Research Guides: Theatre: Find Sources

Find Sources

a stack of scholarly journals on a table, including the Journal of Interactive Marketing Also known as "Scholarly Articles," "Peer-Reviewed Articles," or "Academic Articles" or "Research Articles," these are

Written and reviewed by scholars and provide new research, analysis, or information about a specific topic.
- "Peer review" means the article is approved by other experts before publication
Usually focused on a narrow subject or a single case study
Intended for an academic audience

Find Articles:

JSTOR This link opens in a new window
Journal articles and books, primarily in the humanities and social sciences.
Project Muse This link opens in a new window
Journal articles and books about literature, history, visual and performing arts, cultural studies, education, political science, and gender studies.

Full List of Theatre Databases

Books on a shelf and a person reading on a kindle Unlike journal articles, books:

Are written on a broader, general subject
May contain a collection of related chapters by different authors
Contain less recent information

You may only need to read one chapter of a scholarly book! Find relevant information quickly by reviewing chapter titles or checking the index (back of the book).

Find Books

OneSearch (Rod Library) This link opens in a new window
Rod Library's online library catalog.
eBook Academic Collection (EBSCOhost) This link opens in a new window
Academic and popular books.
Ebook Central This link opens in a new window
Books in almost every subject area.

Book Recommendations

Broadway Plays and Musicals by Thomas S. Hischak
ISBN: 9780786497546
New York City's Broadway district is by far the most prestigious and lucrative venue for American performers, playwrights, entertainers and technicians.
Broadway Musicals, Show by Show by Stanley Green; Cary Ginell
ISBN: 9781493047697
This updated edition of one of the bestselling and comprehensive Broadway reference books, first published in 1985, has been expanded to include many of the most important and memorable productions of American musical theater, including revivals.
British Musical Theatre Since 1950 by Robert Gordon
ISBN: 9781472584403
This critical introduction to British musical theatre since 1950 is the first book to discuss its post-war developments from the perspective of British - as opposed to American - popular culture
American Musical Theater by Gerald Bordman
ISBN: 9780195130744
Gerald Bordman's American Musical Theatre has become a landmark book since its original publication in 1978. In this third edition, he offers authoritative summaries on the general artistic trends and developments for each season on musical comedy, operetta, revues, and the one-man andone-woman shows from the first musical to the 1999/2000 season. With detailed show, song, and people indexes, Bordman provides a running commentary and assessment as well as providing the basic facts about each production.
Disney Theatrical Productions by Amy Osatinski
ISBN: 9780367086121
Disney Theatrical Productions: Producing Broadway Musicals the Disney Way is the first work of scholarship to comprehensively examine the history and production practices of Disney Theatrical Productions (DTP), the theatrical producing arm of the studio branch of the Walt Disney Corporation. This book uncovers how DTP has forged a new model for producing large-scale musicals on Broadway by functioning as an independent theatrical producer under the umbrella of a large entertainment corporation. Case studies of three productions (The Lion King, Tarzan, andNewsies) demonstrate the flexibility and ingenuity of DTP, and showcase the various production models that the company has employed over the years.
The Cambridge Guide to American Theatre by Don B. Wilmeth (Editor); Tice L. Miller (Editor)
ISBN: 9780521564441
An encyclopedic guide to all aspects of the American theatre from its earliest history to the present, with over 2,300 cross-referenced entries on people, venues, plays, and other theatrical phenomena.
Women in American Musical Theatre by Bud Coleman (Editor); Judith Sebesta (Editor)
ISBN: 9780786433827
The essays in this book examine the history of women in musical theatre, providing biographical descriptions of the women themselves; analyses and interpretations of their productions; and several accounts of how being a woman affected the artists' careers.
The Oxford Handbook of the British Musical by Robert Gordon (Editor); Olaf Jubin (Editor)
ISBN: 9780199988747
The Oxford Handbook of the British Musical provides a comprehensive academic survey of British musical theatre offering both a historical account of the musical's development from 1728 and a range of in-depth critical analyses of the unique forms and features of British musicals, which explore the aesthetic values and sociocultural meanings of a tradition that initially gave rise to the American musical and later challenged its modern pre-eminence.
The Cambridge Companion to the Musical by William A. Everett (Editor); Paul R. Laird (Editor)
ISBN: 9781107535299
The expanded and updated third edition of this acclaimed Companion provides an accessible, broadly based survey of one of the liveliest and most popular forms of musical performance. It ranges from the American musical of the nineteenth century to the most recent productions on Broadway, in London's West End, and many other venues, and includes key information on singers, audiences, critical reception, and traditions.

physical newspaper and tablet with news Unlike journal articles, news:

Is written for a broad audience
Is often easier to understand than research and shorter than both research and books
Contains recent information

Find News

New York Times: ProQuest Historical Newspapers This link opens in a new window
Archive of the New York Times dating back to the first issue published in 1851.
Nexis Uni This link opens in a new window
News, business, legal, medical, and academic resources. News coverage from 1980 to present.

Full List of News Databases

A laptop displaying Stonewall Uprising, a video on the Kanopy database Audio/visual resources are available in physical formats in the library (DVDs, Blu-rays, CDs) and digital formats (streaming video).

For your assignments, we recommend using library resources rather than general YouTube videos to ensure you are using credible sources.

Find Audio/Visual Resources

OneSearch (Rod Library) This link opens in a new window
Rod Library's online library catalog.
Kanopy This link opens in a new window
Educational films and documentaries. Learn how to stream, request, or screen a film on Kanopy.
Ambrose Video 2.0 This link opens in a new window
Videos covering various subjects such as social studies, the sciences, fine arts, and literature, including BBC Shakespeare plays.
Naxos Music Library This link opens in a new window
Stream classical music.

Playbill Vault
Internet Broadway Database
"IBDB provides a comprehensive database of shows produced on Broadway, including all "title page" information about each production. IBDB also offers historical information about theatres and various statistics and fun facts related to Broadway."
Lortel Archives: Off-Broadway Internet Database
"The Lortel Archives, also known as the Internet Off-Broadway Database, provides a catalogue of all shows ever produced Off-Broadway."
Ovrtur
"Ovrtur catalogs musicals from New York, London and beyond. Within the site you'll find 1000s of shows, productions of those shows, recordings of those shows, people and companies that made them and the stages where they played."
Dramatists Play Service
Use DPS's search feature to find types of plays and limit by cast composition.
London Stage Database 1660-1800
"Within this database, it is now possible to search all the performances of The London Stage between 1660-1800 using the title of the performance, names of performers, date ranges and theatres."
Playbill Vault - London
Billy Rose Theatre Division
"The Billy Rose Theatre Division of The New York Public Library is one of the largest and most comprehensive archives devoted to the theatrical arts. Encompassing dramatic performance in all its diversity, the division is an indispensable resource for artists, writers, researchers, scholars, students, and the general public."

General Film Sources

Internet Movie Database (IMDB)
Movie-Locations.com
If you've ever wanted to visit the film locations of your favorite movie, or you've simply wondered ‘Where did they film that?’, you’ll find all the info you need here – along with plenty of original location photographs and trivia.

Historical Dictionary of American Cinema by M. Keith Booker
ISBN: 0810874598
One of the most powerful forces in world culture, American cinema has a long and complex history that stretches through more than a century.
American Film Institute Desk Reference by George Ochoa; Melinda Corey; Clint Eastwood (Introduction by); Jean Picker Firstenberg (Preface by)
ISBN: 9780789489340
Presented by the American Film Institute, the nation's preeminent organization dedicated to advancing and preserving the art of the moving image, the American Film Institute Desk Reference is the most comprehensive reference book on filmmaking ever published. Providing detailed information on the world of film, its history and its personalities, this single volume is loaded with enough facts and trivia to satisfy any movie buff.
100 Ideas That Changed Film by David Parkinson
ISBN: 9781786274861
This inspiring book chronicles the most influential ideas that have shaped film since its inception.
The AMC Classic Movie Companion by Robert Moses
ISBN: 9780786883943
From the people at American Movie Classics, the premier classic movie television network, comes a companion that provides a new way of discovering the movies with a collection of over 4,500 films made between 1929 and 1979 and a treasury of other features.

American Cinema Series

American Cinema of The 1930s by Ina Rae Hark (Editor)
ISBN: 0813543037
Probably no decade saw as many changes in the Hollywood film industry and its product as the 1930s did. At the beginning of the decade, the industry was still struggling with the transition to talking pictures. Gangster films and naughty comedies starring Mae West were popular in urban areas, but aroused threats of censorship in the heartland. Whether the film business could survive the economic effects of the Crash was up in the air. By 1939, popularly called "Hollywood's Greatest Year," films like Gone With the Wind and The Wizard of Oz used both color and sound to spectacular effect, and remain American icons today.
American Cinema of The 1940s by Wheeler Winston Dixon (Editor)
ISBN: 9780813536996
The 1940s was a watershed decade for American cinema and the nation. Shaking off the grim legacy of the Depression, Hollywood launched an unprecedented wave of production, generating some of its most memorable classics, including Citizen Kane, Rebecca, The Lady Eve, Sergeant York, and How Green Was My Valley.
American Cinema of the 1950s by Murray Pomerance (Editor, Introduction by, Contribution by); Kristen Grant (Contribution by); Rebecca Bell-Metereau (Contribution by); Steven Alan Carr (Contribution by); Michael DeAngelis (Contribution by); Barry Keith Grant (Contribution by); Mary Beth Haralovich (Contribution by); Sumiko Higashi (Contribution by); Arthur Knight (Contribution by); Jon Lewis (Contribution by)
ISBN: 9780813536729
From cold war hysteria and rampant anticommunist witch hunts to the lure of suburbia, television, and the new consumerism, the 1950s was a decade of sensational commercial possibility coupled with dark nuclear fears and conformist politics.
American Cinema of The 1960s by Barry Keith Grant (Editor); Eric Schaefer (Contribution by); Christie Milliken (Contribution by); Murray Pomerance (Contribution by); James Morrison (Contribution by); Anna Everett (Contribution by); Joe McElhaney (Contribution by); Leslie Abramson (Contribution by); David Desser (Contribution by); Harry Benshoff (Contribution by); Christopher Sharrett (Contribution by)
ISBN: 0813544718
The profound cultural and political changes of the 1960s brought the United States closer to social revolution than at any other time in the twentieth century. The country fragmented as various challenges to state power were met with increasing and violent resistance.
American Cinema of the 1970s by Lester D. Friedman (Editor)
ISBN: 1281151335
A smug glance at the seventies the so-called Me Decade unveils a kaleidoscope of big hair, blaring music, and broken politics all easy targets for satire, cynicism, and ultimately even nostalgia. American Cinema of the 1970s, however, looks beyond the strobe lights to reveal how profoundly the seventies have influenced American life and how the films of that decade represent a peak moment in cinema history.
American Cinema of The 1980s by Stephen Prince (Editor)
ISBN: 0813543029
Spanning a vast, multicontinental areaafrom Asia to Africa, and including the Middle East and Australiaathe Indian Ocean Region represents a diverse and historical network of cultures, economies, and environments.
American Cinema of The 1990s by Chris Holmlund (Editor, Contribution by); Caryl Flinn (Contribution by); José Capino (Contribution by); Krin Gabbard (Contribution by); Linda Mizejewski (Contribution by); Sharon Willis (Contribution by); Amy Villarejo (Contribution by); Chuck Kleinhans (Contribution by); Diane Waldman (Contribution by); Timothy Shary (Contribution by); Debra White-Stanley (Contribution by)
ISBN: 0813545781
With the U.S. economy booming under President Bill Clinton and the cold war finally over, many Americans experienced peace and prosperity in the nineties.
American Cinema of the 2000s by Timothy Corrigan (Contribution by, Editor); Bob Rehak (Contribution by); Dana Polan (Contribution by); Nora Alter (Contribution by); Karen Beckman (Contribution by); Anna Everett (Contribution by); Nigel Morris (Contribution by); Sharon Willis (Contribution by); Thomas Schatz (Contribution by); Linda Ruth Williams (Contribution by); Dina Smith (Contribution by)
ISBN: 0813553237
The decade from 2000 to 2009 is framed, at one end, by the traumatic catastrophe of the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center and, at the other, by the election of the first African American president of the United States.

This map shows where you can find plays in Rod Library. Locations include the Playscript Collection located within the Fine & Performing Arts Collection as well as the fiction section (denoted with the classification P) of the UNI Stacks. Those in the fiction section are interspersed with all other fiction and organized by country and then author/playwright. It can be difficult to browse this section.

The Playscript Collection consists of acting editions of plays and editions that could be used as such. Volumes containing more than one play or those with critical commentary are located in the fiction section (P classification).

Map of playscript collection located in the fine and performing arts collection on the fourth floor of the Rod Library