Tamiment Playhouse Alumni Oral History Collection
Call Number
Date
Creator
Extent
Language of Materials
Abstract
The Tamiment Playhouse, located at the Socialist Party's retreat, Camp Tamiment, in Pennsylvania's Pocono mountains, became an important workshop and a major creative outlet for theater, dance, film, and television in the mid-twentieth century. Actors such as Danny Kaye, Bea Arthur, Imogene Coca, and Carol Burnett; directors Max Liebman, Herb Ross, and Joe Layton; choreographer Jerome Robbins; and writers Woody Allen and Neil Simon are a small sampling of the major entertainment figures nurtured at Camp Tamiment. Much of the original material performed at Tamiment found its way to the professional stage, Broadway, and television. All interviewees were involved in the Tamiment Playhouse, mainly in the 1950s. Most of the interviews consist of recollections of the Tamiment summer theater, as well as discussions about the importance of the Playhouse for Broadway. Interviews were conducted between 1980 and 1988 by Andrew Horn of the Tamiment Playhouse Archives and by NYU Performance Studies graduate student Martha S. LoMonaco for her dissertation and subsequent book on the Tamiment Playhouse, entitled Every Week a Broadway Revue. The collection also contains live recordings of shows at the Tamiment Playhouse, dating from 1955-1960.
Historical/Biographical Note
The Tamiment Playhouse was located at Camp Tamiment in Pennsylvania's Pocono Moutains. The camp was a summer resort opened in 1921 by the People's Educational Camp Society and affiliated with the Socialist Party's Rand School of Social Science. Started as a means to entertain campers, the playhouse became an important workshop and a major creative outlet for theater, dance, film, and television in the mid-twentieth century. Actors such as Danny Kaye, Bea Arthur, Imogene Coca, and Carol Burnett; directors Max Liebman, Herb Ross, and Joe Layton; choreographer Jerome Robbins; and writers Woody Allen and Neil Simon are a small sampling of the major entertainment figures nurtured at Camp Tamiment. Much of the original material performed at Tamiment found its way to the professional stage and finally Broadway.
Arrangement note
The collection is arranged in two series. The first series, Oral Histories, is comprised of LoMonaco's interviews taken in the course of researching for Every Week a Broadway Revue. The second series, Shows, are live recordings of performances at the Tamiment Playhouse from 1955-1960.
Scope and Content Note
The Oral Histories series is comprised of sixty-three interviews that were conducted between 1980 and 1988 by Andrew Horn of the Tamiment Playhouse Archives and by NYU Performance Studies graduate student Martha S. LoMonaco for her dissertation and subsequent book on the Tamiment Playhouse, Every Week a Broadway Revue. Most of the interviews consist of recollections of the Tamiment summer theater, as well as discussions about the importance of the Playhouse for Broadway. Of note in the collection are interviews with Woody Allen, Carol Burnett, Imogene Coca, and Neil Simon. Materials in the Shows series were recorded live on reel to reel audiotape at the Tamiment Playhouse from 1955-1960.
Subjects
Donors
Conditions Governing Access
Materials are open without restrictions.
Conditions Governing Use
Because of the assembled nature of this collection, copyright status varies across the collection. Copyright is assumed to be held by the original creator of individual items in the collection; these items are expected to pass into the public domain 120 years after their creation. Any rights (including copyright and related rights to publicity and privacy) held by the Tamiment Library and Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives are maintained by New York University. Permission to publish or reproduce materials in this collection must be secured from repository. Please contact tamiment.wagner@nyu.edu.
Preferred Citation
Published citations should take the following form:
Identification of item, date; Tamiment Playhouse Alumni Oral History Collection; OH.031; box number; folder number; Tamiment Library/Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives, New York University.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Donated by by Martha S. LoMonaco in 1992. The accession number associated with this gift is 1986.006.
Audiovisual Access Policies and Procedures
Access to audiovisual materials in this collection is available through digitized access copies. Researchers may view an item's original container, but the media themselves are not available for playback because of preservation concerns. Materials that have already been digitized are noted in the collection's finding aid and can be requested in our reading room. . Materials not yet digitized will need to have access copies made before they can be used. To request an access copy, or if you are unsure if an item has been digitized, please contact tamiment.wagner@nyu.edu with the collection name, collection number, and a description of the item(s) requested. A staff member will respond to you with further information.
About this Guide
Processing Information
Collection was processed, and a finding aid was written sometime after 1992. This finding aid was encoded for online publication and edited for compliance with archival descriptive standards in 2012. Digitization of Series I began in 2011 and was completed in 2015.
Revisions to this Guide
Repository
Oral Histories, 1952-1988, inclusive; 1980-1988, bulk
Arrangement
Series is arranged alphabetically by interviewee surname.
Allen, Woody, Sep 12, 1986, inclusive
Barer, Marshall, Mar 21-24, 1986, inclusive
Berkowitz, Sol, Mar 04, 1986, inclusive
Bird, Dorothy, Jan 16, 1986, inclusive
Blaker, Ben, Sep 27, 1986, inclusive
Blaker, Martha & Alex, Oct 21, 1986, inclusive
Bock, Jerry, May 13, 1986, inclusive
Bozeman, Beverly, Oct 27, 1981, inclusive
Brenner, Yvonne, Dec 11, 1981, inclusive
Burnett, Carol, Mar 22, 1982, inclusive
Scope and Contents
Carol Burnett is featured on the first 14 minutes of this recording, and the remainder is Public Broadcasting content.
Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements
Duration: 95 minutes
Audio
Carroll, Pat, Jun 09, 1986 - Jul 07, 1986, inclusive
Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements
Cassette A duration: 65 minutes. Cassette B duration: 63 minutes.
Audio
Audio
Coca, Imogene, Mar 11, 1986, inclusive
Connell, Gordon, undated
Cook, Barbara, May 16, 1986, inclusive
Corey, Irwin, Feb 11, 1986, inclusive
Daniels, Danny, Dec 3, 1986, inclusive
Deems, Mickey, Jan 15, 1987, inclusive
Dooley, Paul, Aug 17, 1986, inclusive
Ellstein, Sylvia Regan, Feb 13, 1987, inclusive
Felder, Blanche (Ganz), Apr 29, 1987, inclusive
Frankel, Beulah, Mar 04, 1982, inclusive
Garrett, Betty, undated
Gildermeister, Rick, Oct 28, 1987, inclusive
Gladstone, Saul, Apr 12, 1987, inclusive
Goldfarb, Philip, Feb 09, 1987, inclusive
Goren, Lewis, Aug 26, 1985, inclusive
Greene, Milton, Dec 12, 1986, inclusive
Hack, Moe & Hack Cohen, Paula, Sep 09, 1985, inclusive
Hack, Moe & Thomas, Bill, undated
Scope and Content Note
The first side/track contains the oral history interview with Moe Hack and Bill Thomas. The second side/track contains a demo recording of music from Member of the Wedding (vocals with piano accompaniment), possibly performed by Marshall Barer, and additional oral history content.
Hack Cohen, Paula, Dec 14, 1981, inclusive
Halliday, Buzz, Sep 26, 1985, inclusive
Hayes, Dorsha, Jul 02, 1986, inclusive
Hollister, David, Jan 30, 1986, inclusive
Holt, Calvin, Jul 29, 1986, inclusive
Josephson, Ben, Oct 30, 1986, inclusive
Kallen, Lucille, Apr 27, 1982, inclusive
Kallen, Lucille, Mar 06, 1987, inclusive
Kemp, Pearl, Nov 21, 1986, inclusive
Kert, Larry, Dec 05, 1986, inclusive
Lawson, Sid, Oct 06, 1981, inclusive
Levitas, Michael, Apr 21, 1987, inclusive
Levitas, Willard, Mar 24, 1987, inclusive
Lichtenberg, Daniel, Apr 09, 1986, inclusive
Liff, Biff (Samuel), Jul 07, 1986, inclusive
Meyer, John, Feb 02, 1987, inclusive
Nye, Anita; Starbuck, James; & Tolkin, Mel, undated
Pockriss, Lee, Mar 13, 1986, inclusive
Remo, Ken, Dec 20, 1985, inclusive
Rodgers, Mary (Goettel), Sep 23, 1981, inclusive
Rosales, Sylvia Marks, Apr 16, 1982, inclusive
Ross, Mark, Apr 18, 1986, inclusive
Sandyville Group, Aug 27, 1985, inclusive
Scope and Content Note
Includes Annette and David Leisten, Bess Goldstein, Rose Hochstein, and Mrs. Myers.
Scheiner, Harry, Jun 02, 1982, inclusive
Seltzer, Ellen, Jan 01, 1987, inclusive
Simon, Danny, Dec 05, 1986, inclusive
Simon, Neil, Jan 20, 1988, inclusive
Audio
Simone, Arlene, There's a Lady on Stage, Feb 23, 1987, inclusive
Scope and Content Note
This is Arlene Simone's commercially-recorded album There's a Lady On Stage. Songs include: "Quiet Please, There's a Lady on Stage", "You are So Beautiful", "Ain't No Sunshine", "Something Cool", "Over the Rainbow", "Memory", "If and When", "Papa, Can You Hear Me", "Torna A Surriento", "New York, New York", and "Some other Time".
Starbuck, James, Dec 12, 1985, inclusive
Stich, Faye Stern, Jul 24, 1985, inclusive
Tamiment Playhouse Performances, 1952, inclusive
Scope and Content Note
Contains music by David Hollister and lyrics by Don Meyer. Selections include "I Go For You," fragment of New York opening ("A Wonderful Place to Live"), "Who Needs It," "All Aboard," "I Wanna Make Love Tonight," crossover before sketch "Death of a Streetcar" with Don Meyer and Danny Simon, and "Congratulations Mrs. Brown."
Theodore, Lee, Nov 10, 1981, inclusive
Tolkin, Mel, undated
Wagner, Charles, Jul 09, 1986, inclusive
Wagner, Frank, Dec 30, 1981, inclusive
Weiner, John, Jun 03, 1986, inclusive
Audio Recordings of Performances, 1955-1960, inclusive
Arrangement
Series is arranged chronologically.
Ninth show, Do it yourself, probably Aug 27, 1955, inclusive
Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements
Duration: 89 minutes
Audio
Tenth show, People will Talk at 3.75, Sep 03, 1955, inclusive
Twelfth show, 1955, inclusive
Third show, Perchance, Jul 15, 1956, inclusive
Second show, Spic n Span, Jul 07, 1956, inclusive
Ninth show, Time Was, Aug 25, 1956, inclusive
Tenth show, We Promise the Moon, Sep 01, 1956, inclusive
Twelfth show, first act, 1956, inclusive
Twelfth show, second act, 1956, inclusive
First show, Do It Yourself, Jun 29, 1957, inclusive
Fourth show, Do It Yourself, Jul 20, 1957, inclusive
Twelfth show, Do It Yourself, Sep 07, 1957, inclusive
Third show, High Hopes, Jul 18, 1959, inclusive
Fourth show, Red Hot, Jul 25, 1959, inclusive
Fifth show, Isn't America Fun, Aug 01, 1959, inclusive
Fifth show, Isn't America Fun, Aug 01, 1959, inclusive
Ninth show, curtain call, Aug 29, 1959, inclusive
Happy Medium, Aug 22, 1959, inclusive
Jazz Fuegue, rehearsal of Ninth show, 1960, inclusive
Princess and the Pea, undated
Second show, Let the Bells Ring, Jul 09, 1960, inclusive
Third show, Silver Screen, Jul 16, 1960, inclusive
Fourth show, Round Robin, Jul 24, 1960, inclusive
Fifth show, Pocketful, Jul 30, 1960, inclusive
Sixth show, There You Are, Aug 03, 1960, inclusive
Seventh show, There You Are, Aug 03, 1960, inclusive
Eighth show, Silver, 1960, inclusive
Ninth show, 1960, inclusive
Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements
Duration: 65 minutes
