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Crabs (Donald) papers
LSC.1718
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Table of contents
Language of Material:
English
Contributing Institution:
UCLA Library Special Collections
Title: Donald Crabs papers
Creator:
Crabs, Donald
Identifier/Call Number: LSC.1718
Physical Description:
24.4 Linear Feet
(53 boxes, 5 shoe boxes, 3 flat boxes, 1 oversize flat box)
Date (inclusive): 1945-2005
Abstract: Donald Crabs was a UCLA professor who specialized in theater design. He studied scenery and lighting design, as well as set
design for television and film. Starting in 1965 he taught set and stage design in the UCLA Department of Theater Arts, now
the UCLA School of Theater, Film, and Television, and continued to be involved as a professor emeritus until his death. This
collection is comprised of his papers, including research and reference materials, correspondence, notes, teaching materials,
slides and photographs, theater floor plans and architectural data, lighting placement charts, and data from Crabs' survey
of Californian theater facilities. Additional materials include notebooks with plans for lighting placement and staging and
fabric samples for acoustic design. The collection also includes materials related to his research trip to China and reference
materials on Chinese theater and performance, and the original survey data Crabs used to compile a database of California
theaters.
Language of Material: Materials are primarily in English, some materials are in German or Chinese.
Physical Location: Stored off-site. All requests to access special collections material must be made in advance using the request button located
on this page.
COLLECTION STORED OFF-SITE: Open for research. All requests to access special collections materials must be made in advance
using the request button located on this page.
Conditions Governing Reproduction and Use
Copyright to portions of this collection has been assigned to the UCLA Library Special Collections. The library can grant
permission to publish for materials to which it holds the copyright. All requests for permission to publish must be submitted
in writing to Library Special Collections. Credit shall be given as follows: The Regents of the University of California on
behalf of the UCLA Library Special Collections.
[Identification of item], Donald Crabs papers (Collection 1718). UCLA Library Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research
Library, University of California, Los Angeles.
Provenance/Source of Acquisition
Donald Crabs; Gift; 2003, 2005.
Preliminary processing by Charlotte Brown, 2004. Processed by Krystell Jimenez, under the supervision of Courtney Dean, 2019.
UCLA Catalog Record ID:
8773620
Donald Crabs was a UCLA professor who specialized in theater and theater design. Crabs was born in 1926 in Puyallup, Washington.
He studied scenery and lighting design, receiving his B.A. degree from the University of Puget Sound in 1950 and his M.A.
from Northwestern University in 1951. He also completed graduate studies in television and film at the University of Michigan
and New York University in 1965 and 1960, respectively. Between 1951 and 1965 Crabs taught at Rutgers University. He moved
to Los Angeles to teach at UCLA in 1965.
Crabs specialized in scenic and lighting design, contemporary theater design, historic development of the playhouse, and production
management. He served as a professor and later chair of UCLA's Department of Theater Arts (1965-1991), now known as the School
of Theater, Film, and Television. He designed more than 150 productions for UCLA, including
No Place to Be Somebody,
A Chorus Line,
Skin of Our Teeth,
Troilus and Cressida, and
Baal, among others. Crabs also did theater planning and equipment consultations for a number of facilities such as the Doolittle
Theater in Hollywood, CA, and the Olive Grove Dinner Theater in Westlake, CA. He also completed a survey of performance facilities
in California, included in his
California Theater Index 1971. This index was intended to facilitate the exploration of computer storage and database solutions for theater and architecture
data. In 1990 he received a lecture and research grant for the UC Education Abroad Program in China, where he delivered a
lecture series at the Shanghai Theater Academy titled
Theatrical Lighting Theory and Practice in the United States. Crabs passed away in Los Angeles on January 26, 2012.
This collection includes the professional papers of Donald Crabs, including research and reference materials, correspondence,
notes, teaching materials, slides and photographs, theater floor plans and architectural data, and data from Crabs' theater
survey. Additional materials include fabric samples used in his work on set and stage design, notebooks with plans for lighting
placement and staging, brochures and catalogs from suppliers, newsletters, notes, and fabric samples for acoustic design.
There are also materials related to his research trip to China and Chinese theater, including photographs, fabric samples,
production information, floor plans, and sketches.
This collection has been arranged in the following series and subseries:
- Series 1: Photographs and slides, 1951-2004
- Series 2: Research, reference, and teaching, 1950-2004
- Series 3: Stage and lighting design, 1945-2005
- Subseries 3.1: Lighting plans and reference, 1945-2001
- Subseries 3.2: Stage and set design, 1949-2005
- Series 4: Theater survey data, 1956-1990
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Theaters -- Designs and plans
Theater -- California
University of California, Los Angeles. -- Department of Theater Arts
Crabs, Donald