1. Next week one of the most anticipated films of the year, Les Miserables, opens in theaters. In celebration of the film’s release Doug Reside, our Digital Curator of Performing Arts at The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, has written a wonderful blog about his long anticipation to see a film adaptation of Les Miserables: The Musical. He also has been able to digitize and post on his blog some great photographs of the early cast from the show. And of course you can find all of your Les Miserables needs from soundtracks to films to books throughout branches of The New York Public Library. 

    Next week one of the most anticipated films of the year, Les Miserables, opens in theaters. In celebration of the film’s release Doug Reside, our Digital Curator of Performing Arts at The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, has written a wonderful blog about his long anticipation to see a film adaptation of Les Miserables: The Musical. He also has been able to digitize and post on his blog some great photographs of the early cast from the show. And of course you can find all of your Les Miserables needs from soundtracks to films to books throughout branches of The New York Public Library. 

  2. Before we met the robots - and excuse me androids - in STAR WARS, BLADE RUNNER, THE TERMINATOR, SHORT CIRCUIT, WALL-E, heck even WEST WORLD (underrated gem) and CAPTAIN EO (oh yeah I went there) there was the fascinating Off-Broadway stage production of R.U.R. in 1922. Debuting 90 years ago today and written by Czech playwright Karel Capek, R.U.R. was one of the earliest sci-fi stage productions and also introduced the word “robot” to the english language. The history of R.U.R. is written about in an absolutely fascinating blog entry written by Jeremy Megraw, from The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts Billy Rose Theatre Collection. Let the machines rise! 

    Before we met the robots - and excuse me androids - in STAR WARS, BLADE RUNNER, THE TERMINATOR, SHORT CIRCUIT, WALL-E, heck even WEST WORLD (underrated gem) and CAPTAIN EO (oh yeah I went there) there was the fascinating Off-Broadway stage production of R.U.R. in 1922. Debuting 90 years ago today and written by Czech playwright Karel Capek, R.U.R. was one of the earliest sci-fi stage productions and also introduced the word “robot” to the english language. The history of R.U.R. is written about in an absolutely fascinating blog entry written by Jeremy Megraw, from The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts Billy Rose Theatre Collection. Let the machines rise! 

  3. This week’s Caturday should bring back some “memories.” This 1982 photograph of performer Christine Langner is from the Broadway run of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s “Cats” (one of the longest running Broadway shows in history), and was taken by legendary theater and film photographer Martha Swope. The image is currently located in the incredible Martha Swope Collection at our Library for the Performing Arts (LPA) - a collection highlighted this week in an amazing NY Times profile of Swope (which includes an online slideshow of images), and that is starring in a new (of course, free) exhibition at LPA called Martha Swope: In Rehearsal. The show features rehearsal photos from Swope’s 40-year career documenting NY theater (including photos from the original production of West Side Story) and opens Thursday, Sept. 27. Go down to LPA (conveniently located on the Lincoln Center campus) and check it out!

    This week’s Caturday should bring back some “memories.” This 1982 photograph of performer Christine Langner is from the Broadway run of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s “Cats” (one of the longest running Broadway shows in history), and was taken by legendary theater and film photographer Martha Swope. The image is currently located in the incredible Martha Swope Collection at our Library for the Performing Arts (LPA) - a collection highlighted this week in an amazing NY Times profile of Swope (which includes an online slideshow of images), and that is starring in a new (of course, free) exhibition at LPA called Martha Swope: In Rehearsal. The show features rehearsal photos from Swope’s 40-year career documenting NY theater (including photos from the original production of West Side Story) and opens Thursday, Sept. 27. Go down to LPA (conveniently located on the Lincoln Center campus) and check it out!

  4. Let us continue Flashback Friday and go waaaaay back to the year…. 1998. Paul Simon finally released his highly anticipated musical THE CAPEMAN (starring Ruben Blades) and eeeesh the reviews were not kind at all. The show closed after only 68 performances. That being said, we found in our incredible theater marquee collection at The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts this photograph of THE CAPEMAN during its brief run. And because we love Paul Simon so much here is a link to his iconic music video for YOU CAN CALL ME AL (from his equally iconic GRACELAND album) with Chevy Chase. It never gets old. 

    Let us continue Flashback Friday and go waaaaay back to the year…. 1998. Paul Simon finally released his highly anticipated musical THE CAPEMAN (starring Ruben Blades) and eeeesh the reviews were not kind at all. The show closed after only 68 performances. That being said, we found in our incredible theater marquee collection at The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts this photograph of THE CAPEMAN during its brief run. And because we love Paul Simon so much here is a link to his iconic music video for YOU CAN CALL ME AL (from his equally iconic GRACELAND album) with Chevy Chase. It never gets old. 

  5. “WHAT IS SO SPECIAL ABOUT BASKIN!?!?” The beloved 1988 film BIG made us realize that Tom Hanks is awesome, Zoltar machines are dangerous, giant pianos can provide great exercise, and if MacMillan Toys was a real company it would be the coolest place to work. In other words the movie is a classic. The same cannot be said for the 1996 musical adaptation of the film that left many people saying: “I don’t get it.” BIG: THE MUSICAL opened and closed quickly on Broadway in 1996 and has become largely forgotten. Well forget no more. We found in our collections at The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts in our Billy Rose Theatre Division this original playbill. Can you say shimmy shimmy cocoa pop? 

    “WHAT IS SO SPECIAL ABOUT BASKIN!?!?” The beloved 1988 film BIG made us realize that Tom Hanks is awesome, Zoltar machines are dangerous, giant pianos can provide great exercise, and if MacMillan Toys was a real company it would be the coolest place to work. In other words the movie is a classic. The same cannot be said for the 1996 musical adaptation of the film that left many people saying: “I don’t get it.”

    BIG: THE MUSICAL opened and closed quickly on Broadway in 1996 and has become largely forgotten. Well forget no more. We found in our collections at The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts in our Billy Rose Theatre Division this original playbill. Can you say shimmy shimmy cocoa pop? 

  6. Wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah YOU’RE A GOOD MAN ,CHARLIE BROWN THE BROADWAY MUSICAL from our Broadway Theater Marquees Collection from The Billy Rose Theatre Division at The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah 

    Wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah YOU’RE A GOOD MAN ,CHARLIE BROWN THE BROADWAY MUSICAL from our Broadway Theater Marquees Collection from The Billy Rose Theatre Division at The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah 

  7. What do Sam Shepard, Bernadette Peters, Edward Albee and Al Pacino all have in common? It was called the Caffe Cino and it is credited as the birthplace of the Off Off Broadway theater movement in the nineteen sixties. The New York Times writes about the new and fascinating Caffe Cino collection that was recently donated to The Billy Rose Theatre Division of The  New York Public Library for the Performing Arts. Read all about it here 

    What do Sam Shepard, Bernadette Peters, Edward Albee and Al Pacino all have in common? It was called the Caffe Cino and it is credited as the birthplace of the Off Off Broadway theater movement in the nineteen sixties. The New York Times writes about the new and fascinating Caffe Cino collection that was recently donated to The Billy Rose Theatre Division of The  New York Public Library for the Performing Arts. Read all about it here 

  8. Happy birthday Al Hirschfeld! Above is one of his NY Times caricatures from 1976, depicting Penny Fuller (Anne Boleyn/Princess Elizabeth) and Nicol Williamson (Henry VIII) in “Rex.” That drawing is at our Library For The Performing Arts, along with Hirschfeld’s writing desk and barber chair, donated to NYPL earlier this year.

    Happy birthday Al Hirschfeld! Above is one of his NY Times caricatures from 1976, depicting Penny Fuller (Anne Boleyn/Princess Elizabeth) and Nicol Williamson (Henry VIII) in “Rex.” That drawing is at our Library For The Performing Arts, along with Hirschfeld’s writing desk and barber chair, donated to NYPL earlier this year.

  9. ©Disney • Design: Fraver Frank “Fraver” Verlizzo has created some of the most iconic and beautiful theater posters from the past four decades including The Lion King, American Buffalo, Sunday in the Park with George, and Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street. He has created poster art for over 300 Broadway and Off-Broadway productions. Starting today, The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts celebrates Fraver’s career with the brand new retrospective exhibit DESIGN: FRAVER that can be found in the Library’s Plaza Corridor Gallery through April 30. The exhibit will feature 36 examples of posters and window cards as well as sketches, notes and discarded images that bring the artist’s process to life. So come on down to LPA and check out this awesome exhibit!

    ©Disney • Design: Fraver

    Frank “Fraver” Verlizzo has created some of the most iconic and beautiful theater posters from the past four decades including The Lion King, American Buffalo, Sunday in the Park with George, and Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street. He has created poster art for over 300 Broadway and Off-Broadway productions. Starting today, The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts celebrates Fraver’s career with the brand new retrospective exhibit DESIGN: FRAVER that can be found in the Library’s Plaza Corridor Gallery through April 30. The exhibit will feature 36 examples of posters and window cards as well as sketches, notes and discarded images that bring the artist’s process to life. So come on down to LPA and check out this awesome exhibit!

  10. Here’s “something wonderful” for you - check out this rarely seen photograph of legendary actor Yul Brynner sitting with Richard Rodgers on the set of the Broadway production of The King and I. Cool, right? Well, it’s just one of many gems that theater fans can now see online courtesy of NYPL’s Library For The Performing Arts, which digitized over 3,500 images from its Richard Rodgers collection and created the online gallery The Sweetest Sounds:The Musical Theatre of Richard Rodgers. Many of the images (from the Billy Rose Theatre Division) have never been seen before, and document 41 of the shows composed by Rodgers, featuring stars like Angela Lansbury, Gene Kelly and Mary Martin. Photographs, programs, window cards, advertising ephemera, manuscripts and set designs are all included. So check it all out - it’s fun getting to know this collection. 

    Here’s “something wonderful” for you - check out this rarely seen photograph of legendary actor Yul Brynner sitting with Richard Rodgers on the set of the Broadway production of The King and I. Cool, right? Well, it’s just one of many gems that theater fans can now see online courtesy of NYPL’s Library For The Performing Arts, which digitized over 3,500 images from its Richard Rodgers collection and created the online gallery The Sweetest Sounds:The Musical Theatre of Richard Rodgers. Many of the images (from the Billy Rose Theatre Division) have never been seen before, and document 41 of the shows composed by Rodgers, featuring stars like Angela Lansbury, Gene Kelly and Mary Martin. Photographs, programs, window cards, advertising ephemera, manuscripts and set designs are all included. So check it all out - it’s fun getting to know this collection.