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Performing arts -- History

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Bob Hope and American Variety

One of the most enduring legends of American film, stage, and screen receives an excellent tribute on this online exhibit from the Library of Congress, dealing with his 70 year career, and more broadly, the enduring legacy and history of vaudeville in the United States. Different sections of the site include an essay on the early life of Bob Hope, the story of American vaudeville in the first...

https://www.loc.gov/exhibits/bobhope/
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Global Performing Arts Database

The Global Performing Arts Database (GloPAD) is a trove of "detailed, multilingual descriptions of digital images, texts, video clips, sound recordings, and complex media objects related to the performing arts around the world." Currently, the site contains over 4,500 records and was made possible by funds provided by the Institute of Museum and Library Services. New visitors may wish to peruse...

https://ecommons.cornell.edu/handle/1813/113796
Musicals101.com: The Cyber Encyclopedia of Musical Theatre, TV and Film

Around for close to two hundred years in one form or another, musicals are much loved by many professional and amateur companies who tread the boards. Authored and maintained by John Kenrick, an expert on musical theater history (and a personal assistant to six Tony-winning producers), the site contains close to 900 Web pages of information about the history, development, and current traditions of...

http://www.musicals101.com/
Roger L. Stevens Presents

This exhibition preview from the Library of Congress highlights the work of Roger L. Stevens, one of America's foremost theatrical producers and impresarios of the 20th century. During his a career that lasted over fifty years, Mr. Stevens backed his first Broadway show in 1949 and soon became a moving force in American and British theater, eventually presenting over 100 plays and musicals in...

https://www.loc.gov/exhibits/stevens/stevens-preview.html
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The Danny Kaye and Sylvia Fine Collection

Danny Kaye and his wife Sylvia Fine entertained the American public for decades and their life in musical entertainment is a testimony to their love of performance. This digital collection from the Library of Congress brings together items that include printed music, photographs, videos, audio recordings, and manuscripts. There's a great interactive timeline here that provides visitors with...

https://www.loc.gov/collections/danny-kaye-and-sylvia-fine/a...
Touring West: 19th-century Performing Artists on the Overland Trails

The New York Public Library has three major digital exhibitions currently running to complement their in-house exhibits. Together, these exhibits constitute a marvelous introduction to Western history via primary documents and images from the era. Touring West "celebrates the creators, promoters, and performers of professional theater, music, and dance who toured the American continent" from 1803...

http://web-static.nypl.org/exhibitions/west/tw_subhome.html
Traveling Culture: Circuit Chautauqua in the Twentieth Century

The latest addition to the American Memory Project highlights a University of Iowa Libraries collection of talent brochures and other materials from one of the largest booking agencies for Chautauqua performers. The site presents "7,949 publicity brochures, promotional advertisements and talent circulars for some 4,546 performers who were part of the Chautauqua circuit." These may be searched by...

https://digital.lib.uiowa.edu/tc/
Ultimate Cary Grant Pages

Maintained and developed by Debbie Dunlap, a devoted fan, this site pays homage to Cary Grant (whose real name was the slightly less marquee-friendly, Archibald Leach), one of Hollywood's leading men during the 20th century. The site provides a host of material about Grant, his films, and his life, including a filmography, movie reviews, a photo gallery, a sound gallery, and links to old radio...

http://www.carygrant.net/