Samuel Hirsch was a theater professor, producer, and theorist who produced a number of plays in the Miami area. The collection consists of many photographs, clippings, programs, and correspondence of various plays that Hirsch produced from the 1940s to 1960s. The collection also contains a scrapbook with clippings, cards, and programs regarding the Musicomedy Series of theater productions directed by Hirsch, which was held in Miami in 1957. Included is an issue of the English Leaflet, Winter 1964, Vol. LXIII, No. 4 which contains an article by Samuel Hirsch titled "The Theatre of the Absurd," and an audiotape titled "Prof Samuel Hirsch, 'Some Thoughts on the Theatre of the Absurd,' the English Lunch Club, 3/14/1964."
George Abbott (June 25, 1887 – January 31, 1995) was a famous and well-renowned playwright, producer, and director who worked out of New York City for most of his life until he retired and passed away in Miami Beach, Florida. Over the course of his career on Broadway, he received many awards and accolades for his work, including several Tony Awards, the Pulitzer Prize for Drama (1960), and the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Director (1983). To celebrate his vast contributions to the world of theater, George Abbott also had both a theater building, which was unfortunately demolished in 1970, and a street in New York Times Square, George Abbott Way, named after him.
His papers feature photographs, playscripts, playbills, financial documents, official records, music sheets, and other materials associated with his life and work on Broadway.
The Billy Matthews collection documents the work of Terry Miller and Terry Helbing co-founders in the 1980's of the Meridian Gay Theater Production Company in New York. The archives include typescripts, clippings, articles, contact lists, reviews, and research files on various plays, theatrical history, and playwrights. The correspondence reflects the administrative history of the Meridian Gay Theater.
