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Books
& Media
Search the Library
Catalog to find books (including playscripts), video's, government
publications and journal titles. The catalog can be searched by
author, title, keyword or subject and contains the holdings of Connecticut
College as well as Trinity College and Wesleyan University. To search
for books and media outside of the local catalog, use WorldCat.
This is just a very brief listing of a few basic
theater reference titles. Once
you find any of the titles listed below, browse the neighboring
shelves and you’ll discover many more useful sources for research
in various aspects of theater.
Brown, Gene.
Show time: a chronology of Broadway and the theatre from
its beginnings to the present.
REF PN2277 .N5 B69 1997
The author introduces each year with a brief “Yearly Overview”,
then proceeds to provide production information for plays and musicals.
He includes brief biographies of theater personalities of the year, and other
personal and business related facts.
The chronology is not all-inclusive -- only major shows (and
failures) are presented.
Chambers, Colin, ed. The Continuum companion
to twentieth century theatre.
REF PN2035 .C65 2002
Meant for quick reference and background information, this source
offers brief articles written by scholars and practitioners on everything
from terms to people. Scan
the opening pages of the book and you’ll find a useful “Selected
Reference Bibliography” and a list of interesting theater-related website addresses.
Harrison, Martin.
The language of theatre.
REF PN2035 .H297 1998
Harrison’s
book is a miniature Oxford English Dictionary for theater
terminology. Not only is the
definition of a word provided, but the author also delves into
the derivation of the term. This
source is both useful and interesting.
Hischak, Thomas S.
American theatre: a chronicle of comedy and drama, 1969-2000.
REF PN2277 .N5 H57 2001
This resource is a continuation of Gerald Bordman’s series of volumes
and presents a production chronology of Broadway non-musical shows.
Also included are most Off Broadway productions as well as selected
Off Off Broadway and monologue theater presentations. The book is written in a narrative style, so use the indexes to find information quickly.
Kennedy, Dennis, ed. The Oxford
encyclopedia of theatre & performance.
REF PN2035 .O94 2003 v.1-2
Brief articles written by scholars in the field provide quick background
information on a wide range of theater
subjects including terminology, theory, biography,
and regional theater centers. Coverage
is international in scope.
Lounsbury, Warren
C., and Norman C. Boulanger.
Theatre backstage from A to Z. 4th
ed., rev. and expanded.
REF PN2091 .M3 L68 1999
Boulanger has updated this technically-oriented source.
The book begins with an
introduction titled “Scenery and Lighting Practices in the
United States”.
The heart of this volume lies in the dictionary of terms associated
with stage machinery, lighting, sets, and scenery. This book includes a bibliography (somewhat
dated) and a list of manufacturers (with URLs).
New
York theatre critics’ reviews. New York, N.Y.:
Critics’ Theatre Reviews, 1973/74-1994. Continued by:
National theatre critics’ reviews. 1995-1996.
REF PN2000 .N76 yr
This resource gathers reviews for shows (non-musical and musical)
from a variety of New
York print and media sources.
Owen, Bobbi. The
Broadway design roster: designers and their credits.
REF PN2096 .A1 O93 2003
Brief biographies of designers as well as lists of design awards,
a selected bibliography,
and an index of plays contribute to the usefulness of this volume.
Theatre world.
PN2277 .N5 A17 1980/81-1999/00
Theatre World is a year by year chronology of Broadway and
Off Broadway productions. Biographical information, awards lists, and
obituaries are included. The
index provides quick access to the contents of each volume.
This source is not shelved
in the Reference book section, but rather, in the regular circulating
collection.
The world
encyclopedia of contemporary theatre.
REF
PN1861 W67 1994 v.1-6
This is a useful source for obtaining background information on
international aspects
of theater. Each of the first 5 volumes covers a different area
of the world.
The final volume includes an extensive bibliography and an
index to the set.
Other resources for finding
information on books and media include:
Books
in Print
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Style Manuals
A collection of style manuals and writing guides are kept
on the shelf behind the reference desk. Information is also availalbe
from the Citation
Guides for Print and Electronic Resources page.
Databases
& Indexes
A full listing of all scholarly databases is available
grouped by subject
or listed alphabetically.
Art
Full Text (via WilsonWeb)
Covers 313 international art publications, including periodicals,
yearbooks, and museum bulletins indexed from 1984 to the present.
Art
Index Retrospective (via WilsonWeb)
A bibliographic database that cumulates citations to Art Index volumes
1-32 of the printed index published between 1929-1984. The database
cites articles from periodicals published throughout the world.
Periodical coverage includes English-language periodicals, yearbooks,
and museum bulletins, as well as periodicals published in French,
Italian, German, Spanish, and Dutch. In addition to articles, Art
Index Retrospective indexes reproductions of works of art that appear
in indexed periodicals.
Expanded
Academic Index
A one-stop source for news and periodical articles on a wide range
of topics: business, computers, current events, economics, education,
environmental issues, health care, hobbies, humanities, law, literature
and art, politics, science, social science, sports, technology,
and many general interest topics. Coverage is 1980 forward.
Lexis-Nexis
Provides full-text documents from over 5,900 news, business, legal,
medical, and reference publications. See the User
Guide for more information on searching in Lexis-Nexis.
MLA
Bibliography (Modern Language Association)
Indexes critical scholarship on literature, language, linguistics
and folklore. Coverage includes journal articles, series, monographs,
dissertations, bibliographies, proceedings and other materials.
The database includes all records indexed from 1963 to the present.
The Performing Arts in Colonial American Newspapers, 1690-1783.
CD-ROM (call number CDR 17, on reserve in the Greer Music Library)
"This publication fills a major gap in access to 18th-century
American sources for research in the performing arts and related
humanities fields. It includes all references to music, poetry,
dance, and theater found by our readers in American newspapers,
from the earliest extant copy (1690) through the end of the Revolutionary
War (1783), including those published in the French and German languages.”
-- on container. The CD-ROM is kept in the Greer Music Library and
must be used there.
Internet
Resources
Dramatists Play Service
(http://www.dramatists.com/ )
Explore descriptions of new plays, check on the availability of
older titles, find out licensing information, and build your own
library by ordering copies online.
Internet Broadway Database (http://www.ibdb.com)
The IBDB is a creation of the League of American Theatres and Producers
and provides a wealth of historical information about Broadway --
productions, casts, venues, and more. The developers try to verify
as much of the information as possible, and they clearly indicate
instances of unverifiable data. Basic searching is easy, but try
the advanced search function, which allows for more discrete information
qualifiers.
VoS: Drama and
Theater Resources
(URL:http://vos.ucsb.edu/browse.asp?id=782)
WWW Virtual Library: Theatre and
Drama (http://vl-theatre.com/ )
This site is one of the most useful and comprehensive sources of
its type. Choose a category from the homepage, and you will be led
to a wide array of sites and sources, including (but not limited
to) theater companies, bibliographies, journals, archives, conferences,
and much, much more. The coverage is international in scope
e-Journals
A complete listing of full text electronic journals is
located on the Library homepage under the Journal
Locator link.
Assistance
For assistance in locating or using these or other sources,
please contact the Reference
Desk or schedule an appointment for a Personalized
Research Session.
Page content by Carolyn
Johnson
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