Montana State University Theatre Collection

Montana State University Theatre Collection, 1906-1997

Overview of the Collection

Title: Montana State University Theatre Collection
Dates: 1906-1997
19061997
Quantity: 7 linear feet
Collection Number: Collection 2567, MtBC, us (collection)
Summary: The MSU Theatre collection consists of materials dealing with specific productions, such as scripts, photographs, playbills, advertisements and other documentation. Other materials deal with the history of the general administration of the theatre program or its physical setting on campus.
Repository: Montana State University Library, Merrill G. Burlingame Special Collections
Montana State University-Bozeman Library
Merrill G Burlingame Special Collections
P.O. Box 173320
Bozeman, MT
59717-3320
Telephone: 4069944242
Fax: 4069942851
Access Restrictions: This collection is open for research.
Languages: English

Biographical NoteReturn to Top

In the early years of Montana State University, there was no formal degree program in the dramatic arts. The Alpha Psi Omega Society and the Sock and Buskin Club produced multiple plays annually in the first decade of the twentieth century. Eventually, professional development in terms of courses offered, minors, and finally a major being offered at MSC/MSU occured. Theater courses first appeared in the 1958-60 catalog, and theater first appeared as a separate minor (teaching) under the Department of Education in the 1962-1964 catalog. From 1962-1971 it appeared In the College of Letters and Sciences English Department as a Major Option. (Speech and Theatre Arts). In 1972 it became a separate department in L and S with 3 options and continues as a teaching minor in the Department of Education. In 1984 theater switched over to the College of Arts and Architecture with an addition of a “non” teaching minor being offered as well. A separate Media and Theatre Arts Department emerged in 1988 under the MTA option and listed a Motion Picture/Video/Theatre option for a major. By 2005 the teaching minor had ceased and in 2010 the word “theatre” is dropped from the option title and the department becomes the School of Film and Photography. At present courses are still offered as electives, but there are no options or minors still in existence. In the years when the college lacked a formal degree program in the dramatic arts, the students generally worked with a faculty advisor to facilitate the presentations. Alumni of note who were part of the MSU theater program over the years include Chet Huntley, Bill Pullman and Anthony Zerby. The location of the productions varied over time. Students generally put on about three to five plays per year, and a proper theatre and production facility was built in the Strand Union around 1957. In 2005 all production moved to the new state-of-the-art Black Box Theatre on the western side of the campus. Production evolved from simple box sets through advanced staging and lighting and to compact, durable traveling productions that tour for months at a time such as the Shakespeare in the Parks program.

Content DescriptionReturn to Top

The MSU Theatre collection consists of materials dealing with specific productions, such as scripts, photographs, playbills, advertisements and other documentation. Other materials deal with the history of the general administration of the theatre program or its physical setting on campus. Oversize materials pertaining to specific productions have been gathered in boxes 17-21. The collection is non-exhaustive with about 90% of the productions coming from 1906–1993.

Administrative InformationReturn to Top

Arrangement

Series 1 Chronological Files 1906-1997

Series 2 Historical and Architectural files

Acquisition Information

The collection was assembled beginning in 2010 when a large, disorganized collection of MSU theatre ephemera was given to David Swingle (class of 65) to be sorted and organized into a workable archive that was worth preserving for future research on the MSU’s theatre arts history. After a creating preliminary arrangement and inventory, Swingle donated the material to the MSU Library in 2014.

Processing Note

This collection was processed 2016 July 8

Detailed Description of the CollectionReturn to Top

Series 1: Chronological Files, 1906-1997Return to Top

Research materials arranged by date and Production name. They may include brief histories, scripts, programs, brochures, pamphlets, newspaper clippings; news releases; photocopies; slides, photographs and photocopied photographs, and playbills.

Container(s)	Description	Dates
Box/Folder
1/1		1906-1912
1/2		1913-1924
1/3		1925-1934
1/4		1935-1940
1/5		1941-1945
1/6		1946-1949
1/7		1949
1/8		1950-1956
1/9	“The Glass Menagerie”	Spring 1956
1/10	“Darkness at noon, etc.”	Spring 1956
1/11	“The Rain Maker”	Spring 1957
1/12	“One Acts” or maybe “Rainmaker” rehearsal	Spring 1957
1/13	“The Solid Gold Cadillac”	Spring 1957
1/14	“The Male Animal”	Summer 1957
1/15	“My Sister Ellen”	Fall 1957
1/16	“Emperor Jones”	Spring 1958
1/17	“The Chalk Garden”	Summer 1958
1/18	“Old Four Eyes”	Summer 1958
1/19	“The Four Poster”	Summer 1958
1/20	“Medea”	Fall 1958
1/21	“The Four Poster”	Fall 1958
1/22	“Tobias and the Angel”	Winter 1958
1/23	“Death of a Salesman”	Winter 1958
1/24	“Ondine”	Spring 1959
1/25	“Minstrel Show”	Spring 1959
1/26	“Picnic”	Summer 1959
1/27	“Tea and Sympathy”	Summer 1959
1/28	“Bell, Book and Candle”	Summer 1959
1/29	“The Glass Menagerie”	Summer 1959
1/30	“Bus Stop”	Summer 1959; Fall 1959
1/31	“Bus Stop” College Cast	Fall 1959
1/32	“Amahl and The Night Visitors”	Winter 1959
1/33	“Inherit the Wind”	Winter 1959
2/1	“Biggest Thief in Town”	Spring 1960
2/2	“Aladdin and His Wonderful Lamp”	Spring 1960
2/3	“Anastasia”	Summer 1960
2/4	“The Adventures of Tom Sawyer”	Summer 1960
2/5	“Three Blind Mice”	Fall 1960
2/6	“The Crucible”	Fall 1960
2/7	“A Streetcar Named Desire”	Winter 1960
2/8	“Home of the Brave”	Winter 1960
2/9	“The Rivalry”	Winter 1960
2/10	“Winterset”	Spring 1961
2/11	“Simple Simon”	Spring 1961
2/12-13	“The Bad Seed”	Summer 1961
2/14	“Janus”	Summer 1961
2/15	“Antigone”	Fall 1961
2/16	“King of Hearts”	Fall 1961
2/17	“The Cave Dwellers”	Spring 1961
2/18	“A Season for Crying”	Spring 1962
2/19	“Critic’s Choice”	Summer 1962
2/20	“Let ‘Em Eat Steak”	Fall 1962
2/21	“Boris Gudenov”	Fall 1962
2/22	“Adding Machine”	Fall 1962
2/23	“Three Men on a Horse USO tour	Winter 1962
3/1	“Rumpelstiltskin”	Winter 1963
3/2	“The Delinquent, the Hipster and the Square”	Winter 1963
3/3	“John Brown’s Body”	Winter 1963
3/4	Slides	Summer 1963
3/5	“The Princess Who Married a Frog”	Fall 1963
3/6	Slides	Fall 1963
3/7	“The Adding Machine”	Fall 1963
3/8	“The Torch Bearer”	Fall 1963
3/9	One Acts “The Torchbearer” and “Night of the Auk”	Fall 1963
3/10	Rumpelstiltskin	Winter 1963
3/11	“The Old Maid and The Thief”	Spring 1963
3/12	“Secret of Suzanne”	Spring 1963
3/13	“Singer’s Theatre”	Spring 1964
3/14	“Little Marry Sunshine”	Spring 1964
3/15	“Thunder Carnival”	Summer 1964
3/16	“Paint Your Wagon”	Summer 1964
3/17	“The Man”	Summer 1964
3/18	“Arsenic and Old Lace”	Fall 1964
3/19	“Oedipus”	Fall 1964
3/20	“Waiting for Godot”	Winter 1964
3/21	“The Desk Set”	Winter 1964
3/22	“The Birds”	Fall 1965
3/23	“Cosi fan Tutti”	Fall 1965
3/24	“A Christmas Carol”	Fall 1965
3/25	“Alice in Wonderland”	Winter 1965
3/26	“Twelfth Night”	Winter 1965
3/27	“Irma la Douce”	Spring 1965
3/28	“The Canterbury Tales”	Spring 1965
4/1	“And People All Around”	Fall 1966
4/2	“The Days Between”	Winter 1966
4/3	“Tenth Man”	Winter 1966
4/4	“The Tempest”	Winter 1966
4/5	“Roar of the Greasepaint”	Spring 1966
4/6	“Gallows Humor”	Spring 1966
4/7	“Ali Baba”	Spring 1967
4/8	“Pajama Game”	Spring 1967
4/9	One Acts “Public Eye” and “Private Ear”	Spring 1967
4/10	“Under Milkwood”	Summer 1967
4/11	“A Thousand Clowns”	Summer 1967
4/12	"Absence of a Cello”	Summer 1967
4/13	“Bernardine”	Fall 1967
4/14	“School for Wives”	Fall 1967
4/15	“King Lear”	Winter 1967
4/16	“Charlie’s Aunt”	Winter 1967
4/17	“Who’ll Save the Plowbox”	Winter 1967
4/18	“The Physicist”	Winter 1968
4/19	“No Exit”	Spring 1968
4/20	“Most Mad and Moony”	Spring 1968
4/21	“Figaro”	Spring 1968
4/22	“Simple Simon”	Spring 1968
4/23	“The House of Bernarda Alba”	Summer 1968
4/24	“Prometheus”	Fall 1968
4/25-26	“Desire Under the Elms	Fall 1968
5/1	“Desire Under the Elms	Fall 1968
5/2	“Animal Farm”	Winter 1968
5/3	“Simple Simon”	Winter 1968
5/4	“Luv”	Winter 1968
5/5	“The Killing of Sister George”	Winter 1968
5/6	“I was Dancing”	Winter 1968
5/7	“Champagne Complex”	Winter 1968
5/8-9	“Kiss Me Kate”	Spring 1969
5/10	“Walls of a Place”	Spring 1969
5/11	“The Fantastics”	Summer 1969
5/12	“Romanoff and Juliet”	Fall 1969
5/13	“A Message from Cougar”	Fall 1969
5/14-15	“The Summertree”	Winter 1969
5/16	“Exit the King”	Spring 1970
5/17	“Antigone”	Spring 1970
5/18	“The Underpants”	Summer 1970
5/19	“The Star Spangled Girl”	Summer 1970
5/20	“The Doll’s House”	Summer 1970
5/21	“Don’t Drink the Water”	Summer 1970
6/1	“Macbeth”	Fall 1970
6/2	“Carmen”	Winter 1970
6/3-4	“The Apple Tree”	Winter 1970
6/5	“The Lover” (Shoestring)	Winter 1970
6/6	“The Tiger” (Shoestring)	Winter 1970
6/7	“A Flea in Her Ear”	Spring 1971
6/8	“Loot”	Spring 1971
6/9	Loft Barn Pictures	Summer 1971
6/10	“The Tender Trap” Loft	Summer 1971
6/11	“My Three Angels” Loft	Summer 1971
6/12	“The Only Man in Town” Loft	Summer 1971
6/13	“I Do! I Do!” Loft	Summer 1971
6/14-15	“The Caucasian Chalk Circle”	Fall 1971
6/16	“Who’s Afraid of Virginia Wolfe?”	Fall 1971
6/17	“The Price”	Fall 1971
6/18	“The Princess Who Married a Frog”	Fall 1971
6/19	“Little Murders”	Winter of 1971
6/20	“The Night Thoreau Spent in Jail”	Winter of 1971
6/21	“The Man of La Mancha”	Winter of 1971
7/1	“Scratch”	Winter 1972
7/2	“A Company of Wayward Saints”	Winter 1972
7/3	“Spoon River Anthology”	Winter 1972
7/4	“Look Homeward, Angel”	Winter 1972
7/5	“Everyman” (Shoestring Thtr.)	Spring 1972
7/6	“Amphitryon 38	Spring 1972
7/7	“The Balcony”	Spring 1972
7/8	“Ubu”	Spring 1972
7/9	“Gus and Dolls”	Spring 1972
7/10	“Plaza Suite”	Summer 1972
7/11	“A Mighty Man is He”	Summer 1972
7/12	“The Entertainer”	Summer 1972
7/13	“Harvey”	Summer 1972
7/14	“Stop the World! I Want to Get Off!”	Summer 1972
7/15	“Dark of the Moon” Ditto’s etc.	Fall 1972
7/16	“Biederman and the Fire Bugs”	Fall 1972
7/17	“Christ in the Concrete City”	Fall 1972
7/18	“Dark of the Moon”	Fall 1972
7/19	“You’re a Good Man Charlie Brown”	Summer 1973
7/20	“The Importance of Being Ernest”	Summer 1973
7/21	“The House of Blue Leaves” Publicity	Fall 1973
7/22	“Jabberwock” Publicity	Fall 1973
8/1	“All the Kings Men”	Fall 1973
8/2	“Dark of the Moon”	Fall 1973
8/3	“Jabberwock”	Fall 1973
8/4	“The Hostage” Publicity	Winter 1973
8/5	“Hail Scrawduke”	Winter 1973
8/6	“The Company of Wayward Saints”	Winter 1973
8/7	“Under Milkwood”	Winter 1973
8/8	“The Company of Wayward Saints”	Winter 1973
8/9	“The Little Prince”	Winter 1973
8/10	“Zoo Story”	Winter 1973
8/11	“Celebration”	Spring 1973
8/12	“The Balcony”	Spring 1973
8/13	“Miss Reardon Drinks a Little”	Summer 1974
8/14	“The Biggest Thief in Town”	Summer 1974
8/15	“Echoes” Richard Nash	Fall 1974
8/16	“Indians” Arthur Kopits	Fall 1974
8/17	“Indians” Kopits
8/18	“The Hostage”	Winter 1974
8/19	“Endgame” Publicity	Winter 1974
8/20	“The Mikado”	Winter 1974
8/21	Dinner Theatre	Winter 1974
8/22	“Night of the Iguana”	Spring 1974
8/23	“The Insect Comedy”	Spring 1974
8/24	“Happy Birthday, Wanda June” (Shoestring Production)	Spring 1974
9/1	“The Skin of Our Teeth”	Spring 1974
9/2	“A Midsummer Night’s Dream”	Spring 1974
9/3	“Moon Children”	Fall 1975
9/4	“Veronica’s Room”	Fall 1975
9/5	“Blythe Spirit”	Winter 1975
9/6	Dinner Theatre	Winter 1975
9/7	“Hotel Paradiso”	Spring 1976
9/8	“Red Ryder”	Spring 1976
9/9	“A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum”	Fall 1976
9/10	“The Time of Your Life”	Winter 1976
9/11	“Hedda Gabler”	Winter 1976
9/12	“Cat on a Hot Tin Roof”	Spring 1977
9/13	“Dracula”	Summer 1977
9/14	“The Court Martial of George Armstrong Custer”	Fall 1977
9/15	“Beggar’s Opera”	Fall 1978
9/16	“King Lear”	Fall 1978
9/17	“A La Carte Vaudeville”	Summer 1978
9/18	“I Do! I Do!”	Summer 1978
9/19	“Mildred Wild” Program	Fall 1979
9/20	“She Stoops” Program	Fall 1979
9/21	“Our Town” Programs Layout	Winter 1979
9/22	“Bell, Book and Candle”	Winter 1979
9/23	“Macbeth” Publicity	Spring 1979
9/24	“Macbeth”	Spring 1979
9/25	“Cabaret”	Fall 1980
9/26	“The Mouse Trap”	Fall 1980
10/1	“Iphigenia”	Fall 1980
10/2	“No Exit”	Spring 1980
10/3	“The Same Difference”	Spring 1981
10/4	“Shadowbox”	Spring 1981
10/5	“Dud”	Spring 1981
10/6	“Something’s Afoot”	Fall 1981
10/7	“A Christmas Carol”	Fall 1981
10/8	“The Real Inspector Hound” (Shoestring)	Winter 1981
10/9	“The Real Inspector Hound”	Winter 1981
10/10	“Black Comedy”	Winter 1981
10/11	“Mad Dog Blues”	Winter 1981
10/12	Unlabeled Slides (Dinner Theatre)	Winter 1981
10/13	“Don’t Drink the Water” (Dinner Theatre)	Winter 1981
10/14	“The Real Inspector Hound” (Dinner Theatre)	Winter 1981
10/15	“One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest”	Spring 1982
10/16	“The Rainmaker”	Spring 1982
10/17	“The Importance of Being Earnest”	Fall 1982
10/18	“White Chicks”	Fall 1982
10/19	“The Mad Woman of Chaillot”	Winter 1982
10/20	“Oklahoma!”	Winter 1982
11/1	“The Elephant Man”	Spring 1983
11/2	“The Apple Tree”	Spring 1983
11/3	“The Music Man”	Spring 1983
11/4	“A Streetcar Named Desire”	Fall 1983
11/5	“Walt of the Toreadors”	Winter 1983
11/6	“Fiddler on the Roof”	Winter 1983
11/7	Untitled Slides	Winter 1983
11/8	“Laundry and Bourbon”	Spring 1984
11/9	“Lone Star”	Spring 1984
11/10	“Damn Yankees”	Summer 1984
11/11	“Hello Dolly”	Winter 1984
11/12	“A Midsummer Night’s Dream”	Spring 1984
11/13	“Charlie’s Aunt”	Fall 1985
11/14	“The Three Penny Opera”	Winter 1985
12/1	“Godspell”	Winter 1985
12/2	“The House of Blue Leaves”	Spring 1985
12/3	“The Buried Child”	Fall 1986
12/4	“A Child’s Christmas in Whales”	Fall 1986
12/5	“Annie Get Your Gun”	Winter 1986
12/6-7	“Of Mice and Men”	Fall 1987
12/8	“The Foreigner”	Winter 1987
12/9	“Noises Off”	Spring 1987
12/10	“K2”	Spring 1987
12/11	“The Belle of Amherst”	Spring 1987
12/12	“Three Places in the Mind’s Eye”	Winter 1988
12/13	“Who’s Afraid of Virginia Wolf”	Winter 1988
12/14	"Educating Rita”	Spring 1988
12/15	“The Wake of Jeremy Foster”	Spring 1988
12/16	“Carmen”	Spring 1989
12/17	“Melophobia”	Fall 1989
12/18	"The Best Christmas Pageant Ever”	Fall 1989
13/1	"The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas”	Spring 1990
13/2	6 RMS RIV VU – Publicity	Spring 1990
13/3	“The Marriage of Betty and Boo”	Fall 1990
13/4	“Orphans”	Fall 1990
13/5	“Equus”	Winter 1990
13/6	“Hamlet”	Spring 1991
13/7	“Little Shop of Horrors”	Fall 1991
13/8	“Three Sisters”	Fall 1991
13/9	“The Glass Menagerie”	Winter 1991
13/10	“The Boys Next Door”	Spring 1992
13/11	“The Nerd”	Winter 1992
13/12	“A Christmas Carol”	Winter 1992
14/1	“Inspector Carol”	Fall 1993
14/2	“Dance Around a Flagpole”	Winter 1993
14/3	“As You Like It”	Winter 1993
14/4	“No Exit” and “When the Wind Blows”	Fall 1996
14/5	“Cabaret”	Fall 1996
14/6	“Woman in Black”	Fall 1997
14/7	“All in the Timing”	Spring 1997

Series 2: Historical and Architectural filesReturn to Top

Photographs, blueprints, memorandums and other material pertaining to the MSU theatre program but not specifically related to any particular production. Also included are production photographs and slides that cannot be positively matched to a particular production.

Container(s)	Description	Dates
Box/Folder
15/1	Save the Theater Fund	1992
15/2	Ticket Box Schedule
15/3	SUB Theater Seating Plans
15/4	SUB Theater Bids and Alternatives
15/5	SUB Theater Funds Specifications
15/6	SUB Theater Estimates and Specs
15/7	Proposed Auditorium
15/8	SUB Theater – Specifications lighting and Rigging
16/1	Work crews and back stage
16/2	Staff/Building photos
16/3	Miscellaneous unidentified slides
16/4	Miscellaneous unidentified prints
	OVERSIZED Materials: Arranged by date and Production title
Box
17-18	Mounted photo prints	1970’s
19	Mounted photo prints	1980’s; 1990’s
20	Miscellaneous unidentified mounted prints
21	Miscellaneous Production posters

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