LibGuides: Theatre: Web Resources

Online Collections

These online resources can provide you with pictures of costumes, props, sets, etc., from various periods of history.

Art Institute of Chicago
Over 77,000 items in their various collections, including art, decorative objects, furniture, textiles, etc.
British Museum
A vast collection of world art and artefacts, highlights of which can be viewed online.
Chicago History Museum
Clothing, jewelry, artifacts, and more from the history of Chicago
Cleveland Museum of Art
Online collections of art, textiles, photography, and more
Costume & Textile Collections Online
Links to many online collections provided by the Fashion Institute of Technology
Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT)
The mission of the Museum is to advance knowledge of fashion through exhibitions, programs and publications. Founded in 1969, the Museum was installed in the current building in 1974, and exhibitions began to be presented in 1975.
Louisiana State Museum
Online exhibits around the history of Louisiana
Metropolitan Museum of Art (MET)
The mission of The Metropolitan Museum of Art is to collect, preserve, study, exhibit, and stimulate appreciation for and advance knowledge of works of art that collectively represent the broadest spectrum of human achievement at the highest level of quality.
Museum Furniture
Museumfurniture.com is an online museum of antique furniture styles.
Museum of Confederate History
A virtual tour of the museum that contains many artifacts from the 1860's.
Online Titanic Museum
A virtual display of a private collection of authentic Titanic artifacts and related memorabilia from every stage of her short life – from pre-sinking souvenirs taken off the ship, items ejected from the ship as she broke apart during her final moments, to post-sinking memorial memorabilia.
Seattle Art Museum Resources
Online resources from the Seattle Art Museum library staff
Smithsonian Institution
The Smithsonian's collections represent our nation's rich heritage, art from across the globe, and the immense diversity of the natural and cultural world.
Winterthur
Explore their digital museum, garden, and library collections

Theatre Websites

Internet Broadway Database (IBDB) This link opens in a new window
The official database for Broadway theatre information. IBDB provides records of productions from the beginnings of New York theatre until today.
BDB provides a comprehensive database of shows produced on Broadway, including all "title page" information about each production. IBDB also offers historical information about theatres and various statistics and fun facts related to Broadway.

Information found in IBDB is derived primarily from theatre programs (in most cases from a production's opening night). Supplemental information was taken from newspaper and magazine reports, theatrical text books, interviews with theatre professionals, and League archives.

Lortel Archives: The Internet Off-Broadway Database
Playbill Vault
"The collection appears to feature all Broadway shows associated with Playbill, starting with the 1930-31 season, with daily updating. Clickable tabs divide the collection into 6 major areas: People, Shows, Theatres, Awards, Seasons, and Grosses.

Here are more websites about various aspects of Theater.

Actorama.com
A place to find acting parts and it also offers a database of monologues and scenes. Visitors can search for different types of monologues, by clicking on "Monologues and Scenes" on the menu at the top of the page. The monologues can be browsed by whether the role is for a man or woman, or whether it's comic, dramatic, or serio-comic. In order to "Upload" the "Scene" or "Monologue", visitors must sign in (it's free). They can upload summaries, comments, and videos for any scene or monologues.
Actor Site
American English Dialect Recordings
The American Memory Project at the Library of Congress has struck gold again with this most excellent digital collection. The Center for Applied Linguistics (CAL) Collection features approximately 118 hours of recordings documenting North American English dialects. These recordings were made from
1941 to 1984, and they reveal "distinctions in speech related to gender, race, social class, education, age, literacy, ethnic background, and occupational group."
American Variety Stage: Vaudeville and Popular Entertainment, 1870-1920
Art of Ancient Greek Theater
Includes 3 sections: images (providing examples of vase paintings and sculpture that relate to ancient Greek plays or production practices), an interactive map (showing the locations of Greek theaters throughout the area, many of which include a picture of the site and directions to the area), and a papyrus fragment (featuring a frament from Sophocles' satyr paly, THE TRACKERS and an audio clip in ancient Greek).
CESAR
comprehensive reference source to theatrical entertainments and venues throughout France during hte 17th and 18th centuries, including operas, dances (or ballets), masquerades, parodies, heroic orlyric dramas, historical or lyric comedies...etc.
Development of Scenic Spectacle
Dramatists Guild of America
Dramatists Play Service, Inc.
East London Theatre Archive (Univ. of East London)
"Collects East London theater ephemera provided by the Victoria and Albert Theatre Collections, East London theaters, Univ. of East London archives, and other individual collections ... Material is primarily from 1830 to 1880 and includes scanned copied os original playbills, programs, press clippings, and photographs from those theaters ..." from A.J. Adam for CHOICE
Global Performing Arts Database
GloPAD (Global Performing Arts Database) records include authoritative, detailed, multilingual descriptions of digital images, texts, video clips, sound recordings, and complex media objects related to the performing arts around the world, plus informatio
GloPAD: Global Performing Arts Database
GloPAD (Global Performing Arts Database) records include authoritative, detailed, multilingual descriptions of digital images, texts, video clips, sound recordings, and complex media objects related to the performing arts around the world, plus informatio
Kabuki for Everyone
Enjoy the sights and sounds of this traditional Japanese art form and read up on the history of a tradition that dates back to the 17th Century.
McCoy's A Brief Guide to Internet Resources in Theatre and Performance Studies
From Dr. McCoy: "This edition of my Brief Guide to Internet Resources in Theatre and Performance Studies is based on what I have learned as a seeker of information on the internet, which is mainly how to quickly find information and resources in a medium where their sheer quantity is overwhelming. As a researcher in search of useful information, I find myself turning again and again to the same information sources, engaging in the same techniques, and using the tools at my disposal in similar ways.
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In previous versions, I have struggled to keep a balance between brief and comprehensive. I decided some years ago to give the advantage to brief. This has resulted in dropping (among other things) the "Listserv" section (except for new resources), especially since most are now accessible through HTTP addresses and can be found with a typical internet search. In any event, I am attempting to live up to the title of this document as a guide to resources rather than a listing of them."
Motley Collection of Theatre and Costume Design
The digitized version of the Motley Collection of Theatre and Costume Design is based on originals housed in the Rare Book & Manuscript Library at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. The Motley Collection consists of over 5000 costume and set designs, sketches, notes, photographs, prop lists, storyboards, and swatches of fabric. The collection documents 150 productions of Shakespeare and modern classics, dating from 1932 to 1976, staged in England and the United States, from the West
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The majority of the collection has been digitized, and can be searched by play title, theater name, actor and director names, as well as medium. In addition, production notes have been compiled for selected plays; for example, a researcher interested in a 1954 production of A Midsummer Night's Dream can view excerpts of reviews, commentary from the set and costume designer, Margaret Harris, and a cast list including Vanessa Redgrave who played Helena.
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Music, Theater, & Dance: A Performing Arts Digital Library
The digital arts collection of the Library of Congress.
New Deal Stage: Selections from the Federal Theatre Project, 1935-1939
Performing Arts Encyclopedia
Performing Arts in America, 1875-1923
The New York Public Library's performing arts collection online.
Playbill
This site offers the latest news from Broadway and beyond, PLAYBILL archives, performance listings, seating charts, and many other special features.
The Playwrights Forum
The Playwrights Noticeboard
Ringling Collection: Images of 19th Century Actors & Actresses
"Offering 'cabinet cards, postcards and photographs of American and British actors and actresses,' this user-friendly collection 'traces the history of stagecraft through Shakespeare prints, 18th, 19th, and 20th century European and American handbills, posters, heralds, souvenir photographs and prints." R. Sugarman
Seven: Vital Voices
In 2006, Vital Voices connected seven award-winning female playwrights with seven extraordinary women leaders in our Global Leadership Network. Inspired by their tales of triumph, the playwrights gave voice to these women’s experiences and produced a documentary play, SEVEN.

Through the powerful medium of theater, true stories of leadership and courage come to life, illustrating that women in diverse corners of the world are overcoming tremendous odds to advance peace, justice and freedom.
Speech Accent Archive
Assembed by Steven H. Weinberger, has the most examples from the U.S., Europe, West Africa, India, East Asia and the Middle East, though the collection is growing and users can submit samples.
Theatre Communications Group
Theatrecrafts.com
The aim of this site is to eventually be the best resource for practical information and advice about technical theatre techniques for theatre folk at any level.
TheatreHistory.com
Provides a variety of theatre resources, including an online script archive, changing feature topics, articles about theater around the world, and a daily "Today in Theatre History" feature.
Tony Awards
The official Website of the American Theatre Wing's Tony Awards.
WWW Virtual Library of Theatre and Drama