Broadway Theatre Archive

This musical adaptation of the Studs Terkel book examines the average worker's viewpoint--showing that he or she is anything but average. Based on a series of interviews with real working people--construction workers, waitresses, firemen, secretaries, and cleaning women, Working is both an exploration of the individuals' occupations and a lament for lost hopes and dreams.

Henry Flipper is the first black West Point graduate. Assigned to serve at Fort Davis in Texas, Flipper becomes the object of a conspiracy by his fellow cadets to rid the base of its only black graduate.

London society matron Lady Sneerwell loves to gossip and spends her free time engaged in manipulation. When she selfishly derails the romance of Charles Surface, her scheming unexpectedly creates a ripple effect among her well-to-do acquaintances.

Racial tensions come out of the woodwork when an upper-class white couple puts their suburban home on the market and the listing draws a pair of equally well-to-do African American buyers from Harlem. Fielder Cook directs this Broadway staging of playwright Arkady Leokum's exploration of lingering racial prejudice in 1970s America.

This absorbing 1976 production of dramatist Sidney Kingsley's historical play centers on the formative days of the United States and the disputes between founding fathers Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton. Although the two men greatly respect each other, the deep-seated clash in their ideologies engenders conflict just as the fledgling country is beginning to take root.

Don Pedro and his men (Teddy Roosevelt Roughriders) have returned from the wars. After Beatrice turns down his proposal, Don Pedro decides to matchmake her with Benedick (her former boyfriend), but she being an independent-minded, bicycle-riding Suffragette type, it's going to take a bit of trickery.

The powerful tales of seven diverse African-American women are woven together in this 1982 performance of Ntozake Shange's Obie Award-winning landmark play. A breakthrough portrayal of black women's experiences in America, the story combines music, poetry and dance to celebrate their unique culture while painting a poignant portrait of their terrible struggles.

Fairy tales by the Brothers Grimm come to vivid life in this innovative production. Taking classic narrative stories — such as "The Golden Goose," "The Clever Gretel," "The Goose Girl," and "The Bremen Town Musicians" — Paul Sills eliminated the customary use of elaborate sets and costumes and relied instead on the transforming talents of his gifted actors. Utilizing gestures, mime, music, and the actors' own imaginations, he has created a fresh and unique theater piece to present these timeless tales.

A fictitious but powerful look at the dawn of the nuclear age, this stage performance follows several government scientists as they develop the atomic bomb, grapple with the morality of their work, and confront major problems with their superiors. Written by award-winning playwright Loring Mandel, this riveting production stars Stacy Keach, Alice Drummond, Lois Smith, Clifton James and Verna Bloom.

With his parents about to celebrate their wedding anniversary, a middle-aged husband agrees to renew his vows to his longtime wife. But as they assess their relationship, the couple discovers that their marriage no longer has any meaning. A televised production of Robert Anderson's thoughtful play, this fascinating drama deftly examines the institution of marriage and the nature of love.

Amanda Wingfield dominates her children with her faded gentility and exaggerated tales of her Southern belle past. Her son plans escape; her daughter withdraws into a dream world. When a gentleman caller appears, things move to crisis point.

Donald Moffat stars in Moliere's classic comedy about lovable scoundrel Tartuffe, who befriends the wealthy Orgon and then attempts to seduce both his new friend's wife and daughter in this TV presentation from the Broadway Theatre Archive. Tartuffe pretends to be a pious man whose faith convinces Orgon and his family to succumb to his influence, but he's undone when his womanizing ways make it clear that his piety is a charade.

Is a sensitive and mysterious poet really an IRA gunman in hiding? Set in a Dublin tenement in the 1920s, this was the first part of Sean O'Casey's celebrated "Dublin Trilogy." Equal parts comedy and tragedy, this classic play is brilliantly performed by a stellar cast.

James Earl Jones delivers a riveting performance as paranoid patriarch King Lear, an aging monarch who insists that his three daughters prove their love for him, only to learn he's exalted the two who seek to destroy him. This live performance recording of Joseph Papp's New York Shakespeare Festival production deftly envisions the bard's haunting tragedy with a fine supporting cast, including Raul Julia, Paul Sorvino and Rene Auberjonois.

In this acclaimed production of John Steinbeck's classic morality tale, award-winning actress Colleen Dewhurst stars as Mordeen, a wife driven to desperate measures to give her aging circus performer husband a child. Dana Elcar, Donald Madden and Tony Award winner Myron McCormick round out the talented cast of this televised Broadway Theatre Archive production, produced by Lewis Freedman and Henry Weinstein.

A 1974 PBS production of Jean Anouilh's 1944 play "Antigone" adapted from the original Sophocles.

A television adaptation of Lillian Hellman's play about the Hubbards, a rich Southern family of greedy, ruthless individuals.

Anton Chekhov's play "The Seagull" is brought to life in this acclaimed 1975 production directed by John Desmond. Seeking to reform the theater, Konstantin (Frank Langella) has written an experimental play with the lead to be acted by his beloved, Nina (Blythe Danner). He arranges the first performance to take place at a country estate, but the presence of his self-absorbed mother (Lee Grant) and her novelist lover disrupts the production.

Theodore Hickman, a hardware salesman, makes by-yearly visits to Harry Hope's 1910-era waterfront bar for his periodical drinking binges. But on this visit he has decided to try to save the bar's patrons from their "lying pipe dreams."

From the elaborate Broadway revival of the 1932 Eva Le Gallienne/Florida Friebus production comes a whimsical retelling of the Lewis Carroll classic.