Unsung Musicals Collection Goes To NYPL

Broadway is a treacherous place. And as the saying goes: "There's a broken heart for every light on Broadway." And, probably there's also a never-opened (or barely-ran) musical for every light as well.

But incredibly, those musicals live on.

Now, The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts (www.nypl.org) and UnsungMusicalsCo. Inc. (www.UnsungMusicals.org) are proud to announce the creation of an UnsungMusicalsCo. Inc. Collection in the Billy Rose Theatre Division of the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts. For the collection, UMC is donating all of its original and restored material from both its productions and its Archival Project initiative aimed at researching, assembling and restoring the material to unpublished and out-of-print musical shows. The Collection will continue to grow with each new project that UMC restores and produces.

In a statement, UMC artistic director Ben West said, “having spent many afternoons researching numerous projects at the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, I am thrilled to be returning with this unique and exciting collaboration. The new UMC Collection will not only further our mission of preserving these historic works for future generations, it will also serve to recognize the extraordinary artists who have made invaluable contributions to these shows and to the development of the musical theatre art form.”

In a statement, Jacqueline Z. Davis, the Barbara G. and Lawrence A. Fleischman Executive Director for the Performing Arts said, “The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts is thrilled to be receiving this important collection of material from UnsungMusicalsCo. Inc. Because we share UMC’s mission to preserve historic works for future generations, we cannot think of a better venue for these materials to be taken care of than in the Billy Rose Theatre Division of The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts”.

The UMC Collection currently includes the complete libretto and piano-vocal score, as well as extensive cut material, for the unpublished Broadway musicals Barefoot Boy With Cheek (1947), Gatsby (circa 1969), Arms and the Girl (1950), Make Mine Manhattan (1948), Platinum (1978; original and revised versions), The Fig Leaves Are Falling (1969; original and revised versions), How Now, Dow Jones (1967; original and revised versions) and At Home Abroad (1935), among others. The collection also includes the full original scores to such unproduced musicals as Caesar’s Wife (circa 1970) and Enter Juliet (circa 1977) as well as several trunk songs and draft librettos from such Broadway musicals as Show Girl (1961), Seesaw (1973) and Sweet Charity (1966).

Artists and researchers will be able to review and examine the material in the special collections area of the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts once UMC's collection has been processed. For more details on UMC’s Archival Project, please visit www.UnsungMusicals.org.