The Museum of Repertoire Americana, located in Mount Pleasant, Iowa, is dedicated to the preservation of memorabilia and artifacts of early repertoire theatre. The collection includes numerous painted curtains and scenic pieces; costumes and equipment used by individual performers and technicians; playbills, show cards, advertising sheets, etc.; and an extensive research library of rare scripts, correspondence, tour schedules, production photos and other original source materials. Of special interest is the large collection of videotaped interviews with actual “troupers” describing their professional and personal experiences.
OUR EXTENSIVE COLLECTION INCLUDES:
Audio Materials
Advertisements Articles, Books, and Dissertations
Biographical Data
Clippings
Film/Videos/DVD
Interviews
Letters
Lists
Memorabilia
Music
Obituaries
Photography
Posters
Postcards of Opera Houses and Theatres
Scripts
Scrapbooks
Seminar Papers
An extensive research library, located within the Museum, is home to hundreds of thousands of piece of Early American Theatre memorabilia.
SOME FAMOUS NAMES IN OUR COLLECTION:
Red Skelton Clark Gable Jennifer Jones Chill Wills Jeanne Eagles Milburn Stone Irene Ryan Warner Baxter Howard Lindsey Kathy Nolan Ralph Moody Lyle Talbot Ralph Belomy Melvyn Douglas
Many actors, who later earned fame on television, radio, Broadway, and the silver screen, began their career touring with Theatre groups.
The Theatre Museum has a collection of scenery—curtains, sets, drops, tormentors, and sketches—on display. “Front room, back room, timber and town” were the four basic scenery sets often provided by opera houses for touring companies. Nine of the collection are shown in this Gallery.
The Theatre Museum is home to many original, hand-painted curtains from the early opera houses.