Secondary Sources
Finding primary sources in the Theatre Collection sometimes requires using secondary sources to find out more information about the people, productions, organizations and venues that you're researching. A selection of useful resources is listed here.
Production Databases
Internet Broadway Database (IBDB): Information about production runs, cast and crew, venues, awards and nominations, attendance and grosses, etc.
Playbill Vault: Information on over 10,000 Broadway shows, actors, and production crews (1930-present): search by title, person, theatre, or season. Includes digitized program images.
Internet Off-Broadway Database: This website, also known as the Lortel Archives, purports to catalog all shows ever produced Off-Broadway.
Calendars of Plays
- The London Stage, 1890-1959 byCall Number: Houghton Library: HTC-RR PN2596 .L6 W37Calendars for stage, opera and ballet from the major London theatres.
Biographical Dictionaries and Indexes
The following print resources are available in the Houghton Library Reading Room.
- American and British Theatrical Biography byCall Number: Houghton Library: HTC-RR PN2285 .W42
- A biographical dictionary of actors, actresses, musicians, dancers, managers & other stage personnel in London, 1660-1800 byCall Number: Houghton Library: HTC-RR PN2597 .H5 1973
- Stage Deaths byCall Number: Houghton Library: HTC-RR PN2205 .S83 1991xProvides basic biographical facts, citations of obituaries and death notices in selected Anglo-American newspapers, and references to book-length biographies and autobiographies in English of theatrical artists who died between 1850 and 1990.
- Stage Lives byCall Number: Houghton Library: HTC-RR PN2205 .S835 1985
- Biographical Dictionary of Dance byCall Number: Houghton Library: HTC-RR GV1785.A1 C58 1982
- Theatrical Designers byCall Number: Houghton Library: HTC-RR PN2096.A1 T48 1992 (A)Provides biographical and analytical data on significant historical and contemporary practitioners and theorists of theatrical design, mainly dating from the fifteenth century to 1992. Coverage is international, with emphasis on the United States and Western Europe.
- A Biographical Dictionary of Scenographers byCall Number: Houghton Library: HTC-RR PN2096.A1 L33 1990This dictionary presents information about scenographic practitioners from ancient Greece through the 19th century.
Encyclopedias
Oxford Encyclopedia of Theatre and Performance: Articles on theatrical concepts, theories, and critical approaches, actors, playwrights, directors, designers, company managers, and critics. Harvard ID required for access.
International encyclopedia of dance: Covers the full spectrum of dance—theatrical, ritual, dance-drama, folk, traditional, ethnic, and social dance. Cultural and national overviews are accompanied by entries on dance forms, music and costumes, performances, and biographies of dancers and choreographers. Harvard ID required for access.