Brooklyn theater collection

The Brooklyn theater collection is comprised of playscripts, playbills, programs, and other ephemera from various theater venues in Brooklyn and Manhattan. Although some material dates from the early 18th century to as late as the 1930s, most of the material focuses on the years 1823 to 1911. Programs relating to concerts, musical comedies, and musical revues are also included. In addition, the collection has some early rare examples of handwritten director's promptbooks dating back to 1733. Some examples of ephemeral material contained in the collection are an invitation to a ball sponsored by the Academy of Brooklyn to the Prince of Wales, Brooklyn Academy ticket statements, and clippings.

The majority of the collection centers on Brooklyn and Manhattan theater venues. Such well-known establishments as the Brooklyn Academy of Music, Montauk Theatre, Orpheum Theatre, Payton's Lee Avenue Theatre, the Lyceum Hall, the Astor Place Opera House, Barnum's American Museum, Franklin Theatre, and Laura Keen's Theatre are included in this collection.

For an index of individual performers and plays listed, see Box 1, Folder 1: Playbills and Programs Finding Aid (1968). Please note that this list is no longer representative of the entire collection.