Theatre Subject Guide - University Libraries, University of Hartford

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Sections in this category: General Resources | Biographies | Career Help | Costume Resources | Criticism and Reviews | Dictionaries | Encyclopedias | Indexes to Plays | Plot Outlines and Characters

General Resources

Acting with an Accent
By David Stern. Allen Library A/V [MX PE1712 S77] Check Status

Cambridge Guide to Theatre
Information on the history and present practice of theatre in all parts of the world. Also available in print: Mortensen Library Reference [PN2035 .C27 1995]

The Cambridge History of American Theatre
Edited by Don B. Wilmeth and Christopher Bigsby. Mortensen Library Shelves [PN2221 C37 1998] Check Status

Continuum Companion to Twentieth Century Theatre
Coverage includes individuals--performers, playwrights, directors, designers, choreographers, composers--theater companies, countries, trends and genres.

Dictionary of Shakespeare
A comprehensive dictionary that covers the plays, poems, characters and background to Shakespeare's works.

Regional Theatre Directory
By Jill Charles. Allen Library Reference [REF PN2289 R44 2001] Check Status

Shakespeare for Students
Each entry includes an introduction; a plot synopsis; a character list; a discussion of the work's principal themes; information about the style and literary devices used; a conversation about the work's historical context; and a critical overview.

Biographies

African American Women Playwrights: A Research Guide
Mortensen Library Reference [PS153.N5 G29 1999] Check Status

Ancient Writers: Greece and Rome
Edited by T. James Luce. Mortensen Library Reference [REF PA3002 A5 1982] Check Status

Contemporary Theatre, Film and Television: A Biographical Guide
Biographical reference providing information on individuals active in the theatre, film, and television industries. Covers not only performers, directors, writers, and producers, but also behind-the-scenes specialists such as designers, managers, choreographers, technicians, composers, executives, dancers, and critics from the United States, Canada, Great Britain, and the world.

Latin American Dramatists
Representative collection of playwrights from the sixteenth century to the present, serving as a summary introduction to the range of work carried out in Latin American drama.

Twentieth-Century American Dramatists
The careers of playwrights whose works achieved notable popularity as well as critical success are presented in some detail. Emphasis is placed on biography and a synthesis of the critical reception of authors' works.
Available online or in print: Check Status

Twentieth-Century French Dramatists
Essays on twentieth-century French playwrights who were largely influenced by non-French traditions, during the greatest age of French theater since the mid 1700s.

Career Help

Acting as a Business: Strategies for Success
Mortensen Library Shelves [PN2055 .O54 2014] Check Status

Career Opportunities in the Fashion Industry
Career Services Shelves [TT507 .V63 2007] and Mortensen Library Reference [TT507 .V63 2002] Check Status

Career Opportunities in the Film Industry
Career Services Shelves [PN1995.9.P75 Y34 2009] Check Status

Creative Careers in Fashion: 30 Ways to Make a Living in the World of Couture
Career Services Shelves [TT507 .H243 2007] Check Status

Great Jobs for Theater Majors
Mortensen Library Reference [PN2074 .G66 2005] Check Status

Resumes for Performing Arts Careers
Career Services Shelves [PN1580 .R47 2004] Check Status

Costume Resources

Costume Design: Techniques of Modern Masters
Mortensen Library Shelves [TT507 .P39 1999] Check Status

Costumes for the Stage: a Complete Handbook for Every Kind of Play
Mortensen Library Shelves [PN2067 .J28 2001] Check Status

Handbook of Stage Costume
Mortensen Library Shelves [PN2067 .B53 2006] Check Status

The Visual History of Costume Accessories
Mortensen Library Shelves [GT2050 .C86 1998] Check Status

Criticism and Reviews

Classical and Medieval Literature Criticism
Now online in the Literature Resource Center. Also available in print: Mortensen Library Reference [REF PN610 C53 v.1-107] Check Status

Contemporary Literature Criticism
Now online in the Literature Criticism Online database. Also available in print: Mortensen Library Reference [REF PN771 R53 v.1-178] Check Status

Critical Survey of Drama
Edited by Carl Rollyson. Mortensen Library Reference [REF PN 1625 C68 2003] Check Status

Literary Criticism from 1400 to 1800
Now online in the Literature Criticism Online database. Also available in print: Mortensen Library Reference [REF PN86 L53 v.1-159] Check Status

Twentieth-Century Literary Criticism
Now online in the Literature Criticism Online database. Also available in print: Mortensen Library Reference [REF PN771 G27 v.1-213] Check Status

Dictionaries

Costume Language: a Dictionary of Dress Terms
Mortensen Library Reference [GT507 .D38 1994] Check Status

OED Online (Oxford English Dictionary)
Search the definitive dictionary of the English language, complete and continuously updated. Provides definitions, etymology, and history of usage with examples over time. UofH users only. Full text. Click "Check Status" for access. Check Status

Shakespeare's Theatre: A Dictionary of His Stage Context
Coverage includes the practices of Elizabethan actors and script writers: methods of characterization; gesture, blocking and choreography, including music, dance and fighting; actors' rhetorical interaction with audiences; and use of costumes, stage props, and make-up.

Encyclopedias

Encyclopedia of Clothing and Fashion
Design and style of fashion and clothing throughout history.

Encyclopedia of Stage Lighting
By Jody Briggs. Mortensen Library Reference [REF PN2091 E4 B66 2003] Check Status

Illustrated Encyclopedia of World Costume
Mortensen Library Reference [REF GT507 .Y37 2011] Check Status

McGraw Hill Encyclopedia of World Drama
Mortensen Library Reference [REF PN1625 M3 1984] Check Status

The Oxford Companion to American Theatre
By Gerald Martin Bordman. Mortensen Library Shelves [PN2220 B6 1992] Check Status

Indexes to Plays

1/2/3/4 for the Show: a guide to small-cast one-act plays
By Lewis W. Heniford. Mortensen Library Shelves [Z5781 H46 1995] Check Status

Ottemiller's Index to Plays in Collections
By John H. Ottemiller. Mortensen Library Reference [REF Z5781 O8 1988] Check Status

Play Index
Mortensen Library Reference [REF Z5781 P72] Check Status

Plot Outlines and Characters

A Digest of 500 Plays; plot outlines and production notes
Edited by Theodore Shank. Mortensen Library Reference [REF PN6112.5 S52 1966] Check Status

Drury's Guide to Best Plays
By Francis K. W. Drury. Mortensen Library Shelves [Z5781 D8 1978] Check Status

Masterplots
By Frank N. Magill. Mortensen Library Reference [REF PN44 M33 1971 v.1-18] Check Status

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Sections in this category: General Resources | Specific Topics

Below are call number ranges for areas within this topic. Use these call numbers to browse the library shelves when you have a general idea of what you want, but don't have a specific item in mind.

General Resources

PA
Classical Languages and Literatures

PJ
Oriental Philology

PN
General Literature

PQ
Romance Literatures

PR, PS
English and American Literature

PT
Germanic Literatures

Specific Topics

PN2091 .E4
Stage Lighting

PN2091 .M3
Stage Rigging

PN2091 .M6
Stage-setting and scenery

PN2091 .S6
Sound (in Theatre)

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Sections in this category: General Resources | Film Resources | Literature Resources | Music Resources | Newspapers

General Resources

Academic Search Premier
Indexing and abstracts for over 8,000 journals in all subject areas, with full text of articles from nearly 4,600. Includes some popular magazines as well as scholarly journals.

Gale Virtual Reference Library
Search the tables of contents or full text of selected reference books in business, education, the environment, medicine biology, and the social sciences.

Humanities Abstracts
Strong resource index for all aspects of the Humanities including: Archaeology, Area Studies, Art, Classical Studies, Communications, Dance, Film, Folklore, Gender Studies, History, Journalism, Linguistics, Literary & Social Criticism Literature, Music, Performing Arts, Philosophy, Religion and Theology

JSTOR Arts and Sciences
Searchable full text of articles from selected scholarly journals in fields including area studies, anthropology, ecology, economics, education, history, language and literature, mathematics, philosophy, political sciences, sociology and statistics. No current issues available. Historical coverage varies, but database includes some titles from before 1950.

OED Online (Oxford English Dictionary)
Search the definitive dictionary of the English language, complete and continuously updated. Provides definitions, etymology, and history of usage with examples over time. UofH users only. Full text.

Film Resources

FedFlix (US Government produced Film Database)
Featuring the best movies of the United States Government, from training films to history, from our national parks to the U.S. Fire Academy and the Postal Inspectors, all of these fine films are available for reuse without any restrictions whatsoever.

Film & Television Literature Index
Bibliographic database covering all aspects of film and television theory, preservation, writing, production, technical aspects, and reviews. Abstracts with selected full text.

Film Literature Index
Years Covered: 1976-2001
Annually indexes 150 film and television periodicals from 30 countries cover-to-cover and 200 other periodicals selectively for articles on film and television (coverage from 1976-2001).

Literature Resources

Dictionary of Literary Biography
Lengthy, full text biographical and critical essays on world literary figures from all eras and genres. Limited number of simultaneous users. Be sure to close when finished searching.

Essay & General Literature Index with Retrospective
Years Covered: 1900-
Essay & General Literature offers access to tens of thousands of essays that are otherwise all but inaccessible. This resource also unlocks a wealth of information in thousands of collections and anthologies, making your library more valuable to researchers in a wide array of fields.

Literature Criticism Online
Extensive compilation of literary commentary available.

Literature Resource Center
Biographies, bibliographies and critical analysis of more than 90,000 authors, poets, journalists and other writers. Search by name, title, genre, literary movement or literary theme. Provides access to essays in the literary themes. Made available by iCONN.org, the Connecticut Digital Library. Selected full text available.

MLA Bibliography
International index of books and journals. Covers modern languages, literature, linguistics, and folklore. For information about the periodicals included, consult the MLA Directory of Periodicals.

World Shakespeare Bibliography
Annotated bibliography of scholarly and popular materials on Shakespeare.

Music Resources

Classical Music Library
Listen online in this audio database that contains over 4,000 albums of classical music from medieval to contemporary music. UH access only.

DRAM
Listen online in this audio database that contains over 2,000 albums by American composers and artists, from folk to opera, Native American to jazz, nineteenth-century classical to early rock, music theater, and contemporary music. It includes the complete catalog of New World Records; repertoire from CRI , Albany Records, Innova Recordings; and liner notes and essays from these labels. UH access only.

Music Index Online
Years Covered: 1973-Present
Identifies articles in over 700 music journals. Covers classical, jazz, popular, folk, and world music, including musicology, ethnomusicology, theory, applied and professional topics, music education, music industry, and reviews. Allen Library also has printed volumes: 1949-1998, [Ref] ML113 M9. UH access only.

RILM
Years Covered: 1967-Present
RILM (Répertoire International de Littérature Musicale) describes scholarly writings on music and related disciplines, including dance. Includes citations and abstracts for journal articles, essays, Festschriften, dissertations, books, scholarly reviews, etc. International coverage, including non-English languages. The Allen Library also has printed volumes from 1967-1994.

Newspapers

Historical New York Times
Full images of the complete New York Times from 1851 to 2002. Search by keyword, by date, etc. Images of specific articles or full pages available..

ProQuest Newspapers
Search the text of major newspapers including the Boston Globe (1980- ), Christian Science Monitor (1990- ), Hartford Courant (1992- ), Los Angeles Times (1985- ), New York Times (1999- ), including the Book Review and Magazine), Wall Street Journal Eastern Edition (1984- ), and Washington Post (1987- ). Full text available.

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Aisle Say

American Drama
Online (2002-2007)

American Theatre
Online (1992-present); Mortensen Library Periodicals PN2000 .A437 (1985-1996)

Applied Theatre Researcher

Back Stage

Canadian Theatre Review

Comparative Drama

CurtainUp

Drama

Dramatics

International Journal of Arts Management
Online | Print: Check Status

Modern Drama

Modern International Drama

New Theatre Quarterly

New York Times Theater Reviews

Performing Arts Journal (print)
Check Status

Performing Arts Review
Check Status
Playbill Online

Renaissance Drama

Shakespeare Quarterly

TDR: The Drama Review

Theatre (Yale School of Drama)

Theatre History Studies

Theatre Journal

Theatre Research International

Theatre Topics

Variety
Online | Print: Check Status

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Use these subject headings to search by general topic in our Library catalog. Copy the subject heading into the search box and use the drop down menu to search by "Subject". There are many more possible subjects than what we have listed here, but these should get you started.

Acting

Ballet

Clothing and dress

Comedy

Costume

Dialogue

Drama

English [French, etc.] drama

Fashion

Make-up

Method acting

Monologue

Movement acting

One-act plays

Performing arts

Stage

Stage lighting

Stage management

Theater

Theaters

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Sections in this category: General Resources | Career Guides | Comprehensive Sites | Encyclopedias | Funding | Medicine & Health | Monologues | News | Plays & Scripts | Specialized Sites | Theatrical Design

General Resources

Arts Management & Technology Laboratory (AMT Lab @ CMU)
Information on the use of technology in arts management. Formerly called Technology in the Arts.

American Memory Project (Library of Congress)
Superb collection of American historical links, plus prints, photographic images, and other excellent graphics.

Broadway.com (formerly Broadway Theater Online)
Lists current productions on and off Broadway as well as a history of Broadway.

Costume Page
A comprehensive index of costume and costuming-related links. There are well over 2,000 unique links listed on these pages.

Fashion-Era
Contains 750 content rich, illustrated pages of Fashion History, Costume History, Clothing, Fashions and Social History.

Internet Broadway Database
This site provides information about past and current Broadway shows, including cast listings for multiple productions of the same show. Based primarily on theater programs as well as media reports and interviews.

Labyrinth (Georgetown University)
Indispensable guide to the Medieval world online, with extensive links to texts, images, and archival databases. A truly extraordinary resource.

Literary Resources on the Net (Rutgers University)
All periods and genres of English and American literature; links to texts, bibliographies, scholarly articles and more.

Music Theatre International
Website of a major licensing company which provides information and links to many theatrical resources: licensing and production information, study guides, scores, musicals database, etc.

The Online Communicator
Annotated collections of links to practical information on film, video, audio, multimedia, writing for the media,etc.

WWW Virtual Library for Theatre and Drama
From the World Wide Web Virtual Library, this site includes links to theatre companies and festivals, image collections, studies, and archival texts.

Career Guides

Career Guides
This lengthy list of web sites includes those with information about searching for a job and sites listing available jobs in all fields. Maintained by Mortensen Library.

Current Jobs for Graduates
National employment bulletin. Updated monthly. UH access only.

Current Jobs in Performing Arts
National employment bulletin for the performing arts professions. Updated monthly. UH access only.

NYFA Classifieds
This New York Foundation for the Arts site lists Jobs in the Arts and Opportunities for Artists.

WESTAF ArtJob
A fee-for-service of the Western States Arts Federation, ArtJob lists full- and part-time employment, internships, grants, public art projects, residencies which can be searched by region, art discipline, type of organization, etc.

Comprehensive Sites

Alliance of Artists Community
Service organization for the field of artists' communities. Lists residences in the performing and media arts and opportunities for interdisciplinary collaboration; offers workshops, research, financial resources, and advocacy.

A Brief Guide to Internet Resources in Theatre and Performance Studies
This is an extensive site of general and theater resources.

Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts
Comprehensive site that includes information about resident companies, festivals, broadcasts, programs, box office, etc.

New York Public Library: CATNYP
Search the Research Libraries Online Catalog.

Theatre History on the Web
This site contains directories of scholarly sites, categorized by era and type.

Encyclopedias

The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Stage Actors and Acting
Edited by Simon Williams. Online access only.

Canadian Theatre Encyclopedia
Information on plays, playwrights and theatre practitioners.

Performing Arts Encyclopedia
Guide to musical, theatrical, and dance collections available at the Library of Congress. Includes collections, databases, online presentations, exhibits, and finding aids.

Funding

Alliance of Artists Community
Lists residences in the performing and media arts.

National Assembly of State Arts Agencies

National Endowment for the Arts

New England Foundation for the Arts
News and information on grants, job opportunities, and the arts in New England.

Medicine & Health

Alexander Technique
Includes a full description of the technique, recommended publications, and links to societies.

Performing Arts Medicine Association
Official website of PAMA. Follow the link under the Education tab for a good list of related websites.

Performing Arts Medicine at Ithaca College
Developed by Ithaca College's School of Health Science and Human Performance and the School of Music, this site has links to various topics of interest.

Monologues

Actorama
A searchable database of over 500 monologues.

Colin's Movie Monologue Page

Monologue Archives
Monologues from classic plays.

Monologue Directory
From Actorpoint.

Shakespeare's Monologues

News

Aisle Say
"The Internet Magazine of Stage Reviews and Opinion."

Curtain Up
Internet theatre magazine.

Plays & Scripts

Complete Works of William Shakespeare
The web's first edition of the Complete Works of William Shakespeare, including internet resources, a discussion area, quotations, and a glossary.

Drama Book Shop
Searchable database of scripts in stock at The Drama Book Shop.

Dramatists Play Service, Inc.
This site is handy for identifying and purchasing specific plays. Users can apply for licenses online. Search by cast size, gender, length, keyword, author, title. Includes links to relevant theatre sites.

Internet Classics Archive
This site is an award-winning, searchable collection of over 400 classical Greek and Latin texts (in English translation) with user-provided commentary and trivia sections.

Inter-play
An on-line index to plays in collections, anthologies and periodicals.

Samuel French, Inc.
Published scripts, ranging from Broadway and England's West End to unsolicited scripts submitted by unpublished authors. Sales catalogue includes all genres of drama as well as theatre educational materials.

Specialized Sites

Awards
Playbill.com is no longer making Theatre Central available, as of March 2016. Available via Theatre Central on the Playbill Online site, this page includes links to the Connecticut Critics Circle, Drama Desk, Obie, Outer Critics, Olivier, Pulitzer, Tony, and other awards.

BBC Voices
Contains recordings of accents and dialects in both English and Scots from over 303 locations across the UK, Channel Islands, and the Isle of Man.

CastingAudition.com
Free online database.

Didaskalia: ancient theater today
Contains information about the roots and the modern uses of ancient drama and theatre, providing links to ancient production techniques; digitalized reconstructions of ancient theaters; schedules, articles, and reviews of modern productions of classic texts; and conferences.

Mr. William Shakespeare and the Internet
This site is down as of 16-Jan-2017. A comprehensive site that provides links to scholarly resources as well as new Shakespeare materials such as a genealogy, a time line, information about the Shakespeare canon, and a biography quiz.

New Deal Stage: Selections from the Federal Theatre Project, 1935-1939
This online presentation includes over 3,000 images of items such as stage and costume designs, still photographs, posters, and scripts for productions of Macbeth and The Tragical History of Dr. Faustus as staged by Orson Welles. Additional documents from the collection will be added.

Stage Agent
This site offers national coverage for show synopses and castings, current production listings, audition and callback announcements, classified ads, and a bulletin board.

UK Theatre Web
The UK Theatre Web has current and comprehensive coverage of theatre in Britain. Includes links to ticketing, competitions, festivals, agents, jobs, gossip, consultants, supplies, etc.

vasta.org
Website of the Voice and Speech Trainers Association, Inc. includes information about conferences, vocal coaches, and publications.

Theatrical Design

New York Public Library Picture Collection Online
A collection of 30,000 digitized images from books, magazines, and newspapers as well as original photographs, prints, and postcards, mostly created before 1923.

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