Willard Marriott Library Special Collections
Ariel S. Ballif, Jr. papers
Ballif, Ariel, 1926-1994
ACCN 2127
215 linear feet
1930s-1992
The Ariel S. Ballif, Jr. papers (1930s-1992) consists of original costume and set designs, production scripts, architectural designs, and personal and teaching materials. Ballif was a prominent stage designer and co-founder of Theater 138, Salt Lake City's first "alternative" theater. He was born in Rexburg, Idaho, raised in Utah, graduated from Brigham Young University, and received a M.F.A. from Yale University. He was with the theater faculty at the University of Utah and designed major productions for the Pioneer Theater Company, Ballet West, Utah Opera, Ririe-Woodbury Dance Company, and others.
English
Ariel Smith Ballif, Jr. (1926-1994), a prominent stage designer and co-founder of Theater 138, Salt Lake City's first "alternative" theater, was born in Rexburg, Idaho, the son of Ariel S. and Artamesia Romney Ballif. He was raised in Utah, graduated from Brigham Young University, and later received a master's of fine arts degree from Yale University. During the 1950s through 1970s, Ballif directed and co-produced productions for little theaters in Richmond, Virginia; taught design at the Yale School of Drama; and worked in the Yale Resident Theater. Later in life, he served with the theater faculty at the University of Utah and designed major productions for Pioneer Theater Company, Ballet West, Utah Opera, Ririe-Woodbury Dance Company, and others.
The Ariel S. Ballif, Jr. papers (1930s-1992) consist of original costume and set designs, production scripts, architectural designs, and personal and teaching materials of Ballif's. Most of the materials are arranged by size and listed by theatrical production for which they were designed. There are four different sizes of oversize materials, thus there are instances where a production is listed with several different boxes. Some work by designers other than Ballif can be found throughout the collection.
Click here to view digitized materials from the collection or visit ArchivesSpace for a container level list of digitized materials.
Twenty-four hour advanced notice encouraged. Materials must be used on-site. Access to parts of this collection may be restricted under provisions of state or federal law.
The library does not claim to control copyright for all materials in the collection. An individual depicted in a reproduction has privacy rights as outlined in Title 45 CFR, part 46 (Protection of Human Subjects). For further information, please review the J. Willard Marriott Library's Use Agreement and Reproduction Request forms.
Collection Name, Collection Number, Box Number, Folder Number. Special Collections, J. Willard Marriott Library, The University of Utah.
Box 98 and painter's sketch donated by Pioneer Memorial Theater via George Maxwell in 2012.
See also the Ariel Ballif photograph collection (P1154) in the Multimedia Division of Special Collections.
Processed by Lisa DeMille in 2005.
Addendum processed by Betsey Welland in 2012.
Click here to read a statement on harmful language in library records.
Set designers--Utah
Theater--Utah--History--Sources
Theaters--Utah--Stage-setting and scenery
Performing Arts
Personal and Family Materials
Correspondence
1944-1992
1
1-3
Ariel Smith Ballif Sr., Speech
1975
1
4
Arta Romney Ballif, Poetry and Art List
1
5
Maralyn Ballif, Artwork
1947
1
6
Biographical Sketches
1
7
Calendars
1971
1983
1
8
Genealogy
1
9
Miscellaneous
1
10
School and Teaching Materials
Artwork by Ballif
2
1
Class Lists
1965-1967
2
2
Drama Class
1970
2
3
Correspondence, examinations, and an outline.
Graphic Representation, Notes and Illustrations
1944
2
4
Light Labs
1950-1951
2
5
Making Murals, Notebook
2
6
Notebooks
1946
1950
2
7-9
Val Deane Rice, Art History and Appreciation Journal
3
1
Student Writings
circa 1950s
3
2
Television Class, Notes and Assignments
1950
3
3
Theater Classes, Notes and Assignments
1960s-1980s
3
4
Yale University
1949-1991
3
5-6
Correspondence, newsletters, notes, questionnaires, and other papers.
Miscellaneous
3
7
Subject Files
American Community Theater Association (ACTA), Newsletters and Announcements
1971
4
1
Architecture History and Elements, Notes and Pictures
4
2
Babcock Gallery, Wall Sketches
4
3
Ballet West, Hanger Logs
1990
4
4
Biographies
4
5
These are biographies of designers.
Tom Carlin, Personal Materials
1945-1962
4
6
Cast and Contact Lists
4
7
Center Stage Theater, Inc., Articles of Incorporation
1987
4
8
Robert Stewart Falconer, Personal Materials
1937-1946
4
9
Financial Materials
1950s-1980s
4
10
Furniture History, Sketches and Descriptions
4
11
Zola Rae Law, Artwork
4
12
News Articles
1920s-1980s
5
1-4
Pioneer Memorial Theater
1962-1967
5
5
Memoranda, notes, expenses, and announcements.
"Plate Tectonics and Joseph Smith's Vision"
1974
5
6
Poetry, Quips, and Quotes
5
7
Postcards
5
8
Production Lists
5
9
Programs
1930s-1980s
5
10-13
For theater and miscellaneous productions and events.
Prop and Stage Specifications
6
1
Recipes
6
2
Sheet Music
1966-1971
6
3
Silver King Theater
1964-1965
6
4
Correspondence, notes, expenses, drawings, and other papers concerning the remodeling of this building.
Theater 138
1960s-1980s
6
5-7
Notes, programs, and sketches.
Utah Theater Association, Constitution
6
8
Miscellaneous
6
9
Scripts and Production Notes
After the Fall
7
1
All Faces West
1962
7
2
Anne of the Thousand Days
1948
7
3
As Is
7
4
The Ascent of Oscar Cable
7
5
Bad Dreams and Be Bop
1984-1985
7
6
The Bride Wore Red Pyjamas
7
7
Christmas without Mr. C.
1985
7
8
Cole
7
9
The Colorado Plateau
1984
7
10
The Crucible
1961
7
11
Doin's at the Ruins
7
12
Dracula
1968
7
13
Europa
7
14
55 Minutes
8
1
The Geranium Is a Hardy Flower
1966
8
2
The Gypsy Baron
8
3
High Tea
8
4
Irene Gilmore, Lady Editor
8
5-8
It's Only the Beginning
8
9
The Jeweled Cross
8
10
Johnson's Boardin' House
8
11
The Lady's Not for Burning
1972
8
12
Light
8
13
Nevertheless
9
1
The Nutcracker
1990-1991
9
2
On the Park Bench
9
3
Papa and the Playhouse
1962
9
4-5
Prometheus
9
6
Promised Valley
1958-1967
9
7
The Red Plush Parlor
9
8
To Rise One Day
9
9
The Silverk Key
9
10
Stage Door
9
11
The Star Spangled Girl
9
12
This Is the Place
9
13
The Three Muskateers
1989
9
14
Uncle Vanya
1992
9
15
When the Sun Rises
9
16
Untitled Scripts
10
Fashion and Costume History
German and French Costume Prints
11
1
Oriental Costume Prints
11
2
Twelvth-Twentieth Century Costume Prints
11
3-9
General Costume Prints
11
10-12
General Costume Prints
12
1-3
Eleventh-Twentieth Century Costume Notes
12
4-8
Miscellaneous
12
9
Oversize Fifteenth-Eighteenth Century Costume Prints
13
1-2
Oversize General Costume Prints
13
3-4
Costume Designs
Barber of Seville
14
1-2
Berkeley Square
14
3-6
Gentlemen Prefer Blondes
15
1-3
A Man for All Seasons
15
4
The Marriage of Figaro
15
5
Rigoletto
15
6
Romeo and Juliet
16
1-5
Rossum's Universal Robots (R.U.R.)
16
6-7
Volpone
16
8
Costume Designs for Unidentified Productions
17
1-7
Character and Costume Layout Notes
17
8
Character Costume Measurements
17
9-10
Oversize Costume Designs
Ah, Wilderness
18
1
Amahl and the Night Visitors
18
2
The Doctor's Dilema
18
3
Edmund Kean
18
4
Fenris
19
High Tor
20
1
Joan of Arc
20
2
Noah
20
3-4
The Nutcracker
20
5
The Pie-eyed Piper
20
6
Playboy of the Western World
21
1-2
Salome
21
3
She Stoops to Conquer
21
4
A Streetcar Named Desire
21
5
Sweeney Todd
21
6
The Tempest
21
7
Beaux Arts Ball
22
1
Candida
22
2
Carnival of Thieves
22
3
Goldilocks
22
4
The Heiress
23
1
The Imaginary Invalid
23
2
Inspector General
24
1
Lute Song
24
2
The Magic Flue
24
3
The Maid's Tragedy
25
The Maid's Tragedy
26
Major Barbara
27
1
Menaechmi
27
2
Les Precieuses Ridicules
27
3
Romeo and Juliet
27
4
Salade
28
1
The Taming of the Shrew
28
2
The Tempest
28
3
Thracian Horses
28
4
The Visit
29
1
Women's Festival
29
2
Alice in Wonderland
30
1
Auntie Mame
30
2
The Imaginary Invalid
30
3
The King and I
30
4
The Lady's Not for Burning
30
5
A Midsummer Night's Dream
30
6
Romeo and Juliet
30
7
Tosca
30
8
Costume Designs for Unidentified Productions
30
9
Unidentified Costume Designs
31
Unidentified Costume Designs
32
Set Designs
Big River
33
1
Driving Miss Daisy
33
2
Girl from Utah
33
3
The Glass Menagerie
33
4
Macbeth
33
5
Salome
33
6
The Skin of Our Teeth
33
7
Streamers
33
8
Set Designs for Unidentified Productions
33
9-13
Oversize Set Designs
Amadeus
34
1
Amahl and the Night Visitors
34
2
Beethoven
35
1
Blind Alley
35
2
Candida
36
1
Candide
36
2
Cyrano de Bergerac
36
3
Design for Living
36
4
A Far Smiling Land
37
1
The Green Bay Tree
37
2
Hippolytus
37
3
Indian Village
37
4
Inherit the Wind
37
5
Lazardus Laughed
38
1
Lute Song
38
2
A Midsummer Night's Dream
38
3
The Nutcracker
38
4
A Pin to See a Peepshow
39
1
Pirates of Penzance
39
2
A Street in Salt Lake
39
3
Tosca
39
4
Trouble in Tahiti
39
5
Uncle Vanya
39
6
Amahl and the Night Visitors
40
1
Anna Christie
40
2
Arsenic and Old Lace
40
3
Ballet on a City Rooftop
40
4
Big River
40
5
La Boheme
40
6
Candide
40
7
Dead End
40
8
The Family Plan
41
1
A Far Smiling Land
41
2
Fenris
41
3
Glass Menagerie
41
4
The Great Catherine
41
5
Hamlet
41
6
High Tor
41
7
The King and I
42
1
Lazardus Laughed
42
2
The Liar
42
3
Like Snow Falling
42
4
Love for Three Oranges
43
1
The Magic Flute
43
2
Major Barbara
43
3
Man of La Mancha
43
4
The Merry Widow
44
1
The Mighty Magician
44
2
No Sex Please, We're British
44
3
Pelleas and Melisande
44
4
Peter Pan
44
5
Pit Stop
44
6
Salome
44
7
The Shoemaker's Prodigious Wife
44
8
Snow White
44
9
Star Spangled Girl
44
10
Time of the Cuckoo
44
11
Two by Two
44
12
Affairs of State
45
1
Amadeus
45
2-3
Amahal and the Night Visitors
45
4
Auntie Mame
45
5
The Barber of Seville
45
6
Beethoven
45
7
Big River
46
1
La Boheme
46
2-4
Candida
47
1
Candide
47
2
A Choice of Wars
47
3
Death of a Salesman
47
4
Fenris
48
1-2
La Fille Naive
48
3
Die Fledermaus
48
4-5
The Imaginary Invalid
49
1
International Set
49
2
The Lady's Not for Burning
49
3
A Man for All Seasons
49
4
The Mighty Magician
49
5
The Nutcracker
49
6
O Pioneers
50
1
Pirates of Penzance
50
2
Prometheus
50
3
Promised Valley
50
4
Ring around the Moon
50
5
Strike a Match
51
1
The Tempest
51
2
Thracian Horses
51
3
A Thurber Carnival
51
4
Time for Elizabeth
51
5
Tosca
52
1-2
Toxcatl
52
3-4
Triumph of Honor
52
5
La Valise
53
1
The Visit
53
2-3
Oversize Unidentified Set Designs
54
Oversize Unidentified Set Designs
55
Oversize Unidentified Set Designs
56
Oversize Unidentified Set Designs
57
Rolled Set Designs
1963-1984
58
Included are designs for Ah! Wilderness, All God's Chillun Got Wings (1963), All the King's Men, Amadeus (1984), Amahal and the Night Visitors (1980, 1984), and Anthem (1979).
Rolled Set Designs
1962, 1964
59
Included are designs for As You Like It, The Ascent of Oscar Cable (1964), and Auntie Mame (1962).
Rolled Set Designs
1958-1990
60
Included are designs for The Barber of Seville (1966), A Bedroom to Scale (1965), Big River (1990), La Boheme (1978), and Born Yesterday (1958).
Rolled Set Designs
1965, 1984
61
Included are designs for The Cabin, Candida (1965), and Candide (1984).
Rolled Set Designs
1964-1988
62
Included are designs for Catch Me If You Can (1978), Cavalleria Rusticana (1980), Charley's Aunt (1964), A Choice of Wars, and Cole (1988).
Rolled Set Designs
1963-1991
63
Included are designs for Dance 65, Dangerous Corner, Deadly Game (1989), Death of a Salesman (1963), Desert Song (1976, 1980), Doors (1977), and Driving Miss Daisy (1990-1991).
Rolled Set Designs
1965, 1980
64
Included are designs for The Fantasticks (1965), La Fille Naive, and Die Fledermaus (1980).
Rolled Set Designs
1975-1990
65
Included are designs for Girl Crazy (1975), Golden Apple (1979), Habeas Corpus, Hamlet (1987), Hansel and Gretel (1990), House of Bernarda Alba (1983), and The Hyphen.
Rolled Set Designs
1969-1980
66
Included are designs for Interface (1978), Java (1980), The Lady's Not for Burning (1969, 1980), Little Mary Sunshine, Lute Song, and Macbeth.
Rolled Set Designs
1964-1983
67
Included are designs for The Magic Flute (1974), Major Barbara, and A Man for All Seasons (1964, 1983).
Rolled Set Designs
1965-1990
68
Included are designs for Mary, Mary (1965), The Miser (1990), Modern Dance (1967), Mourning Becomes Electra (1976), Murder in the Cathedral, My Fat Friend (1979), and My One and Only (1987).
Rolled Set Designs
1974-1993
69
Included are designs for Naughty Marietta (1978), New Moon (1974), Nothing Doing Cabaret, The Nutcracker (1990-1991), and O Pioneers (1993).
Rolled Set Drawings
1963
70
Included are designs for Pagliacci, Peter Pan (1963), Promised Valley, and A Pin to See a Peepshow.
Rolled Set Designs
1962-1981
71
Included are designs for The Reluctant Debutante (1972), Rhinocerous (1962), Rigoletto (1966, 1981), and Ring around the Moon (1966).
Rolled Set Designs
1989
72
Included are designs for Rise and Fall and Romeo and Juliet (1989).
Rolled Set Designs
1965-1981
73
Included are designs for The Shoemaker's Prodigious Wife (1965), 6 RMS RIV VU (1974), Skin of Our Teeth, Strangers (1981), and The Subject Was Roses (1967).
Rolled Set Designs
1977-1989
74
Included are designs for The Tempest (1985), Threepenny Opera (1977), and The Three Muskateers (1989).
Rolled Set Designs
1977
75
Included are designs for Thurber Carnival, Tipple, and Tobacco Road (1977).
Rolled Set Designs
1966
1978
76
Included are designs for Tosca (1978), Toxcatl, Triumph of Honor (1966), and Two by Two (1978).
Rolled Set Designs
1964-1991
77
Included are designs for Uncle Vanya (1991), La Valse (1964), and Veronica's Room (1986).
Rolled Set Designs
1963-1983
78
Included are designs for The Visit (1963), Wake Up Old Man, A Water Engine (1983), and You Can't Take it With You (1966).
Unidentified Rolled Set Designs
79
Rolled Costume Design Prints
80
Oversize Architecture Designs
Rolled Architecture Designs
1962-1972
81
Included are designs for the LDS administration building, garage roof and plaza slab, Utah (1962); the LDS Colton 2nd Ward, California (1966); Gull, Inc. office building, Utah (1972); Park City Center for the Arts, Utah; and Silver King Restaurant, Utah (1964).
Rolled Architecture Designs
1955
1964
82
Included are designs for Valley Music Hall, Utah (1964); George Q. Morris building remodel (1955); Capitol Theater ground plan, Utah; ZCMI mall shopping layout, Utah; and Ballif's, Utah.
Rolled Architecture Designs
1959
1982
83
Included are designs for the Salt Lake Memorial Theater main floor (1959); Royce Hall, California; Western State College Little Theater; Professional Repertory Theater; and the University of Utah Babcock Theater floor, Utah (1982).
Rolled Architecture Designs
1963
1965
84
Included are designs for the Temple Square Christmas production; Yale Cabaret; telephone answering business building; Judge Memorial High School auditorium addition, Utah (1965); Brandeis Forum Theater; and the Boston Arts Festival (1963).
Rolled Architecture Designs, Theater 138
85
Rolled Architecture Designs, Theater 138
86
Rolled Architecture Designs
87
Residential plans for Ballif and others.
Rolled Architecture Designs
88
Included are designs for Park City, Utah, buildings and miscellaneous designs.
Miscellaneous Rolled Items
89
General Oversize Materials
Oversize Babcock Theater Scrapbook
circa 1960s-1980s
90
This scrapbook contains posters/broadsides for various productions performed at Babcock Theater.
Oversize Orfeo Framed Item
1960
91
Oversize Artwork
92
Oversize Artwork
93
Oversize Artwork
94
Oversize Artwork
95
Oversize Artwork
96
This box also contains very large set designs for Uncle Vanya (1992) and an unidentified production, possibly The Visit.
Theater 138, Broadsides
1980s
97
1
Theater Broadsides and Program
circa 1970s
97
2
Miscellaneous
97
3
Set Design Model for The Tempest
1985
98
Painter's Sketch for Charley's Aunt
1964
1