Scope and Contents
The Harold Rome Papers include holograph, manuscript, and published musical works by Rome. These include vocal music, piano works, and a string quartet as well as the stage works. Among the stage works are some that have never been produced. Also included are scripts and lyrics, many of them in Rome's hand. There are production materials which include contracts, royalty statements, and related correspondence. The correspondence, mostly from others, includes letters from many illustrious friends and collaborators. There are numerous photographs of Rome and his stage and art works, including many slides and negatives. Twelve scrapbooks containing programs, correspondence, clippings and photographs, have been disassembled and the items assigned to the appropriate series. The clippings have been copied onto acid-free paper and the originals discarded.
The Papers also contain original art works by Harold Rome. An inventory of 75 oil paintings and watercolors appears in this register. Approximately 128 cassette and reel-to-reel tapes and 158 sound discs (40 45s, 83 78s, and 35 LPs) were transferred to Yale's Historical Sound Recordings collection.
A song index was compiled to indicate the shows in which songs appeared. The index also includes cross-references of variant titles for a show. Cross-references also appear within the register and in the series introductions. The song index was compiled for the general convenience of researchers. It is important to note, however, that not all of the songs listed there are present in the Harold Rome Papers.
Boxes and folders are numbered consecutively, except for oversized boxes and folders, which are housed at the end.
The Papers were a gift of Harold Rome. They came to the Library in three installments: seventeen boxes of music in September, 1984; manuscripts, paintings, correspondence, agreements and contracts, programs, and sound recordings, on July 19, 1986; and seventeen boxes of additional manuscripts, scripts, and sound recordings in February, 1988.
Dates
- 1873-1988 (inclusive)
Creator
Language of Materials
Materials chiefly in English.
Conditions Governing Access
The Papers are open to researchers by appointment. There are no restricted materials in the collection. Please contact the Special Collections staff to schedule an appointment.
Conditions Governing Use
The Harold Rome Papers are the physical property of the Irving S. Gilmore Music Library of Yale University. Copyrights belong to the composers and authors, or their legal heirs and assigns.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
The Harold Rome Papers were established in the Music Library of Yale University by Harold Rome in 1984.
Arrangement
In 9 series as follows: I. Music by Rome. II. Scripts and Lyrics. III. Production Materials, Contracts, Royalty Statements, and Related Correspondence. IV. Correspondence. V. Programs. VI. Art Works, Exhibit Catalogues, and Inventories. VII. Clippings. VIII. Photographs. IX. Miscellaneous Items. X. Sound Recordings.
Extent
46 Linear Feet (97 boxes)
Catalog Record
A record for this collection is available in Orbis, the Yale University Library catalog
Persistent URL
Abstract
Music, correspondence and other papers, photographs, art works, and additional materials by and about the American musical theater composer Harold Rome (1908-1993)
Biographical / Historical
Harold Jacob ("Hecky") Rome was born in Hartford, Connecticut, on May 27, 1908. His education included a B.A. from Yale College (1929), studies at the Yale Law School (1929-1930), a B.F.A. from the Yale School of Architecture (1934), and courses at the Yale Schools of Art and Music. He played piano in the Yale orchestra, making four trips to Europe with the group, and supported himself by playing with dance bands and for dance classes. This period also saw the birth of Rome's interest in African art, a fascination sparked when Rome visited Paris in 1930 and attended an exhibition of African sculpture there.
In 1934 Rome headed to New York to begin a career in architecture. What began as supplemental music jobs, however, blossomed into a more fulfilling and lucrative profession than architecture. During his three seasons (1935-1937) at Green Mansions (a summer resort in the Adirondacks), he produced musicals, wrote songs, and played the piano. His genius for songwriting was evident, and it was not long before his songs were sung by Gypsy Rose Lee and the Ritz Brothers.
In 1937, Louis Schaeffer hired Rome to write songs and be the rehearsal pianist for the revue Pins and Needles, which was produced and performed by I.G.L.W. union members. When, in 1937, the show opened in New York, it met with such wide acclaim that it moved on to Broadway and ran there and on the road for four years, establishing Rome as a composer and lyricist. He won an ASCAP award for the song "Sunday in the Park" from Pins and Needles, followed by another for the song "Franklin D. Roosevelt Jones" from the 1938 revue Sing Out the News (produced by Max Gordon, with sketches by George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart, and songs by Harold Rome).
There followed revues, mostly sociopolitical, including Sing for Your Supper (1939); Streets of Paris (1939); and The Little Dog Laughed (1940), a musical based on the book by Joseph Schrank. Lunchtime Follies (1942), to which Rome contributed several songs, was a series of forty-five minute morale-boosting revues presented to workers at war-materiel factories. It included sketches by George S. Kaufman, Moss Hart, and Maxwell Anderson, and was produced and supervised by Kurt Weill. This was followed by Star and Garter (1942) and Let Freedom Sing (1942).
As a serviceman during World War II, Rome wrote songs for the army shows Stars and Gripes (1943) and Skirts (1944), the latter done in collaboration with fellow PFC Frank Loesser. Rome's return to civilian life was the theme for his next revue, Call Me Mister (1946), performed by former servicemen and servicewomen, among others.
That's the Ticket (1948), a musical based on a book by Julius and Philip G. Epstein, was directed by Jerome Robbins. This was followed by four more revues: Pretty Penny (1949), with sketches by Jerome Chodorov and directed by George S. Kaufman; Alive and Kicking (1950); Michael Todd's Peep Show (1950); and Bless You All (1950), with sketches by Arnold Auerbach.
Apart from Romanoff and Juliet (1957, play by Peter Ustinov with incidental music by Rome, directed by George S. Kaufman and produced by David Merrick), and La Grosse Valise (1965, for which Rome wrote the lyrics), the final productions were the book-musicals Wish You Were Here (1952, book by Arthur Kober and Joshua Logan, directed by Logan), Fanny (1954, book by S.N. Behrman and Joshua Logan based upon the trilogy by Marcel Pagnol, directed by Logan and produced by Logan and David Merrick), Destry Rides Again (1959, book by Leonard Gershe, produced by Merrick), I Can Get It for You Wholesale (1962, book by Jerome Weidman, produced by Merrick), The Zulu and the Zayda (1965), and Gone With the Wind, which opened in Tokyo as Scarlett (1970), went on to London (1972), and finally moved to Los Angeles (1973) to begin a United States tour.
In his book Show Tunes (1986), Steven Sushin describes Harold Rome's revues as having "sparkling comedy lyrics for everyday characters, set to bright and fresh music," and his musicals as having "rich, emotional scores." This accounts for the tremendous popularity of the shows and individual songs, as well as for their numerous performances and recordings. In fact, many of the shows were vehicles that launched the careers of performers such as Jack Cassidy, Bob Fosse, Betty Garrett, Elliot Gould, Buddy Hackett, Florence Henderson, Carl Reiner, Jerome Robbins, Barbra Streisand, and William Warfield.
Harold Rome died in New York on October 26, 1993.
- Arlen, Harold, 1905-1986
- Baruch, Bernard M. (Bernard Mannes), 1870-1965
- Bennett, Tony, 1926-
- Berlin, Irving, 1888-1989
- Carlisle, Kitty, 1910-2007
- Chasins, Abram, 1903-1987
- Chevalier, Maurice, 1888-1972
- Chodorov, Jerome
- Comden, Betty, 1919-2006
- Crawford, Joan, 1908-1977
- De Mille, Agnes, 1905-1993
- Dietz, Howard, 1896-1983
- Douglas, Melvyn, 1901-1981
- Drake, Alfred, 1914-1992
- Engel, Lehman, 1910-1982
- Foote, Horton, 1916-2009
- Francis, Arlene, 1907-2001
- Freeman, Paul, 1936-2015
- Furness, Betty, 1916-1994
- Gershwin, Ira, 1896-1983
- Goodman, Benny, 1909-1986
- Gorme, Eydie, 1928-2013
- Grauer, Ben
- Green, Adolph, 1914-2002
- Green, Stanley, 1923-
- Hammerstein, Oscar, II, 1895-1960
- Hart, Moss, 1904-1961
- Herlie, Eileen, 1918-2008
- Ionesco, Eugène, 1912-1994
- Javits, Jacob K. (Jacob Koppel), 1904-1986
- Kapp, David, 1904-1976
- Kazan, Elia, 1909-2003
- Kert, Larry, 1930-1991
- Kober, Arthur, 1900-1975
- Kroll, Lucy
- Lane, Burton, 1912-1997
- Lawrence, Steve, 1935-
- Layton, Joe, 1931-
- Leinsdorf, Erich, 1912-1993
- Lerner, Alan Jay, 1918-1986
- Lieberson, Goddard, 1911-1977
- Mercer, Johnny, 1909-1976
- Merrick, David, 1911-2000
- Novotná, Jarmila, 1907-1994
- Osborn, Paul, 1901-1988
- Porter, Cole, 1891-1964
- Resnik, Regina, 1922-2013
- Rigby, Harry
- Rittman, Trude, 1908-2005
- Robbins, Jerome, 1918-1998
- Robbins, Warren M.
- Rodgers, Dorothy, 1909-1992
- Rodgers, Richard, 1902-1979
- Rome, Harold, 1908-1993
- Sardi, Vincent, 1915-2007
- Schlesinger, Arthur M., Jr. (Arthur Meier), 1917-2007
- Schubert, Bernard, 1895-1988
- Schwartz, Arthur, 1900-1984
- Segáll, Bernardo
- Silber, Irwin, 1925-2010
- Vacha, John
- Weidman, Jerome, 1913-1998
- Wood, Audrey, 1905-
- Wouk, Herman, 1915-2019
- Title
- Register to The Harold Rome Papers
- Status
- Edited Full Draft
- Author
- Compiled by Adrienne Scholtz
- Date
- 1996-2007
- Description rules
- Finding Aid Prepared According To Local Music Library Descriptive Practices
- Language of description note
- Finding aid written in English.
Part of the Gilmore Music Library Repository
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