The Thomas H. Arthur Papers, 1953-2018, consist of eight boxes (2.42 cubic feet) of personal correspondence, manuscripts,
theater programs, photographs, and notes written by Dr. Thomas H. Arthur, JMU faculty member, and pertaining to actor Melvyn
Douglas.
The copyright interests in this collection have been transferred to the James Madison University Special Collections Library.
For more information, contact the Special Collections Library Reference Desk (library-special@jmu.edu).
Access Restrictions
Collection is open to research. Researchers must register and agree to copyright and privacy laws before using this collection.
Please contact Research Services staff before visiting the James Madison University Special Collections Library to use this
collection.
Preferred Citation
[identification of item], [box #, folder #], Thomas H. Arthur Papers, 1953-2018, SC 0088, Special Collections, Carrier Library,
James Madison University, Harrisonburg, Va.
Acquisition Information
Thomas H. Arthur made an initial donation of materials to Special Collections in 1987. Arthur donated additional materials,
primarily theater programs, in March 2018. Arthur made an additional donation of Festival of the Arts posters in July 2021.
Processing Information
In order to streamline the process of applying collection numbers, Special Collections staff completed a large-scale renumbering
campaign in the spring of 2017. This collection was previously cataloged as SC 2023. This collection was reprocessed in 2019 to incorporate Thomas Arthur's March 2018 donation of theater programs.
Thomas H. Arthur joined the staff of James Madison University in 1973, teaching both theater and speech as part of the Department
of Communication Arts. He was instrumental in making theater at JMU into a college department. After the Department of Theatre
and Dance was formed in 1986 as part of the College of Arts and Letters, Arthur would serve as the department head from 1987-1989.
As a professor, he arranged semester abroad trips to London to expose students to British culture as well as professional
theater productions. He continued to teach and direct productions at JMU as part of the faculty until his retirement in 2007.
Arthur was a personal friend of actor Melvyn Douglas and his family, and wrote his doctoral thesis about Douglas's involvement
in politics. In 1971, Arthur also collaborated with Douglas, at Douglas' request, to write his autobiography, See You at the Movies: The Autobiography of Melvyn Douglas .
Melvyn Douglas was born Melvyn Hesselberg, on April 5, 1901 in Macon, Georgia. He began his theatrical career in 1917, and
adopted the name 'Douglas' some time prior to his movie debut. During his career he was a star of the screen, stage, and television.
He was the first male actor to win a Tony Award, an Emmy Award, and an Oscar. In addition to acting, Douglas served in both
world wars and was active in politics. In 1940 he became the first actor to serve as a delegate to the Democratic National
Convention. He married in 1931 and died in New York City on August 4, 1981. A portion of this collection includes letters
and notes relating to Dr. Arthur's book, See You at the Movies: The Autobiography of Melvyn Douglas (Lanham, Md. University Press of America, 1986).
The Thomas H. Arthur Papers, 1953-2018, consist of eight boxes (2.42 cubic feet). The collection is arranged into two series,
with two subseries each: 1. Theater Programs and Printed Materials, 1.1 Playbills, 1.2 Theater Print Materials, 2. Scholarship
and Teaching, 2.1 Melvyn Douglas Research, 2.2 Study Abroad Semester Materials. The largest part of the collection comprises
the playbills and theater print materials from both domestic and international theaters. The collection also includes Arthur's
research into the life of actor Melvyn Douglas, including photographs, handwritten notes, and correspondence provided by Douglas
and his family to inform Arthur's research.
The collection is arranged into two series and arranged further into subseries. Each series is arranged chronologically except
Series 1.1 Playbills which is arranged alphabetically by theater production.
Theater Programs and Printed Materials, 1953-2018
Scholarship and Teaching, 1970-2014
Wisconsin Historical Society, Melvyn Douglas, Melvyn Douglas Papers, 1892-1983.
School of Theatre and Dance Records, 1930-2011 (bulk 1981-1993), UA 0045, Special Collections, Carrier Library, James Madison
University, Harrisonburg, VA.
James Madison University. The School of Theatre and Dance. http://www.jmu.edu/theatre/pdf/backstages07.pdf. Accessed October
2019.
James Madison University. Bluestone. Harrisonburg, VA: 1988. James Madison University Special Collections.
Series 1: Theater Programs and Printed Materials, 1953-2018, is separated into two subseries: theater programs and printed
materials related to many of the shows represented in the playbills. The theater programs document the many plays and musicals
that Arthur attended, with the majority playing in London and on Broadway and spanning more than 60 years. Playbills of note
include programs from award-winning shows such as Hamilton, Kiss of the Spider Woman, The Lion King, My Fair Lady, and Cats,
programs from productions that feature actors including Ian McKellan, Patrick Stewart, Catherine Tate, Judi Dench, Viola Davis,
and Gary Oldman, and programs from many versions of classic Shakespeare plays, such as Twelfth Night and Hamlet. The theater
print material subseries comprises other theater-related pamphlets and programs, most of which are either souvenir brochures
or pamphlets that include calendars for a particular season.
1.1
Playbills
1953-2018
Mixed Materials [1000886529] box: 1 folder: 1
2 Pianos, 4 Hands - American Theatre College Festival XXX
1981-2018
2 Pianos, 4 Hands
1999
9 Parts of Desire
2006
21st Annual Humana Festival of New American Plays
1997
The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee
2006
40 Years On
1984
42nd Street
1983
84 Charing Cross Road
1981
Absolute Hell
1995
Accidental Death of an Anarchist
1981
Ain't Misbehavin
1985
Ajax
1986
Aladdin
2016
Alice
2003
All My Sons
1981
All My Sons
2018
Amadeus
1981
The American College Theatre Festival XVI
1984
The American College Theatre Festival XXVI
1994
The American College Theatre Festival XXX
1998
Mixed Materials [1000886529] box: 1 folder: 2
Angels in America - Avenue Q
1962-2015
Angels in America
1994
Anna in the Tropics
2004
Annie
1981
Annie
2013
Animal Farm
1986
Antony and Cleopatra
2008
Anything Goes
2003
Arcadia
1994
The Archbishop's Ceiling
1986
Arms and the Man
1981
Art
1996
Art
2000-2001
As You Like It
1962
As You Like It
1981-1982
The Audience
2015
August: Osage County
2008
Avenue Q
2004
Mixed Materials [1000886529] box: 1 folder: 3
Ballroom - Big River
1961-2003
Ballroom
1978
Barefoot in the Park
1965
ΒΑΤΡΑΧΟΙ
2002-2003
The Bay at Nice and Wrecked Eggs
1986
The Beastly Beatitudes of Balthazar B
1982
Beatlemania
1978
The Beauty Queen of Leenane
1998
As Bees in Honey Drown
1997
Bells are Ringing
1961
Benefactors
1984
Big River: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
1986
Mixed Materials [1000886529] box: 1 folder: 4
Billy Bishop Goes to War - By George...It's Gershwin
1963-2010, undated
Billy Bishop Goes to War
1982
The Blacks
undated
Blackbird
2006
Blood Brothers
1988
Bloody Poetry
1984
Blue Man Group "Tubes"
1992
Blue Surge
2001
Bobrauschenbergamerica
2009-2010
Bookworms
2010
Bouncers
undated
The Boyfriend
1984
Breaking the Code
1986
Breaking the Silence
1984
Brigadoon
1963
Brothers Karamazov
1981
By George...It's Gershwin
1987
Mixed Materials [1000886529] box: 1 folder: 5
La Cage Aux Folles - Children of a Lesser God
1978-1999, undated
La Cage Aux Folles
1986
Canterbury Tales
undated
Can't Pay? Won't Pay!
1981
Carmen
1996-1997
Carmen Jones
1991
Cats
1999
The Caucasian Chalk Circle
1997
Champagne Charlie
1984
Chapter Two
1978
The Cherry Orchard
1997
Chicago
1999
Children of a Lesser God
1980
Mixed Materials [1000886530] box: 2 folder: 1
Chinese State Circus - Coriolanus
1984-2006, undated
Chinese State Circus
1995-1996
Chopin Recital with Maciej Poliszewski
undated
A Chorus of Disapproval
1986
City of Angels
1991
The Clean House
2006
Closer
1997
Cloud Nine
1997
The Color Wheel
1995
Company
1996
The Complete Works of William Shakespeare
1992
Copenhagen
1999
Coriolanus
1984
Coriolanus
1996
Mixed Materials [1000886530] box: 2 folder: 2
Corpse! - Dylan
1964-2011, undated
Corpse!
1984
Cosi' Fan Tutte`
undated
The Count of Monte Cristo
2004
The Country Club
undated
The Country Wife
undated
Cowgirls
1996
The Cripple of Inishman
1997-1998
Curse of the Starving Class
1979
Cyrano
1995
Cyrano de Bergerac
1997
Dance of Love and Death
1981
Dancing at Lughnasa
2011
Dangerous Corner
undated
David Mamet: "Bobby Gould in Hell" Reading
undated
A Day at the Opera, A Night at the Races
1984
Dial M for Murder
1983-1984
Dialogues Des Carmelites
1999-2000
Les Dindes Galantes
2006
Don Giovanni
1984
Don Juan
1981
Doonesbury
1983
Driving Miss Daisy
1988
The Drowsy Chaperone
2006
Dylan
1964
Mixed Materials [1000886530] box: 2 folder: 3
East of Eden - Evita
1981-2018
East of Eden
2014-2015
Eastern Standard
1988
Edinburgh Military Tattoo
1981
Educating Rita
1981
Eleemosynary
1993
English Chamber Orchestra Concert Series
1984
English Chamber Orchestra Concert Series
1997
Equus
2017
Evita
1980
Evita
1981
Mixed Materials [1000886530] box: 2 folder: 4
Fair Maid - Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune
1975-2016
The Fair Maid of the West
1987
Falstaff and Hal
1986
A Few Good Men
1994
Finian's Rainbow
2016
First Monday in October
1975
Follies
2001
Follow the Orange and Blue Road
1998
The Fool
1981
Fool for Love
1983
Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune
1988
Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune
1992
Mixed Materials [1000886530] box: 2 folder: 5
Galileo - De La Guarda
1981-2014, undated
Galileo
1986
A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder
2014
Gianni Scicchi and Pagliacci
2004
Gibraltar
2013
The Glass Menagerie
1995
The Glass Menagerie
2007
The Glass Menagerie
2010
The Goat (or Who is Sylvia?)
2002
Godot-Ra Varva
undated
Good People
2011
The Gospel at Colonus
1990
Grease
2000
The Green Bird
2000
Groucho at Large
1981
De La Guarda
undated
Mixed Materials [1000886531] box: 3 folder: 1
Half a Sixpence - Henry IV
1962-2016
Half a Sixpence
1966
Hametz
1995
Hamilton
2016
Hamlet
1981
Hamlet
1992
Hamlet
1988
Hamlet
1997
Hamlet Variations
2004
Handel Opera
1984
Happy New Year
1979
The Hard Problem
2016
Harvey
2015
Heartbreak House
2017
Hedwig and the Angry Inch
1999
The Heidi Chronicles
1989
Henry IV
1962
Henry IV
2004
Mixed Materials [1000886531] box: 3 folder: 2
Henry IV - Italian American Reconciliation
1975-2011, undated
Henry IV
1994
Henry VIII
2002
Herr Puntila Und Sein Knecht Matti
1975
High Spirits
undated
The Hired Man
1984
Hogan's Goat
undated
The Homecoming
1997
The House of Blue Leaves
1986
The Hypochondriac
1981
An Ideal Husband
1996
An Iliad
2011
I'm Not Rappaport
1986
An Inspector Calls
undated
Intimate Exchanges
1985
Italian American Rconciliation
undated
Mixed Materials [1000886531] box: 3 folder: 3
Jack: A Night on the Town - Little Hotel on the Side
1981-2015, undated
Jack: A Night on the Town with John Barrymore
1994
Jelly's Last Jam
1992
Joyce
2007
Judith: A Parting from the Body
2010
The Kingfisher
1981
King Hedley II
2001
The King and I
2015
King Richard III (The Big Dick)
undated
Kiss Me, Kate
undated
Kiss of the Spider Woman
1994
Lady in the Dark
1997
The Last Nights of Ballyhoo
1997
Les Miserables
1985
A Letter of Resignation
1997
The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby
1982
The Life of Henry the Fift
1997
The Light in the Piazza
2005
The Lion King
2014
A Little Bit Like You
2003
The Little Dog Laughed
2006
A Little Hotel on the Side
1984
Mixed Materials [1000886531] box: 3 folder: 4
Little Me - Love and Understanding
1983-2008
Little Me
1984
The Little Mermaid
2008
Little Shop of Horrors
1983
Long Day's Journey into Night
2003
Loot
1984
Love's Labor's Lost
1987
Love's Labour's Lost
1994
Love and Understanding
1997
The Lucky Chance
1984
Mixed Materials [1000886531] box: 3 folder: 5
Macbeth - Mary Poppins
1965-2012, undated
Macbeth
1965
Macbeth
1989
Madame Melville
2000
A Madhouse in Goa
1989
The Madness of George III
1992
Macbeth
2004
Madame Butterfly
1984
Madame Butterfly
1988
The Magic Flute
1997
The Magistrate
1986
Making it Happen
undated
Malfi
1995
Mamma Mia
2001
Ma Rainey's Black Bottom
1985
Ma Rainey's Black Bottom
undated
Marat
1997
Marcel Marceau
1965
Maria Callas: Master Class
1996
The Marriage of Figaro
1991
Mary Poppins
2012
Mixed Materials [1000886532] box: 4 folder: 1
Measure for Measure - The Mystery of Edwin Drood
1959-2011, undated
Measure for Measure
undated
Medea
2000
Merchant of Venice
1962
The Merry Widow
1980
The Merry Wives of Windsor
1997
Metamorpheses
2002
Metamorpheses
2010
Of Mice and Men
1999
The Midnight Eucharist
1984
A Midsummer Night's Dream
1985
Million Dollar Quartet
2011
Misalliance
1995
Misery
1992
Monteith and Rand
1978
Much Ado About Nothing
1981
Mutabilitie
1997
My Children! My Africa!
undated
My Fair Lady
1959
My Fair Lady
1981
My Fair Lady
2002
My Giddy Aunt
1968
The Mystery of Edwin Drood
1986
Mixed Materials [1000886532] box: 4 folder: 2
National Black Arts Festival - Nunsense
1960-2014, undated
National Black Arts Festival
1992
National Symphony Orchestra: All Beethoven
1980
Newsies
2013
A New Way to Pay Old Debts
1984
New York Philharmonic Young People's Concert
1958
New York Philharmonic Young People's Concert
1960
New York Philharmonic Young People's Concert
1960
'night, Mother
1983
Nine
2003
No Frost 17
undated
Noises Off
1984
Noises Off
2004
No Man's Land and Waiting for Godot
2014
Nothing Sacred
1989
Nunsense
undated
Mixed Materials [1000886532] box: 4 folder: 3
Oedipus - Outrage
1962-2013, undated
Oedipus
undated
Oklahoma!
2002
Old Times
undated
Old Wicked Songs
1996
Oliver!
1963
Oliver!
1964
On the Razzle
1981
Once on this Island
1991
The O'Neill Plays
1988
One Mo' Time
1981
On the Twentieth Century
1978
On Your Toes
1984
The Oresteia
1981
Orson's Shadow
2005
Othello
1962
Othello
1979
The Other Place
2013
O'Toole Reading
1996
Our Lady of 121st Street
2003
Outrage
2011
Mixed Materials [1000886532] box: 4 folder: 4
Passion Play - Punch Henry's Jazz Funeral
1962-2016, undated
Passion Play
1984
Pebuzop Tarkastaja
1989
People Show
1981
Pericles
2005
Peter Pan
2016
The Petition
1986
Phedra
1984
Photo Finish
undated
The Piano Lesson
1990
The Pirates of Penzance and The Mikado
1981
The Pixie Led
1989
Playland
1994
Playland
undated
The Pope's Wedding and Saved
1984
The Premise
1962
Present Laughter
1981
Present Laughter
1996
The Prince's Play
1996
The Prisoner of Second Avenue
2010
Private Eyes
1970
Private Eyes
2002
Punch Henry's Jazz Funeral
1981
Mixed Materials [1000886532] box: 4 folder: 5
Quartermaine's Terms - Russian Classical Ballet
1962-2004, undated
Quartermaine's Terms
1982
The Queen and the Rebels
1982
The Real Thing
1984
Red Cross
undated
Rent
1998
Restoration
1981
Richard II
1962
Richard II
1987
Richard III
1962
The Rise and Fall of Little Voice
1992
Rough Crossing
1984
Rules for Good Manners in the Modern World
2004
The Russian Classical Ballet
undated
Mixed Materials [1000886533] box: 5 folder: 1
Sadler's Wells Royal Ballet - Shirley Valentine
1962-2005, undated
Sadler's Wells Royal Ballet
1984
Saint Oedipus
2005
Salome
1989
Sarafina
1989
The Scarlet Pimpernel
2002
The School for Scandal
1962
The School for Scandal
1984
The School for Wives
1997
The Seagull
1997
A Servant to Two Masters
undated
Seven Guitars
1996
Sex and Longing
1996
Shadowlands
1989
She Stoops to Conquer
1984
Shirley Valentine
1989
Mixed Materials [1000886533] box: 5 folder: 2
Shoemaker's Holiday - Strip Show
1962-2017, undated
The Shoemaker's Holiday
1981
Shopping and Fucking
1997
Shouting in the Evening
1997
Side Man
1999
The Silver Whistle
1962-1963
Simon Boccanegra
1981
Six Characters in Search of an Author
1966
Six Characters in Search of an Author
1987
Six Degrees of Separation
1991
Skylight
1997
Souvenir
2017
Speed-The-Plow
1989
Spring Awakening
2008
Stage Kiss
2014
Stanley
1996
Steaming
1981
Steaming
1982
Stepping Out
1984
A Streetcar Named Desire
2017
Strip Show
undated
Mixed Materials [1000886533] box: 5 folder: 3
The Sum of Us - Sweet Charity
1986-2009
The Sum of Us
1991
The Sum of Us
1992
Sunset Boulevard
1996
Superior Donuts
2009
Swan Lake
2002
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
2006
Sweet Charity
1986
Mixed Materials [1000886533] box: 5 folder: 4
Taking a Chance on Love - Thin Wall
1961-2005, undated
Taking a Chance on Love
2000
The Tale of the Allergist's Wife
2005
Talking Heads
2003
廁所的故事 (The Tale of the Toilet)
undated
Tantalus
2000
The Tempest
1961
The Tempest
2001
Texts for Nothing
undated
Theatre of Nations
1986
Theatrical Garden Party
1984
They're Playing Our Song
1980
Things We Do for Love
1998
Thin Wall
undated
Mixed Materials [1000886533] box: 5 folder: 5
A Thousand Clowns - Two Trains Running
1962-2016
A Thousand Clowns
1962
Three Birds Alighting on a Field
1992
Three Men on a Horse
1987
The Threepenny Opera
2002
Timon of Athens
2004
Tiny Alice
undated
Today, I am a Fountain Pen
1985
Tons of Money
1986
Tony n' Tina's Wedding
1988
Topdog/Underdog
2002
The Torch-Bearers
2000
Torch Song Trilogy
1985
Translations
1981
The Triumph of Love
2004
TRU
2016
True West
1983
Twelfth Night or What You Will
1991
Twelfe Night, or What You Will/The Tragedie of King Richard the Third
2014
The Two Noble Kingsmen
2002
Two Rooms
1998
Two Trains Running
1991
Mixed Materials [1000886534] box: 6 folder: 1
Under Milk Wood - Volpone
1981-2004, undated
Under Milk Wood
1995
Undoing Salk
2004
Urinetown: The Musical
2001
Veterans Day
1989
Village Wooing and 1933, a Portrait of the Year
undated
Vivaldi and Bach by Candlelight
1997
Volpone
1995
Mixed Materials [1000886534] box: 6 folder: 2
Wait Until Dark - Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
1962-2011, undated
Wait Until Dark
undated
Waiting for Godot
1997
The Warsaw Ballet
undated
A Walk in the Woods
1988
WarHorse
2012
The Way of the World
1984
The Wedding
2010
West Shore Concerts: The Cleveland Orchestra
1962
When We Dead Awaken
1990
The Whipping Man
2011
Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
1962
Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
1981
Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
2006
Mixed Materials [1000886534] box: 6 folder: 3
Wicked - You Never Can Tell
1978-2004, undated
Wicked
2004
Wild Honey
1984
Wild Oats
1995
The Will Rogers Follies: A Life in Rome
1991
Wit
1999
The Witches
undated
The Wiz
1978
The Woman in Black
1989
Woman in Mind
1986
Wonderful Town!
1986
Year of the Rooster
undated
You Never Can Tell
1987
Print Theater Materials
1962-2005
Arrangement
Due to being an oversized item, the Beijing Opera at the Liyuan Theater souvenir brochure was housed in a separate four-flap
container.
Series 2: Scholarship and Teaching, 1979-2014, is separated into two-subseries: materials relating to Arthur's research on
Melvyn Douglas and material from semesters abroad in London and Italy. The former consists of correspondence, notes and manuscripts,
theater programs, and photographs related to Arthur's research for his dissertation abd biography on Melvyn Douglas. Some
items of interest include a letter sent February 10, 1972 from actor Robert Redford to Melvyn Douglas, Douglas' handwritten
notes for Arthur's book, theater programs that detail Melvyn Douglas's early performances in various theaters throughout the
Midwest, and photographs of Melvyn Douglas (or family members of Douglas) that Thomas H. Arthur used in his biography of Douglas.
The semester abroad sub-series consists of materials from Arthur's study abroad class. Much of the sub-series comprises museum
guides and hotel brochures. Some items of interest include photographs taken by a student while on the trip (with some correspondence
written on the back dated 1984), a photograph of Thomas Arthur and three other guests at the Mansion House in London, and
an itinerary with dinner programs for the students. Three posters from the 1979 Fine Arts Week and a list of Festival of the
Arts topics and guests (1974-1992) compiled by Arthur are included.
2.1
Melvyn Douglas Research
1970-1982
Mixed Materials [1000886535] box: 7 folder: 2
Correspondence
1970-1974
Mixed Materials [1000886535] box: 7 folder: 3
Correspondence
1975-1978
Mixed Materials [1000886535] box: 7 folder: 4
Correspondence
1979-1982
Mixed Materials [1000886535] box: 7 folder: 5
Programs from Early Performances (Folder 1 of 6)
1979
Mixed Materials [1000886535] box: 7 folder: 6
Programs from Early Performances (Folder 2 of 6)
1979
Mixed Materials [1000886535] box: 7 folder: 7
Programs from Early Performances (Folder 3 of 6)
1979
Mixed Materials [1000886535] box: 7 folder: 8
Programs from Early Performances (Folder 4 of 6)
1979
Mixed Materials [1000886535] box: 7 folder: 9
Programs from Early Performances (Folder 5 of 6)
1979
Mixed Materials [1000886535] box: 7 folder: 10
Programs from Early Performances (Folder 6 of 6)
1979
Mixed Materials [1000886535] box: 7 folder: 11
Arthur's manuscripts, Part 1
undatedEnglish.
Mixed Materials [1000886535] box: 7 folder: 12
Arthur's manuscripts, Part 2
undatedEnglish.
Mixed Materials [1000886535] box: 7 folder: 13
Copy of Douglas' outline on acting
undatedEnglish.
Mixed Materials [1000886535] box: 7 folder: 14
Douglas' handwritten notes for biography
undatedEnglish.
Mixed Materials [1000886535] box: 7 folder: 15
Photographs (Folder 1 of 3)
undated
Mixed Materials [1000886535] box: 7 folder: 16
Photographs (Folder 2 of 3)
undated
Mixed Materials [1000886535] box: 7 folder: 17
Photographs (Folder 3 of 3)
undated
2.2
Study Abroad Semester and Festival of the Arts Materials