Guide to the Mason Opera House Playbills MS.P.040
Processed by Adrian Turner; machine-readable finding aid created by Adrian
Turner
Special Collections and Archives, University of California, Irvine
Libraries
(cc) 2001
The UCI Libraries
P.O. Box 19557
University of California, Irvine
Irvine 92623-9557
spcoll@uci.edu
Contributing Institution:
Special Collections and Archives, University of California, Irvine
Libraries
Title: Mason Opera House playbills
Creator:
Mason Opera House (Los Angeles, Calif.)
Identifier/Call Number: MS.P.040
Physical Description:
0.1 Linear Feet
(1 oversize folder)
Date (inclusive): 1912-1918
Abstract: This collection consists of a
consecutive run of approximately 175 playbills from 1912 through 1918 for dramatic and
musical performances held at the Mason Opera House in Los Angeles. During these six years, a
number of Broadway musicals were performed at the Mason, featuring noted international
figures such as Maude Adams, Isadora Duncan, Minnie Maddern Fiske, Anna Held, Helena
Modjeska, and Anna Pavlova. The full-page playbills, which include some folding playbills,
are mounted on 171 leaves of a contemporary ledger. The playbills were published for the
Mason by the Program Publishing Company of Los Angeles through 1916 and later by the Mason
Program Company. They were apparently distributed by the Peters Bill Posting Company of
Santa Ana, California. Throughout the ledger are holograph notes in different hands
recording accounting information, personal names, and the names of bill posting companies in
the Los Angeles area.
Language of Material:
English .
Collection is open for research.
Property rights reside with the University of California. Literary rights are retained by
the creators of the records and their heirs. For permissions to reproduce or to publish,
please contact the Head of Special Collections and Archives.
Mason Opera House Playbills. MS-P40. Special Collections and Archives, The UC Irvine
Libraries, Irvine, California. Date accessed.
For the benefit of current and future researchers, please cite any additional information
about sources consulted in this collection, including permanent URLs, item or folder
descriptions, and box/folder locations.
Acquired, 2000.
Processed by Adrian Turner, 2001.
The Mason Opera House, located on the 100 block of South Broadway in Los Angeles, was a
popular venue for internationally known drama and opera performers from the 1900s through
the 1920s under the management of W.T. Wyatt. It was centered in one of Los Angeles's major
entertainment districts on Broadway. The Mason was established some time before or at the
turn of the century, along with the Regal, the Belasco, the Princess, the Hippodrome, and
other theaters.
Collection Scope and Content Summary
This collection consists of a consecutive run of approximately 175 playbills from 1912
through 1918 for dramatic and musical performances held at the Mason Opera House in Los
Angeles. During these six years, a number of Broadway musicals were performed at the Mason,
featuring noted international figures such as Maude Adams, Isadora Duncan, Minnie Maddern
Fiske, Anna Held, Helena Modjeska, and Anna Pavlova. The full-page playbills, which include
some folding playbills, are mounted on 171 leaves of a contemporary ledger. The playbills
were published for the Mason by the Program Publishing Company of Los Angeles through 1916
and later by the Mason Program Company. They were apparently distributed by the Peters Bill
Posting Company of Santa Ana, California. Throughout the ledger are holograph notes in
different hands recording accounting information, personal names, and the names of bill
posting companies in the Los Angeles area.
Related Mason Opera House programs from 1909 through 1924 can be found in the Don Meadows
Papers (MS-R01), Special Collections and Archives.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Theater -- California -- Los Angeles -- History -- Sources
Opera -- California -- Los Angeles
Musical theater -- California -- Los Angeles
Singers
Playbills -- California -- Los Angeles.
Theater -- Archives
Actors.
Dancers -- History -- Sources
Duncan, Isadora -- Archives
Mason Opera House (Los Angeles, Calif.) -- Archives
Modjeska, Helena
Pavlova, Anna -- Archives
box FB-025, folder 1
Ledger containing playbills 1912-1918