Drawings and Photos and Advertisements from Theatre Arts Magazine - Late 1940s

 

Above: the book! (Those are coffee grains on my fingers. I'm trying to do two things at once this morning. I didn't notice when I took the photo!)

 

I came across this large, heavy book that has "PLAYS 1" on the spine. I saw that it had some Ludwig Bemelmans art in it, so I bought it at this secondhand shop for all of $3.00.

This is a bound collection of plays from Theatre Arts magazine from the late 1940s. There are no articles, except for one or two on scenery in the back of the book. Aside from the plays, there are many advertisements and photos of the Broadway productions. My guess: someone wanted these plays bound together. The book is heavy and some of the plays do have the "Theatre Arts" name on the bottom of the page, but most do not. There is no name or inscription anywhere in the book, but there are a few names written in The Madwoman of Chaillot, which don't correspond to the original cast. Well, heaven knows who this belonged to. It's in lovely condition. Some of the plays in the book:

Mister Roberts

The Closing Door

Finan's Rainbow

The Young and the Fair

Command Decision

The Winslow Boy

Joan of Lorraine

... to name a few.

Here are some images:

For you, Dad: A late 1940s ad for the Pasadena Playhouse.

Ludwig Bemelmans illustrates the title page for Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep.

State of the art lighting equipment!

A 3 page article on scenery for some Broadway productions 1949-50 (including a Bemelmans' for Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep).

Some advertisements for theatre schools.

 

 

Every play has opens with art or photos.