MARTHA SWOPE
photography collection for
Billy Rose Theatre
BR
Introduction
MARTHA SWOPE Billy Rose theatre Photography Collection 01
Internationally acclaimed performing arts photographer Martha Swope was born in Waco, Texas and is a graduate of Baylor University. She came to New York to attend the School of American Ballet. Swope's career as the performance photographer of record began when her classmate, Jerome Robbins, asked her to photograph rehearsals of the show on which he was working, West Side story, in 1957. Although self-taught, for almost four decades (ca. 1957-ca. 1994), she created iconic images of theater and dance that communicated the essence and artistry of the performer and the work. Swope lives in New York City. The collection consists of over 1,520,000 images, black and white and color, on contact sheets with corresponding negatives (mostly 35 mm and 120), transparencies, slides, and prints taken by Martha Swope from ca. 1955-2002 (bulk dates 1957-1994). There are also some programs and clippings filed with the images, often illustrating where the image was published or used. It documents Swope's career photographing theater productions, dance companies, such as American Ballet Theatre, Dance Theatre of Harlem, Martha Graham Dance Company, and New York City Ballet, opera productions, music groups, circus, film, television, individual performers, and performing arts-related personalities.
BILLY ROSE THEATRE Billy Rose theatre Photography Collection
The commonly held history is that Walter C. Jordan built the theatre at a cost of $950,000. It opened September 1, 1921, as the National Theatre and seated 1,200 people. The Shubert Organization owned the venue until 1956, when Harry Fromkes purchased it as part of the settlement of the Shubert antitrust case. Fromkes died after a fall from his apartment, and his estate sold it to Billy Rose, who renamed it after himself in 1959. The Nederlander Organization purchased the venue in 1979 and briefly renamed it the Trafalgar Theatre before dubbing it the David T. Nederlander Theatre in 1980. It housed Times Square Church before Nederlander sold the Mark Hellinger Theatre to the church’s pastor, David Wilkerson. During the 2008 restoration of the venue, the owners discovered records indicating that the theatre was constructed as a carpenter’s shop in 1920 before being converted to an entertainment venue the following year. This would mean that the Nederlander joins the Broadway and Winter Garden theatres as the only Broadway houses not originally built as such. The venue has hosted a wide variety of shows, including the Mercury Theatre production of William Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, Edmond Rostand’s Cyrano de Bergerac, Noël Coward’s Private Lives, Edward Albee’s Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? and the Tony award winning Rent. Lena Horne won a 1981 Tony Award for her performance at the Nederlander in her eponymous Lena Horne: The Lady and Her Music.
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Billy Rose theatre Photography Collection 03
Andrea McArdle as Annie (T) and Danielle Brisebois (B) in a scene from the Broadway production of the musical "Annie." Swope, Martha (Photographer) Date Created: 1977 - 1983
Billy Rose theatre
Swope, Martha (Photographer) Date Created: 1977 - 1983
Photography Collection
Orphans, incl. Danielle Brisebois (2L) in a scene from the Broadway production of the musical “Annie.”
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Cynthia Gregory and Ted Kiv in the American Ballet Theate production of Swan Lake.
Billy Rose theatre
Swope, Martha (Photographe Date Created: 1975-07
Photography Collection 05 Charlie Smalls during first rehearsal of The Wiz Swope, Martha (Photographer) Date Created: 1974-09
Robert E. Griffith, Hal Prince, Jerome Robbins, Stephen Sond heim, Leonard Bernstein, Arthu Laurents, Gerald Freedman, Sylvia Drulie, and Oliver Smith during rehearsals for the stage production West Side Story
Swope, Martha (Photographer Date Created: 1974-09
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Date Created: 1961-04
Photography Collection
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Swope, Martha (Photographer)
Billy Rose theatre
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Ethel Ayler in the stage production The Blacks
06 James Earl Jones and Roscoe Lee Browne in the stage production The Blacks Swope, Martha (Photographer) Date Created: 1961-04
Group photo of Michael Bennett, Marvin Hamlisch, and Ed Kleban from A Chorus Line.W Swope, Martha (Photographer) Date Created: 1975
Billy Rose theatre
Carole Cook (3L) and Wanda Richert (2R) in a scene from the Broadway production of the musical “42nd Street.” (New York) Swope, Martha (Photographer)
Photography Collection
Date Created: 1975
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Mary K. Lombardi as Annie and Norwood Smith as Daddy Warbucks in a scene from the Chicago production of the musical “Annie.
Gower Champion and Wanda Richert during rehearsal of the stage production 42nd street
Swope, Martha (Photographer)
Date Created: 1980
Date Created: 1977 - 1983
Swope, Martha (Photographer)
Actors Millicent Martin & Jerry Orbach in a scene fr. the replacement cast of the Broadway musical “42nd Street.” (New York) Swope, Martha (Photographer)
Billy Rose theatre
Actresses (L-R) Kate Burton & Eva Le Gallienne in a rehearsal shot fr. The Broadway revival of “Alice in Wonderland.” Swope, Martha (Photographer)
Photography Collection
Date Created: 1982
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John Wylie as Col. Dr. Otternschlag in a scene from the Broadway production of the musical “Grand Hotel.” Swope, artha (Photographer)
Actors Audra Lindley and James Whitmore in scene fr. the Off-Broadway play “About Time.” Swope, Martha (Photographer) Date Created: 1990
Billy Rose theatre Photography Collection 09
Billy Rose Theatre Division, The New York Public Library. "Cynthia Gregory and Ted Kivitt in the American Ballet Theater production of Swan Lake." The New York Public Library Digital Collections. 1975. http://digitalcollections. nypl.org/items/68989f00-cf7a012f-bc54-58d385a7b928
Billy Rose Theatre Division, The New York Public Library. "Andrea McArdle as Annie (T) and Danielle Brisebois (B) in a scene from the Broadway production of the musical "Annie."" The New York Public Library Digital Collections. 1977 1983. http://digitalcollections.nypl. org/items/c3903dcb-c582-6201e040-e00a180642e6
Billy Rose Theatre Division, The New York Public Library. "Orphans, incl. Danielle Brisebois (2L) in a scene from the Broadway production of the musical "Annie."" The New York Public Library Digital Collections. 1977 - 1983. http:// digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/ c3903dcb-c550-6201-e040e00a180642e6
Billy Rose Theatre Division, The New York Public Library. "Actors Audra Lindley and James Whitmore in scene fr. the Off-Broadway play "About Time." (New York)" The New York Public Library Digital Collections. 1990. http://digitalcollections.nypl.org/ items/7572a080-aeb3-013027ba-58d385a7b928
Billy Rose Theatre Division, The New York Public Library. "John Wylie as Col. Dr. Otternschlag in a scene from the Broadway production of the musical "Grand Hotel." (New York)" The New York Public Library Digital Collections. http://digitalcollections.nypl.org/ items/b0ead0eb-6f42-29dc-e040e00a18060c48
Billy Rose Theatre Division, The New York Public Library. "Cynthia Gregory and Ted Kivitt in the American Ballet Theater production of Swan Lake." The New York Public Library Digital Collections. 1975. http://digitalcollections.nypl.org/ items/68989f00-cf7a-012f-bc5458d385a7b928
Billy Rose Theatre Division, The New York Public Library. "Charlie Smalls during first rehearsal of The Wiz" The New York Public Library Digital Collections. 1974. http://digitalcollections.nypl. org/items/609a9a00-2a8e0134-9e3d-00505686a51c
Billy Rose Theatre Division, The New York Public Library. "Ethel Ayler in the stage production The Blacks" The New York Public Library Digital Collections. 1961. http://digitalcollections.nypl.org/ items/2ec90590-438e-013317e9-00505686a51c
Billy Rose Theatre Division, The New York Public Library. "James Earl Jones and Roscoe Lee Browne in the stage production The Blacks" The New York Public Library Digital Collections. 1961. http://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/7b561a00438e-0133-2f9b-00505686a51c
Billy Rose Theatre Division, The New York Public Library. "Mary K. Lombardi as Annie and Norwood Smith as Daddy Warbucks in a scene from the Chicago production of the musical "Annie."" The New York Public Library Digital Collections. 1977 - 1983. http:// digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/ c3903dcb-cce5-6201-e040e00a180642e6
Billy Rose Theatre Division, The New York Public Library. "Robert E. Griffith, Hal Prince, Jerome Robbins, Stephen Sondheim, Leonard Bernstein, Arthur Laurents, Gerald Freedman, Sylvia Drulie, and Oliver Smith during rehearsals for the stage production West Side Story" The New York Public Library Digital Collections. 1957. http://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/11800310443a-0133-e507-00505686d14e
Billy Rose Theatre Division, The New York Public Library. "Group photo of Michael Bennett, Marvin Hamlisch, and Ed Kleban from A Chorus Line." The New York Public Library Digital Collections. 1975. http://digitalcollections.nypl.org/ items/9c177330-f8a7-01306731-58d385a7bbd0
Billy Rose Theatre Division, The New York Public Library. "Gower Champion and Wanda Richert during rehearsal of the stage production 42nd street" The New York Public Library Digital Collections. 1980. http://digitalcollections.nypl. org/items/ae2c0990-87c6-01333544-00505686d14e
Billy Rose Theatre Division, The New York Public Library. "Actors Millicent Martin & Jerry Orbach in a scene fr. the replacement cast of the Broadway musical "42nd Street." (New York)" The New York Public Library Digital Collections. http://digitaalcollections. nypl.org/items/b0ead0eb-648629dc-e040-e00a18060c48
Billy Rose Theatre Division, The New York Public Library. "Actresses (L-R) Kate Burton & Eva Le Gallienne in a rehearsal shot fr. The Broadway revival of "Alice in Wonderland."" The New York Public Library Digital Collections. 1982. http://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/11a2d310f6ce-0130-5b5b-58d385a7bbd0