Arthur Wagner Papers

Special Collections & Archives, UC San Diego
Special Collections & Archives, UC San Diego
Copyright 2019
9500 Gilman Drive
La Jolla 92093-0175
spcoll@ucsd.edu


Descriptive Summary

Languages: English
Contributing Institution: Special Collections & Archives, UC San Diego
9500 Gilman Drive
La Jolla 92093-0175
Title: Arthur Wagner Papers
Creator: Wagner, Arthur
Identifier/Call Number: MSS 0809
Physical Description: 1.85 Linear feet (5 archives boxes, 1 map case folder, and 2 oversize folders)
Date (inclusive): 1949-1991
Abstract: A small collection representing a selection of the papers of Arthur Wagner, an actor, director, and professor of drama at UC San Diego.

Scope and Content of Collection

A small collection representing a selection of the papers of Arthur Wagner, an actor, director, and professor of drama at UC San Diego. The collection is not comprehensive, given the large breadth and scope of Wagner's professional career. The collection includes a small amount of biographical material, including documentation from his doctoral studies at Stanford; correspondence with colleagues and students; a very small number of rehearsal books, scripts, and other production materials; files pertaining to professional organizations and research; and materials on administration and publicity for the performing arts at UC San Diego. The UC San Diego files contain memoranda, correspondence, and ephemera documenting the early years of the Department of Drama and Wagner's career within it.
Arranged in five series: 1) BIOGRAPHICAL, 2) CORRESPONDENCE, 3) PRODUCTIONS AND SCRIPTS, 4) ORGANIZATIONS AND MISCELLANEOUS MATERIALS, and 5) UC SAN DIEGO.

Biography

Actor, director, and professor of drama Arthur Wagner (1923-2015) was born in New York City. He received a B.A. in Philosophy from Earlham College in Richmond, Indiana, and went on to receive his M.A. in Theatre Arts from Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts. He was involved in community theatre and was an artistic director of the Springfield Civic Theatre in Massachusetts from 1948 to 1950. Wagner studied with renowned actor Paul Mann at The Actor's Workshop in New York City from 1953 to 1955. He was named head of the Theatre Arts Department and director of the Annie Russell Theatre at Rollins College in Winter Park, Fla. in 1956 and held that position for nine years, while earning his doctorate in drama from Stanford University, which was awarded in 1962.
Throughout the 1960s, Wagner held many foundational teaching positions in the field of dramatic arts. He was a professor of drama at Tulane University from 1965 to 1967, where he established the Graduate Actor Training Program. He then spent two years as a faculty member and director of graduate and undergraduate actor training programs at Ohio University, then Temple University in Philadelphia. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, Wagner was a visiting professor of drama and a guest actor for Columbia University in New York.
In 1972, Wagner was recruited to UC San Diego to become chair of the new Department of Drama (now known as the Department of Theatre and Dance). In 1977, he became professor and head of the UC San Diego Graduate Actor Training Program, a position he held until his retirement in 1991. Wagner was an integral part of the performing arts scene at UC San Diego, actively directing and acting in innumerous productions, training actors, and developing the department into one of the top theatre and dance programs in the nation. After his official retirement, he and his wife, Molli Wagner, continued to be closely involved with the UC San Diego community: the Wagners were co-chairs of the Student Production Fund Endowment; Wagner served on the Board of Trustees for the La Jolla Playhouse; and he participated in the Building Advisory Committee of the Mandeville Center for the Arts, the Fourth College Planning Committee, the Advisory Committee for the Center of Music Experiment, and the Committee on Campus Growth. The Arthur and Molli Wagner Dance Facility, completed in 1998, was named in honor of the couple and their contributions to campus life.
Content for this note was provided by the UC San Diego obituary for Arthur Wagner:
https://ucsdnews.ucsd.edu/pressrelease/arthur_wagner_founding_chair_of_uc_san_diego_theatre_and_dance_dies

Preferred Citation

Arthur Wagner Papers. MSS 809. Special Collections & Archives, UC San Diego.

Acquisition Information

Acquired 2018

Publication Rights

Publication rights are held by the creator of the collection.

Subjects and Indexing Terms

Acting teachers -- California -- San Diego -- Archives
Theater -- Production and direction -- Study and teaching
Wagner, Arthur -- Archives
University of California, San Diego. Department of Theatre and Dance -- History

 

BIOGRAPHICAL

Box 1, Folder 1

Resume

Box 1, Folder 2

Photographs

Box 1, Folder 3

Poem tribute to Wagner entitled "Renewal," by Carol

Box 1, Folder 4

Jewish Community Theatre scrapbook; notebook 1949, 1955

Box 1, Folder 5-7

Stanford University, Dept. of Speech and Drama - Essays, exams and PhD materials 1957-1962

Box 1, Folder 8

City of San Diego, certificate of appreciation 1988

Box 1, Folder 9

Retirement announcement, San Diego Union-Tribune 1991

 

CORRESPONDENCE

Box 1, Folder 10

A - Miscellaneous

Box 1, Folder 11

Addison, Michael

Box 1, Folder 12

Alexander, Meredith

Box 1, Folder 13

Allen, Devon

Box 1, Folder 14

Alliance Theatre Company

Box 1, Folder 15

Athens Centre for the Creative Arts

Box 1, Folder 16

Attiyeh, Richard

Box 1, Folder 17

B - Miscellaneous

Box 1, Folder 18

Burstein, Danny

Box 1, Folder 19

Butts, Ron

Box 1, Folder 20

C - Miscellaneous

Box 1, Folder 21

Collison, Frank

Box 1, Folder 22

Connell, Kevin

Box 1, Folder 23

D - Miscellaneous

Box 1, Folder 24

English, Fanita

Box 1, Folder 25

F and G - Miscellaneous

Box 1, Folder 26

Glynn, Tom

Box 1, Folder 27

Grischkat, Eric

Box 1, Folder 28

H - Miscellaneous

Box 1, Folder 29

Hackett, Peter

Box 1, Folder 30

Hall, Julie B.

Box 1, Folder 31

Hallahan, Charlie (Chuck)

Box 1, Folder 32

Harris, David

Box 1, Folder 33

Hayden, Rebecca (Wadsworth Publishing Co.) 1970-1971

General note

Correspondence regarding reviews and prospectus for Wagner's manuscript, Acting and Transactional Analysis.
Box 1, Folder 34

Hunt, Robyn

Box 1, Folder 35

I - Miscellaneous

Box 1, Folder 36

Ivey, Dana

Box 2, Folder 1

J and K - Miscellaneous

Box 2, Folder 2

L - Miscellaneous

Box 2, Folder 3

Lesmeister-Partington, Jean

Box 2, Folder 4

Lewis, Susie

Box 2, Folder 5

Liden, Inga

Box 2, Folder 6

M - Miscellaneous

Box 2, Folder 7

Mann, Paul

Box 2, Folder 8

Maynard, Richard

Box 2, Folder 9

McQuery, Mark and Linda

Box 2, Folder 10

N - Miscellaneous

Box 2, Folder 11

Nickles, Ellen

Box 2, Folder 12

O - Miscellaneous

Box 2, Folder 13

O'Fallon, David

Box 2, Folder 14

Pascoe, Pamela

Box 2, Folder 15

Pauls, Walter

Box 2, Folder 16

Polish ITI Centre - Symposium Training of Theatre Directors

Box 2, Folder 17

Porter, Maria

Box 2, Folder 18

Powell, Molly

Box 2, Folder 19

R - Miscellaneous

Box 2, Folder 20

Ross, Elizabeth (Betsy)

Box 2, Folder 21

S - Miscellaneous

Box 2, Folder 22

San Diego Arts Foundation

Box 2, Folder 23

Sandoe, Sam

Box 2, Folder 24

Schneider, Alan

Box 2, Folder 25

Segelcke, Tore

General note

Includes photographs. Ms. Segelcke acted in Doll's House, directed by Wagner in the late 1960s, at Rollins College; it was her first play in English.
Oversize FB-380, Folder 04

Segelcke, Tore - Photograph

Box 2, Folder 26

Sladkus, Muriel and Al

Box 2, Folder 27

Sneed, Philip

Box 2, Folder 28

T - Miscellaneous

Box 2, Folder 29

Thompson, Katherine Anne

Box 2, Folder 30

Towler, Laurine

Box 2, Folder 31

U and W - Miscellaneous

Box 2, Folder 32

Wright, Matthew

Box 2, Folder 33

Yavorsky, Mark

Box 2, Folder 34

Z - Miscellaneous

Box 2, Folder 35

Zehmns, Craig

Box 2, Folder 36-37

Unidentified correspondents

Box 2, Folder 38

Signed group cards

 

PRODUCTIONS AND SCRIPTS

Box 3, Folder 1

Writing notes undated

Box 3, Folder 2

After the Fall - Rehearsal book undated

Box 3, Folder 3

Guys and Dolls - Times Square set design artwork undated

Oversize FB-380, Folder 03

Guys and Dolls - Times Square set design artwork undated

Box 3, Folder 4

The Homecoming - Rehearsal book undated

Box 3, Folder 5

Macbeth - Rehearsal book 1960

Oversize MC-051, Folder 02

Macbeth - Costume and set design sketches 1960

Box 3, Folder 6

Skin of our Teeth - Cast list and costume sketches undated

Box 3, Folder 7

A Streetcar Named Desire - Notes and production schedule 1978-1979

 

Scripts by Others

Box 3, Folder 8

McElroy, Marlene A. The Watergate Follies 1974

Box 3, Folder 9

Phelan, Anthony. Power Play 1987

Box 3, Folder 10

Pratt, F. J. and Jim Hilton. Acoustic Café (pilot script) undated

Box 3, Folder 11

Stock, Irvin. The Flyers: A Play in Three Acts 1960

 

ORGANIZATIONS AND MISCELLANEOUS MATERIALS

Box 4, Folder 1

Brown Brick Repertory, Rockford College. Rockford, IL 1973

Box 4, Folder 2

Contemporary versus classic play production research 1975-1981

Box 4, Folder 3

Danforth Foundation Teachers Conference 1961-1962

Oversize FB-380, Folder 04

Fairbanks, Douglas (?) - Portrait photograph by Landseer, London undated

Box 4, Folder 4-5

League of Professional Theatre Training Programs and Task Force 1971, 1986

Box 4, Folder 6-10

National Theatre Conference 1971-1980

Box 4, Folder 11

The Rollins Players, Annie Russell Theatre, Rollins College. Winter Park, FL ca. 1960

Box 4, Folder 12

Theatre-related ephemera

Box 4, Folder 13

Wagner interview of Clifford Odets - Transcript ca. 1966

 

UC SAN DIEGO

Box 5, Folder 1

UCSD theatre ephemera - Playbills, etc.

Box 5, Folder 2

Drama Development Committee - Appointment of Arthur Wagner 1972

Box 5, Folder 3

Project for Music Experiment ephemera 1972-1973

Box 5, Folder 4

Department of Drama - Wagner proposal for Regents' Faculty Fellowship and seminar outline ca. 1977

Box 5, Folder 5

UCSD application to League of Professional Theatre Training report and response 1978, 1981

Box 5, Folder 6-7

Department of Drama - Correspondence and memoranda 1977-1988, and undated

Box 5, Folder 8

UCSD Theatre press kit 1979

Box 5, Folder 9

Graduate student faculty evaluations for A. Wagner 1981-1989