[Theater] [Music] Archive of 1930s-1940s music and theater ephemera

[Theater] [Music]

Archive of 1930s-1940s music and theater ephemera
About 4 inches of manuscript material, scripts, programs, sheet music and correspondence, much of it heavily annotated. Generally in very good or better condition, with some pieces chipped and worn, some edge wear and light dust soiling.

This is a fantastic collection of musical and theater ephemera from the 1930s and 1940s, mostly pertaining to actors Averell Harris (1881-1966) and his brother Mitchell Harris (1882-1948), as well as stage director Edward Elsner.

Averell and Mitchell Harris were the sons of William Harris, a well-known Shakespearean actor and manager. Averell made his stage debut as a child in his father's company and was active on Broadway from 1902-1945. He had parts in "The Deacon" (1925), "Four Walls" (1927), "Night Hostess" (1928), "The Tyrant" (1930) and "Errant Lady" (1934), among other roles. In 1939 he was in "Key Largo" and in 1940 he appeared as Max in the hit play "Pal Joey." He also appeared in films including "Too Many Girls" (1940) with Lucille Ball, Richard Carlson, and Ann Miller, "His Woman" (1931) with Gary Cooper and Claudette Colbert, and Secrets of a Secretary (1931) with Colbert, Betty Lawford, and Georges Metaxa. Mitchell Harris was known for "The Sea Wolf" (1930), "Peach O'Reno" (1931) and "Victims of Persecution" (1933).

Edward Elsner was active on Broadway as a playwright, producer, director, and actor from 1907-1929. He is best known for his work directing "Romeo and Juliet" in 1916 as well as several other productions including "Rich Man, Poor Man," "Kiss Me!", "The Wicked Age" and "Veils." A news account from 1903 we found online revealed that he had written dozens of plays before his 21st birthday, and received many accolades well before 30. He had also recently signed a five-year contract with Wilbur M. Bates, the general representative of Klaw & Erlanger.

This fantastic lot includes scripts, programs, correspondence, and a large collection of handwritten songs and performance notes. Items of note include:
- a near fine program book for a repertoire of songs played by ship's orchestras aboard White Star Line ships including the Titanic
- a very good plus program for performances of "The Littlest Girl" and "Kitty Comes In," both featuring Mitchell Harris at St. Louis' historic Park Theatre
- several personal letters to women and lovely hand drawn greeting cards
- full script for "The Third House: A Play in Three Acts" by Elsner and Charles F. Towle; typed with copious manuscript annotations. "The Third House" was submitted to the "Catalogue of Copyright Entries" as "A Play in Four Acts" in 1907, making this a presumably early draft. Three brad-bound, cloth covered sections, all very good or better
- approximately 200 pages of loose typed and handwritten songs and notes, many by Averell Harris and "O'Brien"; requires more research.

Rare musical and theater ephemera. OCLC locates a few institutions with holdings of finished Harris productions, but no archival materials. The University of Missouri at Columbia has a few Elsner manuscripts, but not "The Third House.".