Collection Summary
Maxine Glorsky Papers Relating to Martha Graham
1940-2019
(bulk 1944-1981)
1940-2019
(bulk 1944-1981)
ML31.G46
Glorsky, Maxine
3,455 items
31 containers
18 linear feet
English
Collection material in English
Music Division, Library of Congress
Washington, D.C.
The collection of Maxine Glorsky focuses on her
relationship with the Martha Graham Dance Company as its stage manager during the 1970s and
early 1980s. It also incorporates substantial material from Jean Rosenthal, Graham’s lighting
designer during the 1940s and 1950s. The collection includes many cue sheets for both stage
management and lighting purposes, lighting plots, related technical materials, business papers
for Glorsky’s Technical Assistance Group (TAG) Foundation and Rosenthal’s Theatre Production
Service (TPS), correspondence, and a modest amount of publicity, news clippings, and programs.
Selected Search Terms
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the LC Catalog. They are grouped by name of person or organization, by subject or location, and by occupation and listed alphabetically.
People
Batchelder, William H.
Cernovich, Nicola.
Fonteyn, Margot, 1919-1991.
Glorsky, Maxine.
Glorsky, Maxine.
Graham, Geordie, 1900-1988.
Graham, Martha.
Graham, Martha. Acts of light.
Graham, Martha. Appalachian spring.
Hawkins, Frances.
Lauterer, Arch, 1904-1957.
Noguchi, Isamu, 1904-1988.
Nureyev, Rudolf, 1938-1993.
Protas, Ron.
Rosenthal, Jean, 1912-1969.
Trapido, Joel.
Weis, Elinor M.
Organizations
George Abbott Theatre (New York, N.Y.)--History.
Lunt-Fontanne Theatre (New York, N.Y.)--History.
Mark Hellinger Theatre (Organization : New York, N.Y.)
Martha Graham Dance Company--History.
National Endowment for the Arts. Dance Program.
Technical Assistance Group.
Theatre Production Service.
United States. International Communication Agency.
Subjects
Choreographers--United States--Biography.
Dancers--United States--Biography.
Modern dance--United States--History.
Stage lighting designers--United States--Biography.
Stage lighting designers--United States--Correspondence.
Stage lighting--Drawings.
Stage lighting--United States--History.
Stage managers--United States--Biography.
Titles
Alcestis (Choreographic work : Graham)
Canticle for innocent comedians (Choreographic work : Graham)
Embattled garden (Choreographic work : Graham)
Every soul is a circus (Choreographic work : Graham)
Eye of anguish (Choreographic work : Graham)
Frescoes (Choreographic work : Graham)
Hérodiade (Choreographic work : Graham)
Judith (Choreographic work : Graham)
Legend of Judith (Choreographic work : Graham)
Mendicants of evening (Choreographic work : Graham)
Myth of a voyage (Choreographic work : Graham)
O thou desire who art about to sing (Choreographic work : Graham)
Owl and the pussycat (Choreographic work : Graham)
Penitente (Choreographic work : Graham)
Phaedra (Choreographic work : Graham)
Secular games (Choreographic work : Graham)
Time of snow (Choreographic work : Graham)
Visionary recital (Choreographic work : Graham)
Form/Genre
Architectural drawings.
Biographies.
Business correspondence.
Clippings (Information artifacts)
Contracts.
Cue sheets.
Dance programs.
Financial records.
Provenance
Gift, Maxine Glorsky, 2018.
Accruals
No further accruals are expected.
Processing History
Maxine Glorsky organized the collection with the assistance of Tiffany Nixon, archivist for
Roundabout Theatre Company. K. Mitchell Snow and Libby Smigel processed the materials in
2018-2019 and Smigel coded the finding aid in 2020. Morgen Stevens-Garmon rehoused oversize
light plots and stage plans and added them to the finding aid in July 2021.
Other Repositories
The New York Public Library Dance Division holds papers of Maxine Glorsky's production work
for Dance Umbrella and other productions in New York City.
Related Material
The Library of Congress is rich in materials that document the life and career of American
modern dance pioneer Martha Graham. Collections housed in the Music Division include: the [ Aaron Copland
Collection]; [Armgard von Bardeleben Papers]; [ Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge Foundation Collection];
[Benjamin Garber
Papers]; [Erick
Hawkins and Lucia Dlugoszewski Papers]; [Ethel Winter and Charles Hyman Papers]; [Jane Dudley Papers];
[Helen McGehee and
Umaña Papers]; [
Herta Moselsio Photographs of Martha Graham's Lamentation
]; [ Martha Graham
Collection]; [Martha Graham Legacy Archive]; [ May O’Donnell Papers]; [ Miriam Cole Papers]; Music
Division, Old Correspondence Files; [ Pearl Lang Papers]; [Sophie Maslow Papers]; [ Victoria Phillips
Collection]; [Yuriko and Susan Kikuchi Papers], among other special collections and sets of
correspondence.
The Manuscript Division holds two collections of relevance to Martha Graham research: the
[ Frances G. Wickes
Papers] and the [Lucy Kroll Papers] .
For additional special collections related to production management and lighting design,
another collection held by the Music Division that shows the development of lighting design for
dance and Broadway is the [Peggy Clark Papers] . Additionally, the Rare Book
and Special Collections Division holds theatre, dance, and other performance programs,
catalogued at the item level, many of which document Jean Rosenthal's and Peggy Clark's
contributions to lighting design.
Copyright Status
Materials from the Maxine Glorsky Papers Relating to Martha Graham are governed by the
Copyright Law of the United States (Title 17, U.S.C.) and other applicable international
copyright laws.
Access and Restrictions
The materials in the Maxine Glorsky Papers Relating to Martha Graham are open to research.
Researchers are advised to contact the Music Division before visiting in order to determine
whether the desired materials will be available at that time.
Certain restrictions to use or copying of materials may apply.
Preferred Citation
Researchers wishing to cite this collection should include the following information: [item,
date, container number], Maxine Glorsky Papers Relating to Martha Graham, Music Division,
Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.
Biographical Note
Maxine Julie Glorsky was born on October 26, 1940, in Toms River, New
Jersey. She began dance studies in New Jersey at age 11 and started to work with local theater
troupes shortly thereafter. She attended Toms River High School before pursuing studies in
speech therapy at New York University, from which she graduated in 1962. Prior to graduation,
she began a career in stage management, starting at Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival, where she
served during the summers of 1960 to 1963. During this same period she pursued dance studies at
the Martha Graham studio. Glorsky began to work with lighting designer Nicola (Nick) Cernovich
(b. 1929) in the early 1960s, who was a regular collaborator through the early 1980s. During the
1960s Glorsky also worked with the American Ballet Theatre and the Alvin Ailey American Dance
Theater. In 1970, she began her association with the Lar Lubovitch Dance Company where she
continues to work as production stage manager at the time of this writing in 2019.
Glorsky co-founded and directed the Technical Assistance Group (TAG) Foundation, Ltd. in
1971. Her partners in this endeavor were Beverly Emmons and William Hammond. TAG was a
non-profit service organization dedicated to assisting the dance and theatrical communities in
locating rehearsal and performance spaces, identifying equipment sources, obtaining dance
floors, and contracting with qualified production personnel. In addition, TAG served as producer
for Dance Umbrella and the New York Dance Festival during the 1970s and early 1980s.
Most of the material in this collection derives from Glorsky’s position as stage manager for
the Martha Graham Dance Company from 1976 to 1981, although her collection also incorporates a
substantial group of lighting designs, cue sheets, and associated material from Jean Rosenthal
(1912-1969) who was associated with the Graham company starting in 1940. Glorsky began working
with Rosenthal in 1966 and continued to work with the pioneering lighting designer until her
death in 1969.
During Glorsky’s tenure as stage manager for the Graham company, she worked on all of the
following: 1977 season at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre, which featured performances by Rudolph
Nureyev; 1978 and 1980 seasons at the Metropolitan Opera; 1978 appearance at the Ravinia
Festival; 1979 tour of Europe and the Middle East; 1981 visits to Mexico and Frankfurt, Germany;
domestic tours from 1978 through 1981. This period included the premières of works such as
O Thou Desire Who Art About to Sing
and
Shadows
(1977), which opened at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre;
The Owl and the Pussycat
,
Ecuatorial,
and
Flute of Pan
(1978), which opened at the Metropolitan Opera House;
Frescoes
(1978), which opened at the Metropolitan Museum of Art; and
Acts of Light
(1981), which opened at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Preforming Arts.
In addition to her work with Graham, Glorsky held stage management positions with Les Grands
Ballets Canadiens, 1970-1983; Maria Benitez Teatro Flamenco, 1970-1999; Mikhail Baryshnikov’s
White Oak Dance Project, 1996-2000; and Gala des Étoiles, 1986–2004, among others. Glorsky also
served as stage manager for The Juilliard School at New York’s Lincoln Center from 2003-2012.
Materials from the school’s 2003, 2004, and 2008 productions of Graham’s
Appalachian Spring
during that period are also included in this collection.
Glorsky’s work beyond the dance community included positions with the Dallas Civic Opera,
Kansas City Opera, and the American National Opera Company under the direction of Sarah
Caldwell. In the realm of musical theater, she assisted Tom Shelton on
Peter Pan
, Bob Fosse on
Chicago
and
Pippin
, Michael Bennett with
Seesaw
, Mike Nichols with
Apple Tree
, and stage managed a revival of
Showboat
for the New York State Theatre.
On September 17, 2018, the Stage Managers’ Association presented Glorsky with its Del Hughes
Award, recognizing her lifetime achievement as demonstrating the "finest qualities of stage
management: patience, diplomacy, organization, and a sense of humor." Choreographer Lar
Lubovitch observed the following about his longtime production stage manager: "Stage managers
are the unheralded heroes of theater. They hold more things in their heads at once than any ten
people put together. They are masters of logic; psychologists by nature; mommies and daddies
when necessary; and stoics at a time of crisis. They are the antidote to chaos. The best of them
have the rare ability to extinguish the flames of hysteria that frequently rise in the unstable
characters known as 'artists' who rely on them for things beyond the call of duty."
Scope and Content Note
The papers of Maxine Glorsky focus on her relationship with the Martha Graham Dance Company
as its stage manager during the 1970s and early 1980s. It also incorporates substantial material
from Jean Rosenthal, Graham’s lighting designer during the 1940s and 1950s, and other records of
premieres, tours, and production information through the 1960s.
The largest set of materials in the collection, which comprises the Production Files series, includes cue sheets for both stage management and lighting
purposes, theater space blueprints, lighting plots, related technical materials, cast lists,
shipping crate contents, business papers for Glorsky’s Technical Assistance Group (TAG)
Foundation and Rosenthal’s Theatre Production Service (TPS), budgets, cost estimates, contracts,
correspondence, and a modest amount of publicity, news clippings, and programs. Note: Production documents such as large diagrams or blueprints that
require special housing are organized but not yet accessible to patrons. This finding aid will
be updated when those production documents become available.
Valuable among the materials are the copies of cue sheets and other production information
from earlier stagings that are adapted for use in different performance spaces. The notes and
amendations on rough drafts through to final typed copies show the process of lighting and
calling the performances. Particularly interesting is Jean Rosenthal's process of taking an
existing production document and "transposing" it (Rosenthal's term) for a show in a different
theater at a later date.
Notable omissions to the years covered in this collection are 1954, the year of the Graham
company's successful tour of Europe, and the period from 1970 through 1972 during which Martha
Graham was resting and recuperating.
While the Graham repertory is the one most documented in this collection, production records
for Graham's contemporaries such as Doris Humphrey and José Limón; Graham dancers Merce
Cunningham, Pearl Lang, Erick Hawkins, and others; and independent choreographers such as Nina
Fonaroff, are also present because of festival programs managed by Rosenthal that featured works
by many artists, including Graham. Performance programs and production records not directly
related to the legacy of Martha Graham and her company are included in the Miscellany series, as well as several biographical documents of
Maxine Glorsky.
Organization of the Maxine Glorsky Papers Relating to Martha Graham
The Collection is organized in two series:
-
[Production Files, 1940-2008](pro)
-
[Miscellany, 1940s-2019](mis)
Container List
Container
Contents
1-31
7
Production Files,1940-2008
1940-2008
Records, notes, charts, blueprints, lighting plots, elevations, cue sheets, correspondence,
invoices and receipts, and other materials that document the practical preparations and
execution of mounting dance performances. Almost all of the productions are those of the
Martha Graham Dance Company.
Arranged chronologically by year. Where possible within each year, items concerning a
specific topic or related to a specific venue are grouped together. The original order of the
production files was generally chronological, and this arrangement has been retained to a
great extent.
1/1-3
1940
1940
Production records for touring schedule; invoices of Jean
Rosenthal and Theatre Production Services (TPS); contractual correspondence
Note: Most items are related to January 1941
performances
1/4-12
1941
1941
Production and administrative records
Note: Includes production notes for Punch
and the Judy
1/13-14
1942
1942
Production and budget notes; correspondence
Note: Includes correspondence between TPS and Erick Hawkins
1/15-19
1943
1943
Production and budget documents; correspondence
Note: Includes rental agreement with Ballet Caravan
1/20 to 2/10, 29/1, 31/1
1944
1944
Notebooks, correspondence, and technical specs for
Washington performances
Note: Includes correspondence, sketches, and other records for
October premiere of Appalachian spring at Library of Congress
2/11-18, 31/2
1945
1945
Contractual, legal, and other correspondence, including
dispute with Austin Wilder management; equipment lists; cue sheets; diagrams and sketches;
production notebooks; programs and flyers
Note: Several production documents from the 1944 National
Theatre performances were included among 1945 production items
3/1-10
1946
1946
Production documents for touring schedule with notes on
verso; financial documents
7/8
1946
1946
Ground plan and light plot for tour
3/11-16
1947
1947
Contracts; correspondence; lists for touring and stage
management; detailed production notes for all Graham ballets performed in 1947
Note: Includes notes on Erick Hawkins's Stephen Acrobat and John Brown
3/17-22
1948
1948
Production records for season at Maxine Elliott Theatre
3/23 to 4/5
1949
1949
Itinerary and theater specs for 1949 tour; production
documents for stage management of Graham company
Note: Includes several documents for New York City Ballet and
New York City Dance Theatre
7/8
1949
1949
Light plot and tormenter plan and board hook-up for road
tour
4/6-21, 29/2, 31/3
1950
1950
Production records for 46th Street Theatre season, Carnegie
Hall performances, and a small amount on the 1950 European tour
Note: Includes records for Graham's Gospel of Eve and Judith , and Hawkins choreographies
7/8
1950
1950
Light and hanging plot for 46th Street Theatre
4/22-24
1951
1951
Records for Louisville and Denver performances and bus tour
5/1-5, 31/4
1952
1952
Records for performances at Juilliard
5/6-23, 29/3, 30/1
1953
1953
Production records for performances of the American Dance
Festival at the Alvin Theatre; some documentation of performances at Juilliard, YMHA, and
Baltimore
Note: Works of Graham's contemporaries, such as Nina Fonaroff,
Helen McGehee, Doris Humphrey, Jose Limon, May O'Donnell, Pearl Lang, and Merce Cunningham,
are represented in the production files for the American Dance Festival
7/8
1953
1953
Light plots and elevation for American Dance Festival, Alvin
Theatre
6/1-21, 29/4, 31/5
1955
1955
Production records for American Dance Festival at ANTA;
preparations for Graham company's first U.S. State Department-sponsored tour abroad in
1955-1956
Note: Production notes for works by Doris Humphrey, Jose Limon,
Valerie Bettis, Daniel Nagrin, Anna Halprin, Pauline Koner, Anna Sokolow, are among the
records for the American Dance Festival
7/1-11
1958
1958
Production records for performances at Adelphi Theatre;
"transposition" of earlier technical specs to 1958 charts
Note: Includes documentation for premiere of Clytemnestra
7/8
1958
1958
Light plots and elevations for Adelphi Theatre
7/12-15
1960
1960
Production specs for season at 54th Street Theatre
Note: Includes preparations for new work Alcestis
7/16
1961
1961
7/9
1961
1961
Ground plan and elevations for One More
Gaudy Night; revised light plot and elevation
7/17-23
1962
1962
8/1-9
1963
1963
Production records for performances at Lunt-Fontanne Theatre
8/10
1964
1964
Newspaper photo clipping of Graham dancer Mary Hinkson in
group of four artists
8/11-15
1965
1965
Technical documents for performances at 54th Street Theatre
7/9
1965
1965
Light plot for 54th Street Theatre
8/16
1966-1968
1966-1968
Flame proofing documentation
8/17-18
1967
1967
Production records for performances at Hellinger Theatre
Note: See also production documents in 1963, annotated for 1967
8/19-23
1968
1968
Production records for performances at George Abbott Theatre
and Brooklyn Academy of Music
7/9
1968
1968
Revised light plot for Brooklyn Academy of Music
8/24-25
1969
1969
8/26
1972-1979
1972-1979
Flame proofing documentation
8/27-31
1973
1973
Records of May performances at the Alvin Theatre
7/9
1973
1973
Light and hanging plots for Alvin Theatre
7/8
1973
1973
Stage platform diagrams
8/32-35
1974
1974
Records of performances at the Mark Hellinger Theatre and
Asia tour specs
7/9
1974
1974
Light and hanging plots for Mark Hellinger Theatre and
tour
9/1-12, 29/5
1975
1975
Production files for gala benefit and New York and tour
performances
Note: Includes Nureyev agreement and production records for
premiere of Lucifer, choreographed for him
7/9
1975
1975
Electric and hanging plot for tour
7/8
1975
1975
Poster for Martha Graham Dance Company, Mark Hellinger
Theatre
9/13-20
1976
1976
Production and budget records for European tour, Kennedy
Center and Cincinnati performances, and Mexico
Note: Also includes preliminary estimates for 1977 operations
7/9
1976
1976
Light and hanging plots for Cincinnati Music Hall and John F.
Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
7/8
1976
1976
Light and hanging plot for European tour
7/8
1976-1977
1976-1977
Stage plans for Benito Juárez Theatre, Mexico
9/21 to 11/25, 30/2-7
1977
1977
Repertory binder (with 1980 additions); Calder gala and Lunt
Fontanne records, including contracts
Note: Includes correspondence and set and prop diagrams related
to the 1978 Isamu Noguchi exhibits at Walker Art Gallery and the Whitney Museum of American
Art
7/8
1977
1977
Light plots for Lunt-Fontanne Theatre; stage plans for Murray
Theatre (Highland Park, Illinois)
12/1 to 16/3, 30/8-9
1978
1978
Production records for Metropolitan Opera House, Ravinia
Festival, and domestic tour performances
Note: Includes lighting and stage manager notebooks
7/9
1978
1978
Light plot for fall road tour
7/8
1978
1978
Plan and elevations for O Thou Desire
Who Art About to Sing
16/4-48
1978-1979?
1978-1979?
Retrospective binder of positive and negative prints of
stage plans, designs, and crate boxing
Note: Organized by choreography: some early works corrected for
1970s; some prints labeled "uncorrected"; several items not identifiable; includes items for
two Erick Hawkins choreographies, Stephen Acrobat and John Brown
17/1 to 19/15, 30/10-11
1979
1979
Production documents for USICA tour abroad and domestic tour
Note: Binder of board cues for domestic tour has additions for
later works, Judith (1980) and Acts of
Light (1981)
7/8
1979
1979
Light plot for Royal Opera House (London)
7/8-9
1979
1979
Light plots for summer and fall tour
7/9
1979
1979
Light plot for Tivoli Garden (Copenhagen)
20/1 to 22/11
1980
1980
Records for Spring performances at the Metropolitan Opera
and Fall domestic tour
Note: Includes stage manager's binder on Clytemnestra , with annotated records dating from 1961-1962
7/9
1980
1980
Light plot for tour
22/12 to 24/15, 29/6, 30/12-13
1981
1981
Records for Mexico and domestic tours
Note: Includes technical documents for premiere of Acts of Light at Kennedy Center
7/8
1981
1981
Light plots for Cami tour and Nelson A. Rockefeller Empire
State Plaza (Albany, New York); light and hanging plot for Civic Center (Syracuse, New
York)
7/8
1981
1981
Permanent electric hang and circuit plot for John F. Kennedy
Center for the Performing Arts
7/9
1981
1981
Light plots for Frankfurt Opera House, Iowa City, and Teatro
de la Ciudad (Mexico City)
25/1-2
1982
1982
Correspondence
25/3-4, 29/7, 30/14
1990-1991
1990-1991
Benefit flyer; clippings
25/5-6
2000-2001
2000-2001
Program; clippings
25/7 to 26/6
2002-2004
2002-2004
Note: Includes list of extant recordings of dance works, dance
technique, interviews
25/10
2008
2008
27/1 to 28/19, 30/15
Undated
Undated
Production records lacking dates and/or locations, organized
by title of dance work
7/8
Undated
Undated
Ground plan for Constitution Hall, light cue sheets, and
tormentor plan and board hook-up for unidentified venue
25
Miscellany, 1940s-2019
1940s-2019
Chiefly biographical items related to Maxine Glorsky and performance records of scholarly
interest not directly related to the Martha Graham legacy.
Biographical items are arranged alphabetically by subject. Performance records are arranged
chronologically.
25/11-12
Biographical materials, 2018-2019
2018-2019
Complete curriculum vitae of Maxine Glorsky; press release
on Glorsky's award from the Stage Managers' Association, the Del Hughes Lifetime Achievement
in the Art of Stage Management
25/13-21
Performance programs and records, 1940s-2002
1940s-2002