Series II: Magazines, Newspapers and Other Media

Scope and Contents note

This series is divided by type of media into publications, video tapes, computer media and assorted media. Many books were found in the collection. Those that were obviously used for research, and were found with other materials for their respective projects, were left in place. Those that were found in discrete groups were separated from the collection. A list of those books can be found at back. Some of the books seem to have been used as research, some seem to be just discards from Kopit's personal library; many of the books are multiple copies of Kopit's published works. All but one copy of each edition have been removed from the collection. Other publications include magazines, playbills, programs and newspapers. Some have articles by or on Kopit,m some are periodicals acquired for research while others are in the collection for no apparent reason.

The videotapes, a more extensive collection, include research on works (including prior versions of films and stories); home movies; feature tapes of performances of Kopit plays around the world; video copies of the daily reels of the filming of Roswell as well as preliminary versions of the entire film; nineteen U-matic tapes of unknown content though some seem to be home movies and recordings of tv shows.

Computer media consist of a variety of materials. Most of the media are 5 inch floppy disks with numerous applications and programs; Kopit has often included printouts and notes for the contents and documentation of the computer system. Boxes 65 and 67 consist of numerous backups of drafts and scripts of works; among the disks are labels that refer to previously unmentioned works and projects including "The Poet", found on numerous disks and dated 1991; possible work done on an unproduced musical version of Tom Swift; "Tricks of the Trade", a project noted as being a "Bob Brown/Coco idea"; an unnamed project with Audrey Cooper; "The Byte of Love", "Hasten the Bullet", and "Arcata". Box 66 contains similar material as well as a significant collection of writings and materials by Kopit's wife, Leslie Garis (LG), and computer records by Kopit's children Alex, Ben and Katherine (Kat). The materials will be separated into their own box and placed at the end of the collection in their own series. Scattered throughout are disks of applications, operating systems, and utilities.

Conditions Governing Access

Audiovisual and born-digital materials have not been preserved and may not be available to researchers.

Magazines and Newspapers Box 1

Box: 84 (Material Type: Mixed Materials)

Scope and Contents note

Magazines (particularly issues of "PC Magazine" to which Kopit had a subscription) and Playbills; multiple copies of the PMLA, Playboy,

Magazines and Newspapers Box 2, 1976-1995

Box: 85 (Material Type: Mixed Materials)

Scope and Contents note

Whole papers and newspaper sections, most apparently from ca. 1976; science magazines from the early to mid 1990s.

Videotapes Box 1, ca.1991-1994

Box: 86 (Material Type: Mixed Materials)

Scope and Contents note

Video Cassettes
All tapes are VHS unless otherwise noted
"The Phantom of the Opera" Silent film
"Interview"
"'In a Child's Name' Part I"
"In a Child's Name Part II + Interview with Taylor"
"Wings 8/8/93 Reel 1 of 2"
"Wings 8/8/93 Reel 2 of 2" professional dub
"'Phantom of the Opera' Part 2 of 2 11/9/90" professional dub
"Phantom of the Opera Temp Dub/Work Picture 11/30"
"Roswell"
"Phantom"
"Alien 'autopsy' + Roswell stuff (not my film)"
"Wings" Betamax
"'Roswell' 1 of 1...6/21/94" Professional dub
"Area 51"
"'Phantom of the Opera' Part II...1/8/90" professional dub
"The Cell Cycle: Featuring DNA replication and Mitosis; Ben Kopit"
"The Cell Cycle, Mitosis, and Cell Division" Professional dub
"Tape 2, Nov. 14, 1992"
"Tape 1, Nov. 14, 1992""Jesse Marcel and others"
"National Geographic...The Incredible Human Machine"
"Part One-End of the World-Soviet Version"
"Part Two-End of the World-Soviet Version"
"'Nine' Aust. Cast via John Wiedrick"
"Xmas '84"
"Alley Theater Road to Nirvana"
'Phantom of the Opera' Herbert Lom version"
"Chicago Phantom TV Candlelight [Dinner Theater]"
"East of Eden (1955) 1776 (1972) The Phantom of the Opera (1962)"
"'In a Child's Name' Part II"
"Ben's Science Film"
"Ben's Tape--Mitosis, etc."
"'Phantom of the Opera' Part 1 of 2 11/9/90"
"New Year's Greetings to my mother and Jack"
"Phantom of the Opera 10/27/89 Rough cut Erik Productions"
"Phantom of the Opera Claude Rains"
"'Roswell' half hour documentary after the film"

Videotapes Box 2, ca. 1993

Box: 87 (Material Type: Mixed Materials)

Scope and Contents note

Publications
"Theater Arts" Magazine, April, 1961
Video Cassettes
All tapes are VHS unless otherwise noted
"Alien Life at Roswell"
"protein Synthesis"
"A Brief History of Time"
"Ben Kopit, NCCS project, Feb 3, 1995"
"Ben's DNA video, done with Eric"
"Roswell Dailies"
"Reels 119-125 Shot 12-15-93"
"Reels 57-58 Dailies Shot 11/23/93"
"Reels 107-110 Dailies Shot 12/9/93"
"Reels 79, 89-94 Dailies Shot 12/1, [12]/3/93"
"Reel 111 Dailies Shot 12/10/93"
"Reels 13-18 Dailies Shot 11/9/93"
"Reels 36-40 Dailies Shot 11/16/93"
"Reels 95-99 Dailies Shot 12/6/93"
"Reels 59MOS, 60 Dailies Shot 11/24/93"
"Reels 7-10 Dailies Shot 11/8/93"
"Reels 21-25 Dailies Shot 11/10/93"
"Reels 2,4,11,12 Dailies Shot 11/8/93"
"Reels 26-29 Dailies Shot 11/11/93; Reels 30-32 Dailies Shot 11/12/93"
"Reels 19-20 Dailies Shot 11/9/93"
"Reels 1,3,5,6 Make-Up Test Dailies Shot 11/5/93"
"Reels 7-10 Dailies Shot 11/8/93"
"Reels 68-71 Dailies Shot 11/30/93"
"Reels 80-88 Dailies Shot 12/02/93"
"Reels 41-45 Dailies Shot 11/17/93"
"Reels 72-78 Dailies Shot 12/01/93"
"Reels 104-106 Dailies Shot 12/8/93"
"Reels 46-50 Dailies Shot 11/12,17,18/93"
"Reels 51-54 Dailies Shot 11/19/93"
"Reels 112-116 Dailies Shot 12/13/93"

Video Tapes Box 3

Box: 88 (Material Type: Mixed Materials)

Scope and Contents note

Video Cassettes
The following nineteen cassettes are all Sony KCS20 U-Matic cassettes. They are numbered twice on the spine, 1-19 and K122-K140 with additional abbreviated labels. There are extensive content notes with time signatures on the inside covers. None of the labels, interior or exterior, bear any reference to known projects or works by Kopit except some possible recordings of Lewis and Clark.
"1 Huck, Pinball"
"2 Barbershop, Jack-Stalk, Letters, Pieta, Fights"
"3 Lulu+Clark, American Family, Box+Puppets"
"4 Reel of Ahab, Yank"
"5 Fights, subjective fights, samuri, gauze"
"6 Gauze"
"7 End piece"
"8 Lois+Clark, Superman...Tempest, Pinball"
9 [unlabeled]
10 [unlabeled]
11[unlabeled]
12 [unlabeled]
"13 Reception"
"14 #1 Gauze in Circle"
"15 Ahab + the cars"
"16 Circle Game and Raoul Inter."
"17 Morning Wkout"
18 [unlabeled]
19 [unlabeled]

Video Tapes Box 4

Box: 89 (Material Type: Mixed Materials)

Scope and Contents note

Video Cassettes
All tapes are VHS unless otherwise noted; includes both published copies and homemade recordings/dups.
2 unlabeled tapes, Scotch UCA60 U-matic
"Lewis and Clark--Kopit's tape" Scotch UCA60 U-matic
"Marlene NTSC"
"'Morocco' (1930) von Sternberg, Dietrich, Cooper"
"'A Foreign Affair' (1948) Billy Wilder, Dietrich"
"Cabaret"
"Marlene Maria Riva Primetime 2-4-93"
"Dietrich's jewelry"
"M.D. in Berlin '60"
"The Blue Angel"
"Marlene, a film by Maximilian Schell"
"Just a Gigolo"
These materials were added in from the series marked "Miscellaneous".
"Children at Risk"
"True/Not True: When Memories can Be Trusted"
"Multiple Personalities: The Search for Deadly Memories"
"American Justice--'Satan, Rituals and Abuse"
"CNN 3/3/94 Cruel Memory"
"By Satan Possessed (HBO)"
"Discovery Channel-Nikolai Tesla"
"'The Faerie Queen' dir. by David Pountney"
"Discovery Channel: Invention" 3 volumes
"The Land of Far Away..."
"legend"
"The Monuments of Mars"

Computer Disks Box 1

Box: 90 (Material Type: Mixed Materials)

Scope and Contents note

All computer media in this box are 5 inch floppy disks with numerous disks grouped in labeled plastic cases. They are listed here by case and number of disks. Indications of original applications and programs are usually noted on the disks with printouts of system information and file structure included in each case.
Computer Media
"Phantom 1 disk; Bone-the-Fish 2 disks 11-19-89" 3 disks
"Marlo Thomas, 'Deception' Drafts 1, 2, and 3 (Jan '89); 'Till Death Us Do Part" 7 disks
"FastBack Plus Box #4...Total backup--verify on D: drive and C: drive" 17 disks
"Pimpernel, Pimp draft 2; B-T-Fish; Printer files; Speller files; PTR-Maas; Bugliosi" 7 disks
"Phantom Draft 2 7/6/89"3 disks
"Roswell + Dreamhouse" 2 disks
"Treasure Island...Draft 1 (but not the cut down version...Xywrite III" 5 disks
"Treasure Island" 6 disks
"Animal Hospital" 3 disks
"Wings" 2 disks
"Dreamhouse" 1 disk
"Poet" Draft 2" dated 1991, first mention of this work in archive, 3 disks
"Poet (Draft 2); Norman in Wonderland" 4 disks
"Animal Hospital" 5 disks
"Roswell Drafts 1, 8, 10" 8 disks
1 empty blue case
"Tom Swift Musical; Norman in Wonderland; Deception; Wonderland (Scientific Process)" 5 disks, first mention of "Tom Swift" yet that name not repeated on individual disk labels.
"Archive backup Peter Maas Draft II 7/5/89" 4 disks
"Feb '96 archive files...Soap (both drafts" 1 disk
"Roswell" 9 disks
"Gil Perlroth; 'Customiz' (an odd file), 'The Poet' Draft 1" 6 disks
"Various disks; 'Tricks of the Trade'; 'Hands of a Stranger'; Audrey Cooper project; Gelber disk" 8 disks
Unlabeled box containing labeled disks of "Roswell", Audrey Cooper project, and various applications; 10 disks
"Fastback Plus full backup verify on" 16 disks
"D: drive--C: drive Box #1" 19 disks
"Archive files Gil Perlroth (musical); Phantom (film)...; Phantom (the musical)" 6 disks
"Bone-the-Fish; Arcata; Phantom" 7 disks
"Bone-the-Fish; Arcata; Phantom (film)" 7 disks

Computer Disks Box 2

Box: 91 (Material Type: Mixed Materials)

Scope and Contents note

The following computer media in this box are 5 inch floppy disks with numerous disks grouped in plastic cases. They are listed here by case and number of disks. Indications of original applications and programs are usually noted on the disks with printouts of system information and file structure included in many cases.
Audio Cassettes
"Jamaica Kincaid tapes 8/20/90" 2 microcassettes in env.
Computer Media
One large plastic filing tray of floppy diskettes containing 48 diskettes with the following material: "CRC by Nashua" (probable application); "Wings"; "Dreamhouse"; "Kopit"; numerous disks of the various Phantom incarnations; "Bone-the-Fish"; "The Poet"; "Peter Maas, 'The Legacy'"; "Nirvana"; "The Shroud"; "Till Death Us Do Part"; "Deception"; "Scarlet Pimpernel"; "Correspondence + misc."; "Discovery of America"; disks labeled "Play Padding" and "Plays #1 Perlroth"; along with two or so disks that are unlabeled or with obliterated labels.

Other containers:
"leslie--Backup disks June '92" 4 disks
Unlabeled box of 3 disks; individual disk labels suggest this and the proceeding box contain personal material of Kopit and his family.
Unlabeled box of 4 disks, apparently computer applications
Group of 9 loose disks: "Kat", "Duras", "XyWrite III", Vassar Disk" #s 3 and 5, "B-T-Fish transfer", "Leslie Kincaid", "....Alex's BAS programs", "delta"
"Leslie Disks sep '93" 4 disks
"Leslie's Novel (the willows)" 10 disks
"Backup LG novel" 3 disks
"Amherst" 1 disk
"LG: Diane Keaton" 1 disk
"LG: Duras" 1 disk
"LG: Novel Uncle Wiggily" 1 disk
Unlabeled box containing "The Shroud" as well as disks of material relating to Leslie, Ben, Alex, and other material. 11 disks
Unlabelled box containing disks mostly labeled "Kat", 6 disks
Unlabeled box containing Leslie Garis work, mainly interviews and materials relating to articles on Joan Didion, Dominick Dunne, Jamaica Kincaid (see also audio tapes in this box), and Calvin Trillin. 17 disks
"Tricks of the Trade" 9 disks, apparently all applications and utilities
unlabeled box of LG materials, 7 disks
"LG backup" 4 disks
"Alex backup disk" 2 disks
"Jamaica Kincaid" 1 disk
"Amdek disks" 10 disks
"Garis 6/93" 4 disks
"Inverlochy Castle" 1 disk
"LG: Susan Cheever" 1 disk
"Susan Sontag" 1 disk

The following media are 3 inch diskettes:
"DOS 6 disks and some Leslie backup stuff" 3 disks
"Novel Part II plus journal" 1 disk
"Leslie Garis Novel Oct '93" 2 disks
"Leslie #1 Novel part one" 1 disk
Group of loose disks: "Kat's fifth grade work", "Ben's 7th grade work", "Alex-Dartmouth" (2 disks), "Backup of Leslie's novel".

Computer Disks Box 3

Box: 92 (Material Type: Mixed Materials)

Scope and Contents note

Computer Disks Box 4

Box: 93 (Material Type: Mixed Materials)

Scope and Contents note

Binders and manuals for DOS, XyWrite, etc. One binder of disks, one large tray of disks and one small case. All computer media in this box are 5 inch floppy disks.
Computer Media
In Binder:
Disks include 'Phantom' ca. 1985, letters, Audrey Cooper proposal, operating system, games, and program backup disks
In small case:
XyWrite program backup disks, 13 disks
In tray:
Program disks, games, instructional disks and the like, 62 disks

Jamaica Kincaid Interview, 1990-08-20

Box: Digitized Access Files, file: mss141_cuid22075A, mss141_cuid22075B (Material Type: electronic records)

Box: 91, Cassette: cuid22075A, cuid22075B (Material Type: Audio)

Extent

2 audiocassettes

Scope and Contents

Leslie Garis interviews Jamaica Kincaid. Parts of the interview are quoted in a New York Times article written by Garis called "Through West Indian Eyes."

Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements

Format: Microcassette, Qty.: 2, Total Duration: 120 min.