Staging - Opera Workshop - prepping for an opera production

Whether you're re-creating tradition or starting a new tradition, seeing how a work has been staged in the past is an informative exercise. Images of past performances, first hand accounts, and recordings are excellent resources.

The composer

Composers sometimes provided precise directions in their scores. You may also find information about what the composer had in mind for staging from autobiographies, interviews, and correspondence. Some composers are better documented than others, so in one instance you may have a flood of resources, and in others just a trickle.

Sources

The score
Search for a score in the library's catalog. Sometimes the Details tab will say whether the are directions from the composer about staging, but not always so you may also want to actually look at a couple scores.

Music Periodicals Database This link opens in a new window
This database is full of interviews with a wide variety of musicians. You're most likely to find an interview here for 20th and 21st century composers.
RIPM This link opens in a new window
Some composers also wrote about their own works. RIPM is an excellent resource for early to mid 20th century composers.

Howard-Tilton Memorial Library
Search for your composer's name and autobiographies or the composer's name and correspondence.

Re-creating tradition

Scores
Composers sometimes provided precise directions in their scores. Search the catalog for your work and limit to scores.

Music Periodicals Database This link opens in a new window
You're most likely to find an interview here for 20th and 21st century composers.
RIPM This link opens in a new window
RIPM is an excellent resource for interviews and the writings of early to mid 20th century composers.

Howard-Tilton Memorial Library
Search the library for your composer's name and correspondence or name and autobiographies.

America's Historical Newspapers This link opens in a new window
Newspapers are also excellent sources for reviews and public reaction.

Digital Theatre + This link opens in a new window
Digital Theatre + (DT+) is an educational platform for English and the Performing Arts, providing access to over 600 theatre productions and related educational resources. The site includes over 300 classic, contemporary and international productions (many exclusive to DT+) and over 230 exclusive interviews exploring the dramatic, technical theatre-making process, as well as experimental, post-dramatic and applied theatre. NOTE: Google Chrome users MUST be using the most recent version or recently updated version of the Chrome web browser to watch content on the Digital Theatre + platform after December 6, 2022.
Digital Theatre + also offers more that 100 essays, documentaries, lectures, and study guides, covering theatre history, context, language analysis, encyclopedia entries, and practical techniques. The platform also offers more that 100 essays, documentaries, lectures, and study guides, covering theatre history, context, language analysis, encyclopedia entries, and practical techniques.
Theatre in Video This link opens in a new window
Theatre in Video contains more than 250 definitive performances of the world's leading plays, together with more than 100 film documentaries, online in streaming video - more than 500 hours in all. This release contains 279 titles, representing hundreds of leading playwrights, actors and directors.
American History in Video This link opens in a new window
Provides access streaming video of commercial and governmental newsreels, archival footage, public affairs footage, and important documentaries.

Bloomsbury Fashion Central This link opens in a new window
Bloomsbury Fashion Central (fka The Berg Fashion Library) provides fully cross-searchable access to an expanding range of content collections – including the Berg Encyclopedia of World Dress and Fashion Online. Note: There is a limit of 3 concurrent users.
AP Newsroom This link opens in a new window
AP captures events from history and brings them to life with photographs, audio sound bites, graphics, and text. Content is accessible through a variety of searches – from keyword and category to color and concept searching.

Smithsonian Galaxy of Iamges
Includes furniture, interior design, textiles, fabric design, and more.
New York Public Library - Billy Rose Theatre Divison
Encompassing dramatic performance in all its diversity.

Artstor This link opens in a new window
A complete image resource in a wide array of subjects with the breadth and depth to add context beyond the confines of your discipline. All images are from reliable sources and rights-cleared for use in education and research. Personal registration is required to download images. Once registered, you can access core collections remotely. Artstor remote access usually last 120-days but, for the duration of the COVID-19 crisis, this feature is set to 365-days.