The Richard C. Norton musical theater history collection consists mostly of materials on paper assembled by Richard C. Norton, documenting musical theater history through ephemera, published and unpublished materials. The collection includes 25,000 playbills, 800 typescripts, and 1,500 published libretti associated with musical theater around the world, ranging from 1850-2020. The collection was one of the sources of information supporting the three volume "Chronology of American Musical Theater" (2002) written by Norton and published by the Oxford University Press.

This collection was assembled by Richard C. Norton over the course of his life as a musical theater historian, producer and enthusiast. He graduated from Harvard University in 1974, particpating in many university productions. He lived in New York City, maintaining a close relationship with Broawday as a producer, attendee, and collector. In 2002, he completed his three-volume series "A Chronology of American Musical Theater" that covers an unprecedented number of musical theater productions from 1750-2001, detailing substantial information for each production. Norton continues to demonstrate his commitment to musical theater history by maintaining a growing collection of musical theater materials.

242 Linear Feet 234 Paige boxes and 8 flat-oversize boxes.

Property rights to the collection and physical objects belong to the Regents of the University of California acting through the Department of Special Research Collections at the UCSB Library. All applicable literary rights, including copyright to the collection and physical objects, are protected under Chapter 17 of the U.S. Copyright Code and are retained by the creator and the copyright owner, heir(s), or assigns.

The collection is open for research.