New York Public Library acquires George C. Wolfe's archives

The First Art Newspaper on the Net    Established in 1996 Friday, March 29, 2024


New York Public Library acquires George C. Wolfe's archives
Director/playwright George C. Wolfe working with Gregory Hines during a rehearsal for the Broadway production of the musical Jelly's Last Jam, by Martha Swope, 1992. Billy Rose Theatre Division at the Library for the Performing Arts.

by Julia Jacobs



NEW YORK, NY.- When playwright and director George C. Wolfe moved to New York City in his 20s, he got a job at an archive for Black cultural history, where his work saving newspaper articles and maintaining records fueled a habit of preserving his own ephemera.

“It activated this sort of curiosity-slash-obsession about who gets remembered, what gets saved, what gets valued and what doesn’t,” Wolfe said recently.

On Thursday, the New York Public Library announced that it had acquired more than 50 boxes of material from throughout Wolfe’s career, during which he became one of the most sought-after theater directors in the country. His productions, including “Angels in America” and “Bring in ’Da Noise, Bring in ’Da Funk,” garnered multiple Tony Awards, and he’s credited with revolutionizing the Public Theater over a decade as its producer.

Working scripts, correspondence with theatrical figures such as Tony Kushner (with whom Wolfe worked closely on “Angels in America”) and photographs from throughout his career were purchased for an undisclosed amount. The archive also includes his research for historically driven productions, including for “Shuffle Along,” which Wolfe wrote based on the events surrounding the 1921 musical — a rare all-Black production at the time — and “Jelly’s Last Jam,” a musical about the life of the jazz pioneer Jelly Roll Morton, which is being revived next year as part of the Encores! series at New York City Center.

Wolfe, 68, who directed “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks” and “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” for film, cautions that the act of establishing the archive should not communicate that his career is waning. Rather, he views the process as making room for new stories, and — more practically speaking — making space in his home.

“They were taking over,” he said of the boxes, “so I let them win.”




Wolfe recalled that some of his saved materials included audition forms with his assessments of actors, notes from Kushner on Part 1 of “Angels,” and a scrapbook from his 1986 off-Broadway play “The Colored Museum,” which helped him gain national recognition as a playwright. Some items he said he decided not to part with just yet, including a note from Joseph Papp, founder and longtime leader of the Public Theater, which Wolfe took over a couple years after Papp’s death, producing Broadway-bound shows such as “Caroline, or Change,” “Take Me Out” and “Topdog/Underdog.” (All three have had recent Broadway revivals.)

Doug Reside, theater curator for the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, has sought to persuade artists such as Wolfe to begin transferring their collections earlier than they might have expected because of complexities around saving digital material that may be stored on machines that are quickly becoming obsolete. This became a priority for Reside when he was a researcher at the Library of Congress working on the archives of Jonathan Larson, the “Rent” playwright and lyricist, whose 3 1/2-inch floppy disks were a challenge to salvage.

“It has become really important to start preserving this history as close to the moment of creation as possible,” Reside said.

Wolfe’s career spans a period of rapid technological development: He wrote and directed his first play, “Up for Grabs,” in 1975, and directed his most recent Broadway production in 2019. The archives include handwritten letters and telegrams Wolfe received with feedback about shows. Further down the technological timeline, there’s a DVD with a preview of Act 2 of “Shuffle Along,” as well as email printouts related to “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom.”

“It’s telling the stories of the shows that I worked on,” Wolfe said of the collection, “but embedded in that, it’s telling the story of those times.”

Wolfe has not yet agreed to transfer his digital archives to the library, but he said that he would consider doing so in the future. The collection will be accessible in about a year in the special collections reading room of the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts at Lincoln Center.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.










Today's News

June 6, 2023

Who owns the Benin Bronzes? The answer just got more complicated.

Sir Winston Churchill painting of Hever gardens unveiled as part of re-curation of the Castle

How did birds first take off?

'Spring Light' exhibition by Kiki Smith now on view at Pace Gallery

Italy presents pavilion at La Biennale di Venezia 2023

'Self Watering Flowers' to be opening at Almine Rech

Architects Lina Ghotmeh and Asif Khan appointed for two major museums in AlUla, Saudi Arabia

How to use AI to edit and generate stunning photos

Karin Sander and Philip Ursprung represent Switzerland at La Biennale di Venezia

Luxembourg Pavilion: Down to Earth - a project by Francelle Cane and Marija Marić

Natural History Museums of Los Angeles County hosts beam signing event for its new wing

Monika Sosnowska exhibition opens at Zentrum Paul Klee

Solo exhibition of new works by Jacqueline Humphries opens at Modern Art

Latvian National Museum of Art opens an exhibition of works by Hanele Zane Putnina

Nengi Omuku joins Kasmin and will have first solo in September 2024

Nicholson conversation piece stars at Bonhams modern British and Irish art sale

Everybody Talks About the Weather, research exhibition now on view at Fondazione Prada

Elzie Williams III's 'Politics As Usual' opens at M 2 3

96-year-old Thaddeus Mosley shows five recent works chiseled from felled trees at Nasher Sculpture Center

Frederick Holmes And Company opens an exhibition of works by Marybeth Rothman

The man reimagining Disney classics for today's world

The album art studio that made Pink Floyd's pig fly

New York Public Library acquires George C. Wolfe's archives

Celebrating Diversity through Art: Zilong Su's 'APAHM Rhapsody' Shines at 88Rising's HITC Music Festival

From Shipping to Storage: Creative Uses for Corrugated Boxes

Limited Slots Available for "Tekken 8" Closed Beta Test on PC and PS5 in July

5 Things You Need to Know Before Gambling Online

How to Incorporate Pain Management Strategies into Your Daily Life

Benefits Of Guest Posting In SEO Service

Nicholas Palumbo Charleston Photographer Explores Creating Visual Narratives in Street Photography




Museums, Exhibits, Artists, Milestones, Digital Art, Architecture, Photography,
Photographers, Special Photos, Special Reports, Featured Stories, Auctions, Art Fairs,
Anecdotes, Art Quiz, Education, Mythology, 3D Images, Last Week, .

 



Founder:
Ignacio Villarreal
(1941 - 2019)
Editor & Publisher: Jose Villarreal
Art Director: Juan José Sepúlveda Ramírez

Royalville Communications, Inc
produces:

ignaciovillarreal.org juncodelavega.com facundocabral-elfinal.org
Founder's Site. Hommage
to a Mexican poet.
Hommage
       

The First Art Newspaper on the Net. The Best Versions Of Ave Maria Song Junco de la Vega Site Ignacio Villarreal Site
Tell a Friend
Dear User, please complete the form below in order to recommend the Artdaily newsletter to someone you know.
Please complete all fields marked *.
Sending Mail
Sending Successful