AUSTIN, Texas (August 15, 2006) - An archival collection of about three thousand items, including posters, fliers, documents and ephemera from Austin's historic Paramount and State Theatres, has been acquired by the University of Texas Libraries.
Detailing the Paramount's history as a non-profit since 1971 and the State Theatre's recent history, the collection, which will be housed in the Fine Arts Library at The University of Texas at Austin, documents the various performers and performances in the contemporary era of the two venues that compose the Austin Theatre Alliance. Among the materials are one-sheets from films that premiered or showed at the theatres, playbills from individual and ensemble performances, architectural drawings from the Paramount's various renovations, artist contracts and specifications, set designs, programs, photographs, video and more.
Among the artists and events represented in the archive are a 1977 Billy Joel concert which includes a contract rider specifying Joel's required accommodations (security requirements, meals, beverages, dressing room amenities, etc.); materials related to the 1982 world premiere of the Burt Reynolds/Dolly Parton film "The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas," including an event workbook and press package as well as a playbill from a 1981 stage version of the musical; and various autographed film premiere posters, including one for 2005's "Sin City" signed by Robert Rodriguez.
Materials now in the archive had been gathering in various locations at the Paramount and State Theatres, unavailable for public access. The placement of the collection materials at the Fine Arts Library means students, scholars and local historians will have access to some of the Paramount and State's private documentation and rare publicity materials.
The visual nature of the items lends the archive to future exhibitions. Plans are underway to exhibit a selection of posters in the near future.
"We hope this collection will add to the existing resources documenting the early history of the Paramount Theatre that already reside on campus, including archival materials housed at the university's Harry Ransom Center and Center for American History," says Vice Provost and Libraries Director Fred Heath. "The addition of these contemporary materials is a boon for not only students of theater and dance, but also for the public. This acquisition marks the beginning of an important partnership between the University of Texas Libraries and the Paramount Theatre. We welcome this opportunity to be engaged with such a remarkable part of the community's cultural life."
Fine Arts Library staff will catalog, preserve and house the materials in its special collections over the next year, at which time the collection will be available for viewing by appointment.
"The Fine Arts Library is thrilled to provide access to archival materials of such an important Austin arts institution," says Head Librarian Laura Schwartz. "It is the mission of the Fine Arts Library to build relations with the Austin arts community. I look forward to working with the Austin Theatre Alliance on exhibiting this rich archive."
For more than 90 years, Austin's historic Paramount Theatre (http://www.austintheatre.org/) on Congress Avenue has been home to vaudeville, silent movies and "talkies," music, dance, and Broadway shows. Through the years, a cast of superstars has graced its stage, from Houdini, the Marx Brothers, Helen Hayes, Orson Welles, Sarah Bernhardt, the Ziegfeld Follies, the Metropolitan Opera, Lillian Russell, John Philip Sousa, the Barrymores, Lillian Gish and George M. Cohan to such modern-day favorites as Billy Joel, Willie Nelson, Jerry Jeff Walker, Sarah Vaughan, Lyle Lovett, Gregory Hines and Mandy Patinkin.
The Fine Arts Library (http://www.lib.utexas.edu/fal/) is one of 11 libraries in the University of Texas Libraries system. The library contains the collections for art, music, theater and dance, and supports research and teaching in the College of Fine Arts. Its collections include about 300,000 books and musical scores, 900 serial subscriptions, almost 40,000 CDs, 4,000 videocassettes and discs, 1,000 DVDs, 6,200 reels of microfilm and 24,000 microfiche. The library also houses The Historical Music Recordings Collection, an archive of more than 200,000 audio recordings in a variety of formats, one of the largest such archives in the United States.
