Festival Theatre Incorporated Records

Collection

Identifier: MC-0007

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

This collection includes materials produced by Festival Theatre Incorporated, a professional affiliate of the North Carolina School of the Arts. Particularly represented are documents related to their North Carolina Summer Festival, held from 1973-1974. Materials include financial information consisting of accounting sheets, box office and concession reports, payroll information, and budgets; advertising materials including contracts, radio and television rates, and advertisement proofs; and promotional materials such as posters, brochures, bumper stickers, and programs. Correspondence, news clippings, and press releases are also heavily represented.

Dates

Creation: 1964-1982
Creation: Majority of material found within 1967-1975

Conditions Governing Access

Open for research.

Conditions Governing Use

Copyright is retained by the creators of items in this collection, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law.

Archives collections may contain materials with sensitive or confidential information which is protected under federal or state privacy laws, the North Carolina Public Records Act (N.C.G.S. § 132 1 et seq.), and Article 7 of the North Carolina State Personnel Act (Privacy of State Employee Personnel Records, N.C.G.S. § 126-22 et seq.). Researchers are advised that the disclosure of certain information pertaining to identifiable living individuals represented in the collections without the consent of those individuals may have legal ramifications (e.g., a cause of action under common law for invasion of privacy may arise if facts concerning an individual's private life are published that would be deemed highly offensive to a reasonable person) for which the University of North Carolina School of the Arts assume no responsibility.

Biographical / Historical

Festival Theatre Incorporated, a professional affiliate of the North Carolina School of the Arts (NCSA), operated from 1967 to 1975. Prior to pursuing the North Carolina Summer Festival (NCSF), Festival Theatre produced a summer theatre series in association with the North Carolina School of the Arts. Like the Festival, productions from 1967-1968 employed both professional actors and students from NCSA, but did not include the other events such as film screenings and orchestra performances.

In 1973, Festival Theatre proposed and produced the North Carolina Summer Festival: a six-week festival including film and dance programs, orchestra concerts, and Broadway musicals. The inaugural season included My Fair Lady, Man of La Mancha, The Merry Widow, and 1776. Talent included the Piedmont Chamber Orchestra, the North Carolina Dance Theatre, and faculty and alumni from the North Carolina School of the Arts as well as actors from New York and regional theatre companies. Martin Sokoloff of NCSA served as Vice-President of the board of directors. Though originally well received, ticket sales dwindled over the course of the summer. After ending the 1973 season with a significant deficit, the board of directors pared down the 1974 Summer Festival considerably. Joseph Schlitz Brewing Company, an important sponsor for the inaugural season, did not continue their support in 1974. This year the company presented only one show, Duncan Noble’s A Cavalcade of Music Theatre in an attempt to clear the debt, but was unsuccessful. Although the Summer Festival received a grant of $2500 for the 1975 season from the State Department of Cultural Resources, there were not enough additional funds raised to put on another season.

Extent

3.78 Linear Feet (9 document boxes, 6 oversized folders)

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Abstract

This collection includes materials produces by Festival Theatre Incorporated, a professional affiliate of the North Carolina School of the Arts. Particularly represented are materials related to their North Carolina Summer Festival, held from 1973-1974. The collection is largely comprised of financial information such as accounting sheets, box office and concession reports, payroll information, and budgets; advertising materials including contracts, radio and television rates, and advertisement proofs; and promotional materials such as posters, brochures, bumper stickers, programs. Correspondence, news clippings, and press releases are also included.

Arrangement

This collection was originally organized loosely by year, then alphabetically by subject. The collection was later divided into series to note materials created by Festival Theatre Incorporated from 1966-1970, held in Series 1, and those created through the production of the North Carolina Summer Festival from 1972-1975, held in Series 2. Within each series, folders are ordered alphabetically using the creator’s file names when available.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Materials found in collection; there is no documentation concerning the provenance of these materials.

Related Materials

Images from this collection have been digitized and are available through UNCSA’s Digital Collections.

Performance and event programs from Festival Theatre Incorporated and the North Carolina Summer Festival can also be found in the Program Collection (RG-0045).

Separated Materials

Records held in box MC-S contain confidential material and are closed for research.

Processing Information

Creator's file names were used where available; archivist supplied descriptive folder titles where the creator did not include one. Materials were placed in acid-free folders and boxes.