Crabs (Donald) papers, 1945-2005

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Summary

Title:
Donald Crabs papers
Dates:
1945-2005
Creators:
Crabs, Donald
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.
Extent:
24.4 Linear Feet (53 boxes, 5 shoe boxes, 3 flat boxes, 1 oversize flat box)
Language:
English and Materials are primarily in English, some materials are in German or Chinese.
Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], Donald Crabs papers (Collection 1718). UCLA Library Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research Library, University of California, Los Angeles.

Background

Scope and content:

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.

Biographical / historical:

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.

Acquisition information:
Donald Crabs; Gift; 2003, 2005.
Processing information:

Preliminary processing by Charlotte Brown, 2004. Processed by Krystell Jimenez, under the supervision of Courtney Dean, 2019.

Arrangement:

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
Series 1-3 are arranged alphabetically. Existing order has been maintained for Series 4.

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.
Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

About this collection guide

Collection Guide Author:
Finding aid by Krystell Jimenez, 2018.
Date Encoded:
This finding aid was produced using ArchivesSpace on 2019-08-02 15:08:38 -0700 .

Access and use

Restrictions:

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.

Terms of access:

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.

Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], Donald Crabs papers (Collection 1718). UCLA Library Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research Library, University of California, Los Angeles.

Location of this collection:
A1713 Charles E. Young Research Library
Box 951575
Los Angeles, CA 90095-1575, US
Contact:
(310) 825-4988
AskLSC@library.ucla.edu
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