Collection Overview
Special Collections
Bob Johnson Sheet Music Collection: 60,000-piece sheet music collection of songs from films, stage and more than twenty other categories ranging from rock and pop to wars and world's fairs. (See list)
Joseph Marchi Musical Theater Collection: 10,000 musical theater related LPs, CDs, books, scripts, scores, magazines, videos, sheet music, and posters.
Bruce Walker Musical Theater Recording Collection: 3,000 original Broadway, London, revival, studio, film and television cast recordings (See list)
Richard F. Larson Opera Libretti Collection: 3,000 opera libretti representing some 1,000 composers (1686- present)
Alan Farley Radio Interview Collection: 2,759 radio interviews featuring Bay Area, national, and international creators and performers from theater, film, television, opera, dance and music (1977-present)
Bernard Taper Balanchine Photo Collection: 623 photographs documenting the life and career of George Balanchine
Wylie Wong Photo Collection: 400 vintage photographs of Chinese theatrical productions and performers (See online Image Collection)
Joel E. Rubin Theatre Periodicals Collection: 50 years of stage design, theatre architecture, and technology journals from 15 countries
Legacy Oral History Collection: 70 oral histories of significant members from the Bay Area performing arts community
Center to Preserve Music Culture Collection: 10, 673 books, periodicals, posters, and albums related to rock, pop, and jazz
Theatrical Design Research Collection: 25,000 books, periodicals, fashion plates, hand-colored engravings and postcards documenting centuries of theatrical costumes, theater architecture, set and costume design, masks, fashion, and clothing
KSAN Radio Archive: 2, 200 recordings of live rock, blues, and folk concerts and interviews broadcast on KSAN radio from 1967-1981
Chevron Standard Hour Collection: 396 recordings from the historic Standard Hour broadcasts (1941-1953) featuring world renowned opera singers, musicians, and conductors
Fantasy Records Collection: 76 cartons of publicity and biographical files of Fantasy Records artists
David Selvin Duke Ellington Recording Collection: 216 LPs and 193 CDs featuring recordings of Duke Ellington and his music
Mary Fisher Greenfield Collection: Over 1,000 videotapes by Ted Helminski of Bay Area dance, music, opera and theatre productions from 1988 to 2013 of companies such as Oakland Ballet, Smuin Ballet, Lines Comtemporary Ballet, ODC, Pocket Opera, Joe Goode Performance Group, Harupin Ha, Merce Cunningham, Margaret Jenkins, Lamplighters, American Conservatory Theatre.
View list of videos, recorded from 1989-2000, that were digitized as part of a Recordings at Risk Grant from the Council on Library and Information Resources (CLIR) from May 2021 to October 2022. The grant program is made possible by funding from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. All videos digitized from this grant are available to view onsite at MP+D.
Select videos from the CLIR Recordings at Risk Grant available for viewing online HERE
Reference Material
20,000 biographical files on individual actors, dancers, musicians, composers, conductors, choreographers, singers and other performing artists
21,300 files containing reviews, articles, programs, and souvenir books on local and touring plays and musicals, theater companies, and buildings
4, 500 music and opera files containing information on local, national, and international opera and musical groups, organizations, associations, festivals, schools, and subjects
15,000 dance, music, opera, and theater books
5,000 commercial and non-commercial videos of local dance, music, and theater performances in the Bay Area from the mid-80's to the present
2,000 dance files containing information on local, national, and international ballet, folk, jazz, ethnic, tap, and modern dance companies, dance schools, festivals, specific ballets, dance styles, and dances
1,600 posters of local and touring dance, music, opera, and theatrical productions in the Bay Area from the 19th and 20th centuries
150 scrapbooks containing clippings, photographs, and programs of the various productions and artists who have appeared in the Bay Area over the last one hundred plus years
Original artwork including self-portraits by Anna Pavlova and 19th-century oil paintings of famed performers such as Lola Montez and Marie Taglioni
1,000 original set and costume designs including works by Boris Aronson, Cecil Beaton, Sandra Woodall and Irene Sharaff
Broadsides from San Francisco theatres (1851-1882)
Archives
. San Francisco Ballet
. San Francisco Opera
. San Francisco Ethnic Dance Festival
Photographic Collections
. Lillian Bauer
. Donald Coney . Earl Crabb
. Harry Jew
. Katherine Kahrs
. Chester Kessler
. Henri McDowell
. Bob McLeod
. Ira Nowinski
. Ron Scherl
. Chris Wahlberg
. Max Waldman
. Tom Zimberoff
Personal Papers
Leonora Wood Armsby: President and managing director of the San Francisco Symphony (1935-1953)
Gisella Caccialanza: Prima Ballerina and wife of Lew Christensen.
Lew Christensen: Dancer, choreographer, San Francisco Ballet Director (1951-1984)
Robert Commanday: San Francisco Chronicle opera and music critic 1965-1993
Phil Elwood: San Francisco Examiner and Chronicle music critic
Alexander Fried: San Francisco Examiner critic
Dean Goodman: American film and stage actor
Anna Halprin: Innovative dance teacher, performer, and choreographer
Gustav Hinrichs: Composer and conductor who formed the San Francisco Philharmonic Orchestra in the 1880s
Dean Goodman: American film and stage actor
Anna Halprin: Innovative dance teacher, performer, and choreographer
Gustav Hinrichs: Composer and conductor who formed the San Francisco Philharmonic Orchestra in the 1880s
Dorothy Kirsten: American opera star
Peter Mintun: American pianist
Bari Rolfe: Dancer, teacher, mime
Calvin Simmons: Oakland Symphony Orchestra conductor
Paul Gerard Smith: Playwright, actor, director and one of the writers for Funny Face and the Ziegfeld Follies of 1924, 1925, and 1926
Michael Smuin: Tony and Emmy-Award winning choreographer and dancer
Conrad Susa: American Composer (Dangerous Liaisons, 1994)
Gladys Swarthout: American opera star
June Watanabe: Modern dancer, choreographer, teacher.
Sandra Woodall: Costume designer for many of the Bay Area’s most prominent performing arts institutions.