Theater Research Resources: Websites

With a ten year history, the website has "grown into a premier destination where aspiring and veteran thespians from all over the world come to learn and grow." This site also includes monologues of all types that can be used for auditions.

"For more than 50 years, Backstage has been the most trusted place for actors to find career advice and casting information."

Lance Carter (a working L.A. actor)'s site is full of acting advice and interviews with "actors, directors, screenwriters, [and] casting directors...."

"With over 50,000 costumes and textile artifacts from the mid-18th century to the present, the Chicago History Museum Costume Collection is the second largest in the world and one of the nation’s most complete repositories..." Offers digital collection of images for browsing online.

This website presents online, the entire "500 costume designs" from the book, The History of Costume ("printed from 1861 to 1880"), which has been translated into English from its original German. "These...[designs] consist...of historical dress from antiquity to the end of the 19th century" and "provide a source for researching plays which take place during the Victorian period, such as 'The King and I' or 'The Sea Gull'."

"The Costume Institute houses a collection of more than thirty-five thousand costumes and accessories, representing five continents and seven centuries of fashionable dress, regional costumes, and accessories for men, women, and children, from the fifteenth century to the present." Offers digital collection of images for browsing online.

Presented by Special Collections at the University of Calgary, this collection features a selection of designs dating back to the mid-nineteenth century. Offers digital collection of images for browsing online.

Tulane University’s Louisiana Research Collection (LaRC) preserves possibly the largest collection of New Orleans Carnival paper and ephemera, such as invitations, dance cards, call out cards, printed float plates and bulletins, and original float and costume designs.

This site offers in-depth interviews with theater dancers, producers, directors, etc., as well as career guides, theater references, and scholarship/grant information.

This site offers in-depth interviews with theater dancers, producers, directors, etc., as well as career guides, theater references, and scholarship/grant information.

The Internet Broadway Database "archive is the official database for Broadway theatre information. IBDB provides records of productions from the beginnings of New York theatre until today." Details include pertinent people involved as well as interesting facts and production statistics.

"The Cyber Encyclopedia of Musical Theatre, TV and Film" includes a history, a"Who's Who" in musical theatre section, reviews, practical information on making musicals and much, much more."

The Largest Broadway Database on the Internet

The Wisconsin Historical Society and the University of Wisconsin-Madison have joined together to create the Center's tremendous Film, Theater, & Radio and TV collections (including the Ed Sullivan Collection) which contain many prized treasures from the past. You can get an idea of their immense holdings via their archives catalog (ArCAT) - the link is found to the bottom left of the page. As an online viewer, while most of these resources will not be accessible to you, certain selections have been digitized for you via the "Featured Collections" link with its aim to " provide authoritative scholarly websites focused on WCFTR collections that combine well-researched information with digitized selections of primary-source materials from our archives." Some examples of these "Featured Collections" include "The Golden Age of Television", "The Early Career of Robert Altman", "The Papers of Edith Head" (costume designer), among others.

Arranged in three categories: comedy, history, tragedy.

"The World's Greatest Museum of Art and Design". Collection overviews with photographs and featured articles accompanying each subject provide excellent resources for research.

Discusses the history and cultural significance of the Apollo Theater.

"Didaskalia is an electronic journal dedicated to the study of all aspects of ancient Greek and Roman performance."

Ichimura Manjiro (a renowned Kabuki artist) presents a wonderful introduction, including a history, of the traditional Japanese theatre form known as Kabuki.

Greek and Roman materials

"Dedicated to the support of female dramatists to express their artistic vision without censorship, harassment, or personal danger throughout the world."

"To provide playwrights with time, space and resources in the company of gifted peers to create work, realize their artistic potential, and make lasting contributions to the theatre."

"One of the nation's most generous and well-respected theater organizations, the Playwrights' Center focuses on both supporting playwrights and promoting new plays to production at theaters across the country."

AATE's mission is to "connect...and inspire...a growing collective of theatre artists, educators, and scholars committed to transforming young people and communities through the theatre arts."

"Provides networking, resources and support to suit the needs of all those involved in community theatre."

Click on the "Theatre Education" link and then the "Teacher" and "Student" tabs, to find useful advice from veterans on "Acting" and "Directing". There is also an option for "Tech Theatre".

The IFTR provides a range of online resources on their site that may be used for theatre research via the "Links" tab.

"A national organization supporting artists in the creation and touring of contemporary performing and visual arts."

A core belief of NTD's mission is that "By entertaining, enlightening and educating our audiences, we change lives through the arts."

TCG's "mission" is to "to strengthen, nurture and promote the professional not-for-profit American theatre."

"National, non-profit organization dedicated to the preservation and celebration of America’s remaining theatres."

"Connects performing arts design and technology communities to ensure a vibrant dialog among practitioners, educators, and students."

"The National Source for behind-the-scenes jobs in the Live Entertainment Industry"

"Browse thousands of entertainment jobs and internships."

Just click on the "Careers in Theatre" and "Jobs & Opportunities" tabs to get started!