Stuart McDowell Kenley Players and Theatre Collection (MS-710)

The collection consists of programs from various theatrical productions, including plays and musicals.

Series I: Kenley Players Programs, contains programs for Kenley Players productions, mostly ones performed at Dayton's Memorial Hall. Many of these issues contain newspaper clippings and ticket stubs affixed to the inside, and some also have handwritten commentary or autographs. This appears to be a fairly complete run of Kenley Players programs from their years performing in Dayton 1966 to 1983. A few programs from Kenley productions in Columbus, prior to the years Kenley performed in Dayton, are also included. The series contains mostly the large, full-color production programs, but some of the smaller black-and-white programs (with local advertisements) are also included. A handwritten inventory was included for this series at the time of donation, including production title, date, and stars.

Series II: General Programs, contains programs for other productions, some of which appear to have come from Broadway shows and some of which were non-Kenley productions at other Dayton theatres, such as the Victoria or McCook. Some of these productions involved people with Miami Valley connections, such as Lowell Thomas (born in Darke County) and Morton DaCosta (who was involved with the Dayton Civic Theatre early in his career). A few programs from Antioch College, La Comedia Dinner Theatre, and Dayton Theatre Guild are also included at the end. A handwritten inventory was included for this series at the time of donation, including production with titles, dates, stars, locations, and ticket price.