THEA 5351: Theatre Scholarship/Research Methods

Indexes articles from around 400 scholarly and popular periodicals, as well as some books. Includes reviews, biographical profiles, obituaries, interviews, and more. Theatre and film are the largest categories, but all performing arts disciplines are covered. Some full text is available. Most records are from 1998 to the present and include an abstract. Produced by ProQuest and updated monthly.

Identify, select, and create lists of musical theater repertoire. Searchable by voice type, character age, range, genre, ease for accompanist, descriptive characteristics, etc. Over 11 000 songs from nearly 2 000 shows.

Provides insight into the theatrical world of eighteenth century society and explores how the Larpent plays reflect the politics of the time, the role of women, views on race and religion, opinions on empire, and European and British history. Features three distinct areas: Primary source documents, the focus of which is the Larpent collection of plays and Anna Larpent's Diaries; the London Stage Database; and the Biographical Dictionary Database. Adam Matthew

Provides access to material from the Shakespeare’s Globe Performance and Architectural Archives, which shows how productions at the reconstructed Globe and Sam Wanamaker Playhouse were conceived, rehearsed, dressed, marketed, sound tracked, how props were used, how the audiences behaved, and the theatre history and performance lessons that were observed and learned, along with information on about 170 different plays, concerts or events and over 400 different productions of these plays. The architectural archive includes material on how the reconstruction of the theatre was designed and planned and some of the conversations and debates that informed construction decisions, as well as material on the theatre’s annual reports, communications to its supporters, and oral histories detailing some of the early history of the reconstructed theatre. Keyword and advanced search options with filters for date, play, document type, season, theater, author and director. Limits for Image Gallery. Allows for proximity searching. Adam Matthew Digital.

Provides a searchable electronic database consisting of the most comprehensive record of Shakespeare-related scholarship and theatrical productions published or produced worldwide. Containing over 127 500 annotated entries, this collected information is an essential tool for anyone engaged in research on Shakespeare or early modern England. Begun in 1950 as a bibliographical supplement to Shakespeare Quarterly, the World Shakespeare Bibliography (WSB) has expanded over the years to become a searchable electronic database that allows users unparalleled access to Shakespeare-related material. Folger Shakespeare Library.

Provides access to research for the disciplines of drama, music, art history, and filmmaking, indexing over 500 journals, with more than 400 available in full text. Options to limit to full text and/or peer-reviewed publications. Also includes a Topic Finder that enables the visualization of potentially unknown connections between topics.

Provides indexing and abstracts for the fields of communication studies, journalism and mass communication. It includes over 700 journals, over 450 of those in full text. While it is primarily comprised of the core communication studies journals, it does also include non-core journals which help to extend the resource to include the growing interdisciplinary nature of the field. EBSCOhost.

Includes almost every issue Variety has ever published, including articles, ads, front pages and back covers. Contents include the history of the entertainment business, information on film and television companies and their key players, and box office returns.

Provides access to a searchable portal of integrated text and image content on world dress and fashion throughout history. Notable resources are reference works, including the Berg Encyclopedia of Dress and Fashion, an extensive e-book collection, classic and modern writings on fashion, and a vast image bank, including items from the Victoria and Albert Museum and the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute. Searching by image only reveals a visual search interface with a specially designed taxonomy in order to refine search results by type of dress, people, time period, place, textiles and materials, and themes.

A complete searchable archive of Vogue (U.S. edition), from the first issue in 1892 to the current month. Every article, cover, photo shoot, illustration and advertisement has been digitized to the highest standard, with rich indexing enabling you to find images by designer and brand names. ProQuest

Humanities Full Text includes many of the most important academic journals in the humanities with the full text of articles from over 300 periodicals dating back to 1995, and high-quality indexing for almost 700 journals--of which 470 are peer-reviewed--dating as far back as 1984. The database provides coverage of feature articles, interviews, bibliographies, obituaries, and original works of fiction, drama, poetry and book reviews, as well as reviews of ballets, dance programs, motion pictures, musicals, radio and television programs, plays, operas, and more.

The extensive collection features full text for journals, high-quality indexing and in-depth abstracts for thousands of journals, and indexing for hundreds of thousands of articles, including book reviews. It also provides full text plus abstracts and bibliographic indexing for the most noted scholarly sources in the humanities, including feature articles, interviews, obituaries, bibliographies, original works of fiction, drama and poetry, books review, and reviews of ballets, dance programs, motion pictures, musicals, operas, plays, radio and television programs.

Digital library of over 25,000 scripts of more than 6,000 living playwrights.
Downloadable (PDF) scripts of contemporary drama, searchable by plays, people, and organizations. Includes filters by cast size and type, age level, genre, subject matter, production history, actor and narrative attributes, and playwright location.

Indexes more than 30 000 plays written from Antiquity to the present and published from 1949 to the present, includes mysteries, pageants, plays in verse, puppet performances, radio and television plays, and classic drama. Searchable by title, author, subject, style, genre, cast type, and more. All master records contain a link to the results of an Internet metasearch of specially selected Web sites to link to full text, criticism, and other useful information. Provides the full publication details needed to locate the play in its published manifestations. For plays published separately, the publisher, date, pagination, ISBN, and LC number are given. Plays in collections link to full bibliographic information. H. W. Wilson.

Contains 1 009 scripts by 1 062 writers. It also contains facsimile images for more than 500 of these screenplays. Many of the scripts have never been published. The database is full-text searchable and includes detailed indexing on scenes, characters, and people. Supplemental information includes short biographies on the writers and awards given to individual films have been noted.

Provides a digital collection of scripts and author information. Features plays from noted playwrights as well as lesser known dramatists, the collection includes works by over 300 writers. The full range of dramatic styles, genres, and traditions is represented, from widely studied and frequently performed plays to important examples of radical theatre, regional theatre, postcolonial theatre, women's theatre, and popular forms such as farce and thriller that are often under-represented in surveys of the period. Searches may be done for playwright, title, and keyword in the play. Proquest/Chadwyck-Healey.

Provides full text copies of plays, farces, operatic and musical dramas, burlesques, and other forms of theatrical entertainment which appeared on the American stage between 1820-1900. Keyword and advanced search features, with limits for subject, author, place of publication, language, and genre. Readex.

Contains the full text of more than 1 500, American dramatic works from the colonial period to the beginning of the twentieth century. Numerous other genres are represented in the collection. Concise information on the literary and theatrical context of the plays is provided by newly-commissioned author biographies. Plays are also cross-searchable according to a range of criteria, including genre, date and place of first performance, and the nationality and ethnicity of the author.

Access prompt books for Shakespeare’s plays from the collection of prompt books in the Folger Shakespeare Library, Washington, DC. Prompt books are the script of the play marked up to show notes on a specific production, including any changes made to the play (cutting scenes, rearranging dialogue, etc.), and may include instructions on technical production elements such as lighting, music, and stage directions. The collection covers 42 plays from a production of Twelfth Night in the 1600’s to a 1975 production of The Tempest, and includes British, American, and international productions. Search features include a browse by play, simple, and advanced search. Interactive features include viewing two prompt books of the same play side-by-side, an introduction to prompt books and common annotations seen in them, and a chronology. A section on case studies delves more deeply into seventeen productions of various plays. There is a glossary and biographies of well-known Shakesearian actors and directors. Adam Matthew.

Provides high-definition recordings of top British theatre, music, and dance productions. A collection of interviews offers insights on acting, directing, design, and tech theatre. A collection of study guides details the context of performances, offers critical analysis of plays, and provides question and activity guides for students. Finally, a set of filmed and written teaching resources offers guides for teaching drama techniques and exercises. Primary Source. DIGITAL THEATRE.

This collection from New York’s Metropolitan Opera provides performances on video from 1977 to present, some in high-definition. Also included are more than 300 audio-only recordings of live performances dating back as far as 1936. Can be searched by title, composer, vocal artist, and conductor. A synopsis and optional subtitles are provided for each opera, program notes and other supplementary materials are available for some. Library access to this collection does not include the iPad app that is available to individual subscribers.

A multimedia database developed in collaboration with the U.K.'s National Theatre that offers a range of digital performance resources from the National Theatre's archive. Digitized archival materials are presented alongside videos to present a holistic view of the stagecraft involved in supporting world-class productions.

Brings together films which together represent the basis of modern cinematic technique and film theory. Covers silent features, serials, and shorts from the 1890s to the 1930s. High quality versions of films have been selected for the collection from leading distributors such as Kino Lorber, Lobster Films, Flicker Alley, and Image Entertainment. Alexander Street Press.

Covers a wide range of 20th century theatre history with online streaming video. Includes live television broadcasts of New York productions from the 50s, revivals of classic works and experimental performances from the 60s and 70s, as well as important contemporary performances. Also includes new, international, and contemporary performances, ground-breaking documentaries, and critical instructional series for theatre and drama programs across the globe, including many new performances from Shakespeare's Globe Theatre collection (Opus Arte), Theatre Arts Films, the BBC, and TMW Media Group. Unlike Hollywood adaptations, these are the actual original productions, captured and recorded while performed for a live theatre audience. Plays range from classical Greek to the 20th century. Alexander Street Press

Dance in Video provides online access to hundreds of hours of dance productions, as well as dozens of documentaries, interviews, and instructional videos. The collection features some of the most influential companies and artists of the twentieth century, and includes a diversity of styles: ballet, tap, jazz, contemporary, experimental, and improvisational. Search criteria can include role, genre, ensemble, time period, venue, date of recording, and more. Available features include custom playlists and clips, permanent URLs, and viewing on mobile devices. Alexander Street Press

Provides a subject, author, and title index for books and articles published on modern languages, literatures, folklore, and linguistics. MLA indexers review books, journals, and Web sites for material that relates to all forms of human communication. Coverage includes literature from all over the world--Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, and North and South America. Folklore is represented by folk literature, music, art, rituals, and belief systems. Linguistics and language materials range from history and theory of linguistics, comparative linguistics, semantics, stylistics, and syntax to translation. Other topics include literary theory and criticism, dramatic arts (film, radio, television, theater), and history of printing and publishing. EBSCOhost.

Provides the full text of a yearbook of Shakespeare studies and production. Each volume is devoted to a theme, or play, or group of plays, each also contains a section of reviews of that year's textual and critical studies, and of the year's major British performances. The books are illustrated with a variety of Shakespearean images and production. Searchable with a quick search or advanced search by author, title, subjects, year of publication, and abstract. Cambridge University Press.

Provides access to more than one million images in the arts, architecture, humanities, and social sciences. Includes suite of tools to view, present, and manage images for research and pedagogical purposes. Includes offline image viewer and mobile versions.

Provides access to a searchable portal of integrated text and image content on world dress and fashion throughout history. Notable resources are reference works, including the Berg Encyclopedia of Dress and Fashion, an extensive e-book collection, classic and modern writings on fashion, and a vast image bank, including items from the Victoria and Albert Museum and the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute. Searching by image only reveals a visual search interface with a specially designed taxonomy in order to refine search results by type of dress, people, time period, place, textiles and materials, and themes.

Provides digital access to primary resources from cultures and countries around the world across all time. Includes books, journals, manuscripts, maps, motion pictures, prints and art, and sound recordings. A joint project of the Library of Congress and U.N.E.S.C.O. the site is arranged visually using a map of the world to indicate the number of culturally significant items available for each 9 geographical groupings. Each item is given a summary description which describes the item and it's cultural importance. The site may also be searched by keyword or browsed by place, time, topic, type of item, or institution. Language options for English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, Arabic, Russian, and Chinese.

Provides a link to the web pages of the Academy. Included among the variety of resources on the web site are databases (under Research & Preservation--Resources & Databases) that allow searches of Academy Award winners and nominees, Academy Award acceptance speeches, Motion picture credits, and Motion Picture Scripts in six Los Angeles area collections.

An online place where actors, singers and dancers can connect with the greater performing arts community. Baylor does not have an account but provides a link to the free material available on the website. Some material is only available to those with accounts.