From the Archives

As announced in the last issue of Front & Center, Roundabout received a generous grant from the Leon Levy Foundation to initiate a permanent archive to capture and preserve the company’s rich history. I was hired as the archivist and have spent the last few months uncovering hidden gems in the company’s past. I met with costume designer A. Christina Giannini who began designing costumes for the company in 1974 with Gene Feist’s James Joyce’s Dubliners. Ms. Giannini visited me in the archives and brought the original costume sketches for many Roundabout shows (The Philanderer and The Cherry Orchard, just to name two). These original sketches are stunning, and serve as rare behind-the-scenes documentation of early Roundabout productions. Ms. Giannini allowed me to digitally reproduce these sketches and copies will be available within the archive for research and review.

    I also met with Alan Sener, the archivist for the Louis Falco Dance Company. You are probably asking what Louis Falco and Roundabout have in common? The answer is this: during the mid-to-late 1970s, Roundabout hosted numerous dance performances at its Stage Two Theatre on 26th Street. Dance companies such as Merce Cunningham, Lars Lubovitch, Meredith Monk/House, Jennifer Muller, Louis Falco and many, many more performed on our stage! Video documentation of many of these performances is housed at the New York Public Library, where researchers can review the video footage. Mr. Sener and I discussed the extensive and groundbreaking dance programming that took place at Roundabout and Mr. Sener shared photographs of the Falco Company’s 10th anniversary gala, which was held at Roundabout on November 7, 1977. Jackie Onassis co-chaired the party with designer Bill Katz and Andy Warhol created the cover image for the gala brochure (Roundabout’s co-founder, Gene Feist, knew Warhol from his college days).

    It is exciting to uncover this unique part of Roundabout’s history! If you would like to add to the Roundabout Theatre Archives, please consider donating your vintage playbills, ticket stubs, invitations, subscription brochures, etc. We are particularly looking for ephemera connected to pre-1990 productions. Email tiffanyn@roundabouttheatre.org or call 212.719.9393 x351 to share your stories. I look forward to hearing from you. —Roundabout Archivist Tiffany Nixon