UNCOVERING GEMS: THEATRICAL DESIGN COLLECTIONS AT THE WISCONSIN HISTORICAL SOCIETY

The Wisconsin Center for Film and Theater Research (WCFTR), which is housed at the Wisconsin Historical Society in Madison, Wisconsin, and partners the historical society with the University of Wisconsin's Department of Communication Arts, was formed in 1960. It maintains a diverse collection of entertainment media, including collections of papers, audio and/or visual materials, and other creative documents such as scripts and designs. The majority of the WCFTR's collections feature film, radio, and television productions and various photographs and promotional material. The smaller theatre collections include papers related to notable actors and playwrights such as Alfred Lunt, Lynn Fontanne, Moss Hart, Langston Hughes, and George S. Kaufman; lyricists and composers such as Marc Blitzstein and Stephen Sondheim; and designers for film and theatre. This article examines the WCFTR collections of three twentieth-century theatrical designers: Wolfgang Roth, Jean Rosenthal, and Gilbert Hemsley.