Cakewalk, Peter Feibleman original music by Carly Simon, 1998
Scope and Contents
The Marshall W. Mason Papers fill 190 boxes, 13 flat files, and 109.9 gigabytes of born-digital files and contains biographical materials, correspondence, scripts, books, serials, playbills, VHS tapes, audio cassettes, CDs, DVDs, LP records, digital files, photographs, posters, stage set models and artifacts. For the most part the original order has been kept as it reflects Mason’s life and career.
Biographical: Boxes 1-5. This series contains biographical materials such a family photographs, diplomas, memorabilia from school, clippings, family Bibles, correspondence with Mason’s parents, career biographies and other memorabilia.
Correspondence: The first part of this series, boxes 6-7, contains letters from people who corresponded frequently with Mason, or were notable personages. These are listed in alphabetical order by last name. Boxes 7-18 contain personal correspondence, most of which is thank you cards and opening night congratulations and professional correspondence. Of special note is letters from Alvina Krause.
Business Records: Boxes 19-20 contain various bank statements, investment prospectuses, accounting papers and tax papers.
Northwestern Productions: Box 21 contains papers related to the formation of the theater company, bank statements, brochures, business meetings and production plans.
Eagles Mere Playhouse: Box 21 contains information on the 1931 theater company and Alvina Krause.
Circle Repertory Company: Boxes 22-24 contains papers related to the business side of Circle Repertory Company, board meetings, correspondence, notes, history of the company and planning for productions.
Arizona State University: Boxes 25-27 contains papers related to Mason’s teaching career, commencement programs, class evaluations, annual review portfolios, brochures for plays and syllabuses.
Society of Stage Directors and Choreographers, Inc.: Box 28 contains papers on board meetings, by-laws, correspondence, and newsletters.
Writings: This series is divided into three sub-series Scripts, Screenplays and Prose and Poetry. Scripts, contains working scripts of the plays that Mason directed, as well as others. This sub-series is also divided into three sub-series; Northwestern University and Northwestern Productions, box 29, Eagles Mere Playhouse, box 30, and Professional, boxes 31-57. These working scripts include notes, schedules, stage and costume design and photographs related to each production. Screenplays, box 58, includes television and film scripts, some of which were plays Mason had directed on stage. Prose and Poetry, boxes 59-61, contains prose and poetry by Mason and others with whom he a professional or personal relationship with.
Publications: This series is divided into a few sub-series. Playbills, with the sub-series Northwestern University, box 62, Eagles Mere Playhouse, box 62, Circle Repertory Company, boxes 63-64, Professional boxes 65-89, and Award Playbills, box 90. Northwestern University, Eagles Mere Playhouse and Circle Repertory all contain playbills of plays Mason was associated with either as an actor (in the earlier years) or director. The Professional series contains many of the plays Mason directed along with others he saw or were sent to him. Together they comprise an overview of Mason’s long career as well as a panorama of the stage productions during those years. Stage and Performance publications, boxes 91-94, are professional publications that promoted a play and may be a script, reviews or interviews pertaining to a play or general information on a production. These were sent to Mason for his consideration. Books, boxes 95-123, contain books mostly theater related, but also books from Mason’s own collection. Of particular importance are the books Mason wrote, The Transcendent Years, Circle Repertory Company & the 1960s and Creating Life on Stage, A Director's Approach to Working with Actors. Travel and Special Interest, box 124, are books and brochures regarding travel and subjects that Mason was particularly interested in. Serials, boxes 125-128, are journals and magazines related to the theater as well as special editions commemorating prominent people.
Reviews: Boxes 129-134 contains reviews of plays Mason directed.
Audio-visual Materials: Is split into three sub-series. VHS, boxes 135-142, Audio Cassette Tapes, boxes 143-145, CDs and DVDs, box 147, and LP Records, box 148. These are recordings of plays and interviews. Files extracted from CDs and DVDs include recordings of performances.
Digital: Includes born-digital files extracted from a cloud server, floppy disks, and USB thumb drives; content includes records from Mason's time at Arizona State University, audio files, videos, biographical materials, correspondence, records on Landford Wilson, plays and projects records, teaching records, and writings.
Subject files: Boxes 149-152, contain papers on a variety of topics both professional and personal. Of special interest is information on Café Cino and the Antoinette Perry Award, memorabilia.
Awards: Boxes 153-155, contain awards and nominations received by Mason during his career. Most notable are the Antoinette Perry Award and nominations and the Obie awards.
Photographs: This series contains professional and personal photographs and is divided into six sub-series; Amarillo High School, Northwestern University and Northwestern Productions, Eagles Mere Playhouse, Circle Repertory, all in box 156. Professional productions, box 157 and Miscellaneous in box 158. The majority of the photographs are if productions Mason acted in or directed. The others are personal photographs of family, friends and business associates and of trips and special events.
Artifacts: Boxes 159-160, contain date books, drawings, sketchbooks and wallets.
Oversize: Boxes 161-190, plus 13 flat files. Included are artifacts, awards, books, clippings, newspapers, playbills, photographs, posters and original artwork. Of special interest are two stage set models; J.B., designed by Eric Coco and Long Day's Journey into Night, designed by Ming Cho Lee.
Dates
- Other: 1998
Creator
- From the Collection: Mason, Marshall W. (Person)
Conditions Governing Access
Some student information is restricted. Access to audiovisual materials and born-digital files is limited pending imaging. This collection is stored off-site and requires two business days advance notice for retrieval. Please contact the McCormick Library at specialcollections@northwestern.edu or 847-491-3635 for more information or to schedule an appointment to view the collection.
Extent
From the Collection: 192 boxes, 13 folios Boxes
From the Collection: 109.9 Gigabytes
Language of Materials
English
Library Details
Part of the Northwestern University Archives Repository
Deering Library, Level 3
1970 Campus Dr.
Evanston IL 60208-2300 US
847-491-3635
specialcollections@northwestern.edu