Musical Theater Research Guide

1. Get Background Information about people, genres, and shows. 

2. Search HOLLIS for performing arts resources provided by Harvard Library.

3. Use the links in the Find Articles section of this guide to find articles and reviews in newspapers, magazines, and scholarly periodicals.

4. Look for primary sources like production designs, photos, and manuscripts, using the tips in this guide's Find Primary Sources section.

5. Talk to a librarian!

For help:

• Email Kerry Masteller, Research Services, Loeb Music Library (music specialist)
• Email Steve Kuehler, Research Services, Lamont Library (theater specialist)

Start your search using a known keyword and/or one of the strategies below.

• Exact Phrase – Use quotation marks to search for an exact name or phrase, instead of separate words.
  • Example: “jukebox musical" 
• AND, OR, NOT – Use Boolean operators (must be in all caps) to focus your search.
  • Use AND to connect two or more related concepts or phrases.
    • Example: Andrew Lloyd Webber AND Cats
  • Use NOT to exclude specific words or phrases from your search results.
    • Example: Sondheim NOT Follies
  • Use OR to broaden your results to include any of your chosen terms.
    • Example:  "rock musical" OR "rock opera"
• Truncation – Use an asterisk (*) in your search to find all the words that share a common root.
  • Example: Searching dram* retrieves terms like drama, dramatic, and dramaturg.
• Grouping – Use parentheses to use multiple search strategies at once.
  • Example: music* AND (“The Color Purple” OR "Alice Walker") – retrieves results with terms like music, musical, or musician and either/both of the exact phrases “The Color Purple” or "Alice Walker"

Still not finding the resources you need? Change or refine your search terms using the tips below.

• More or Less – Add or remove search terms to adjust your results. Take note of any common phrases used in helpful resources you have already found to use as key terms for continued searching.
• Uniqueness – Use words that are likely to show up in the materials you want and are unlikely to show up elsewhere.
• Focus Your Results – Most databases and catalogs include a wide variety of filters to help you limit the scope of your search’s results, including filters about a resource’s date, format, topic, physical location, language, and accessibility. 
• Connect to a Subject – Specify the research area, field or discipline you want to concentrate on in your search terms. For example, HOLLIS allows you to select a “Subject” in its search filters, allowing you to limit your search to resources whose HOLLIS records include a specific topic’s subject heading.