Sharp Collection : [programmes of concerts, musicals, theatre, vaudeville staged primarily in Sydney / held in the PROMPT Collection, National Library of Australia]
- Bib ID:
- 1870140
- Format:
- Book
- Related Online Resources:
- Finding aid at National Library of Australia
- Description:
-
- 1887-1911
- 4 boxes
- Series:
- Australian performing arts programs and ephemera (PROMPT) collection
- Summary:
-
One hundred and fifty programmes representing a sampling of theatre activities in Sydney concentrating on the period 1898-1907. Documents the development of Australian theatre through genres such as vaudeville, drama, musical theatre and through the representation of key actor/managers, entrepreneurs and personalities such as William Anderson, Charles Arnold, Florence Baine, Wilson Barrett, Brough, Alfred Dampier, Fitzgerald Brothers, Hawtrey Comedy Co., Henry's Dramatic Co., Charles Holloway, Bland Holt, H.B. Irving, J. & C. MacMahon, Musgrove Opera, Harry Rickards, George Rignold, Walter Sanford, Sheridan Season, George Stephenson, Mr. Trees Company, Frank Thorton, J.C. Williamson, Williamson and Musgrove, George Willoughby, Willoughby and Ward. Theatres include the Criterion, Her Majesty's Theatre, Lyceum, Palace, Royal Standard, Theatre Royal, Tivoli and Rickards New Opera House in Melbourne.
- Biography/History:
-
These programs were colleced by Harry Sharp between 1884 and 1910. In 1884, Harry was a 22-year-old picture framer and gilder living in Leichhardt, in inner Sydney, with his wife Ada. The family later moved to Denham Court, 40 kilometres south-west of Sydney, and continued their patronage of Sydney's theatres, keeping the programs of the attractions they saw. Harry Sharp died in 1939, and the programs were re-discovered in 1992. The Sharp collection has been kept intact, providing both a document of one family's theatregoing and a snapshot of popular theatre in Sydney over a period of nearly 20 years. Sharp's theatrical tastes were eclectic, ranging from Wagner's operas to vaudeville at Rickards' Tivoli theatre, from Shakespearean tragedies to Australian melodramas such as Breaking of the Drought, and Robbery Under Arms. [Information taken from an article by Richard Stone, published in the NLA News in October 2003 - Volume XIII Number 14.]
- Related Material:
- Associated materials including pictures, manuscript materials, oral history recordings and biographical cuttings material also available through the Special Collections Reading Room.
- Source of Acquisition:
- Acquired from Clarence Sharp.
- Cited In:
- Full house : ESSO guide to the Performing Arts Collections of the National Library of Australia
- Index/Finding Aid Note:
-
- This collection is featured in the Guide to Australian Performing Arts Programs and Ephemera (PROMPT) Collections in the National Library of Australia
- Finding aid.
- Subject:
-
- Sharp, Clarence -- Archives
- Holt, Bland, 1851-1942
- Rickards, Harry, 1843-1911
- Rignold, George, 1839-1912
- J.C. Williamson (Firm)
- Theater programs -- New South Wales -- Sydney
- Theater -- New South Wales -- History
- Impresarios -- Australia
- Theater -- Australia -- History
- Theater programs -- Victoria -- Melbourne
- Other authors/contributors:
- Exhibited:
- Library's copy of cast list in program for Macbeth at Her Majesty's Theatre, Sydney c. 1890; cover of Tivoli Theatre, Sydney, program for The Conservatory and miscellaneous acts week commencing 4 August 1894; advertisement for P.D. Corsets in program for Hawtrey Comedy Company's The two Mr Wetherbys by Mr St John Hankin at the Criterion Theatre, Sydney 1904; advertisements for Bile Beans on the rear cover of the Lyceum Dramatic Company's program for The Terror of Paris at The Lyceum, Sydney 1898 and cover of Tivoli Theatre, Sydney, program for The Romany and miscellaneous acts 1905 all exhibited: "The Sell: Australian Advertising, 1790s to 1990s", National Library of Australia, 23 November 2016 - 25 April 2017.
- Copyright:
-
In Copyright
If you wish to copy or order copies, contact us.
- Reason for copyright status:
- Unable to determine date of publication or creation
Copyright status was determined using the following information:
- Material type:
- Literary, dramatic or musical work
- Published status:
- Unpublished
Copyright status may not be correct if data in the record is incomplete or inaccurate. Other access conditions may also apply. For more information please see: Copyright in library collections.
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