Finding aid for the Randolph Hale Valley Music Theatre Scrapbooks LSC.2322
Finding aid prepared by Kelly Besser, 2021.
UCLA Library Special Collections
Room A1713, Charles E. Young Research Library
Box 951575
Los Angeles, CA 90095-1575
spec-coll@library.ucla.edu
Contributing Institution:
UCLA Library Special Collections
Title: Randolph Hale Valley Music Theatre scrapbooks
Creator:
Hale, Randolph
Identifier/Call Number: LSC.2322
Physical Description:
1 Linear Feet
(1 flat box)
Date (inclusive): circa 1964-1966
Abstract: Randolph Hale was vice president and treasurer of the Valley Music Theatre, in the San Fernando Valley.
The collection consists of two scrapbooks related to productions staged at the Valley Music Theatre. Included are playbills
and cast (group) photographs representing 40 productions staged at the theater. Additionally included is a very small amount
of ephemera including a Valley Music Theatre securities brochure.
Physical Location: Stored off-site at SRLF. Advance notice is required for access to the collection. Please contact the UCLA Library Special
Collections Reference Desk for paging information.
Language of Material:
English
.
COLLECTION STORED OFF-SITE AT SRLF: Open for research. Advance notice required for access. Contact the UCLA Library Special
Collections Reference Desk for paging information.
Conditions on Use and Reproduction
Property rights to the physical object belong to the UCLA Library Special Collections. Literary rights, including copyright,
are retained by the creators and their heirs. It is the responsibility of the researcher to determine who holds the copyright
and pursue the copyright owner or his or her heir for permission to publish where The UC Regents do not hold the copyright.
[Identification of item], Randolph Hale Valley Music Theatre Scrapbooks (Collection 2322). UCLA Library Special Collections,
Charles E. Young Research Library, University of California, Los Angeles.
Provenance/Source of Acquisition
Purchase, 2016.
Processed by Julie Graham, January 5, 2017.
UCLA Catalog Record ID:
8101399
The Valley Music Theatre broke ground in Woodland Hills, CA in January 1964. The 2,865-seat theatre-in-the-round was located
at 20600 Ventura Blvd., between Winnetka and Canoga Aves. The goal was to produce and present live musical-dramatic stage
productions in the San Fernando Valley. Officers included president Nick Mayo, vice president and treasurer Randolph Hale,
and vice president and secretary Art Linkletter. Stockholders included Bob Hope, Danny Thomas, Janet Blair, Marjorie Lord,
Ed Begley, and John Raitt, among others. The opening of the theater, on July 7, 1964, featured
The Sound of Music as a benefit premiere for the Pi Beta Phi Alumnae Club and affiliated groups of the Crippled Children's Society of Los Angeles
County. The productions staged during the theater's tenure were
A Man for All Seasons (with Charlton Heston),
Medea (with Judith Anderson), and
Come Back Little Shea (with Shirley Booth) among others. Other actors who performed at the theater include Anna Maria Alberghetti, Eve Arden,
Sidney Blackmer, Janet Blair, Eddie Bracken, Vic Damone, Howard Duff, Buddy Ebsen, Maurice Evans, George Gorshin, Carolyn
Jones, Werner Klemperer, Marjorie Lord, Rose Marie, Ethel Merman, John Myhers, Walter Pidgeon, Vincent Price, Jane Powell,
Juliet Prowse, John Raitt, Mickey Rooney, Walter Slezak, Jack Soo, Rudy Vallee, Jerry Van Dyke, and Gig Young among others.
In September of 1966, the Los Angeles Times reported The Valley Music Theatre filed bankruptcy. In 1967 attempts were made
to sell the theater to the City of Los Angeles, but proposals for the purchase were defeated by the City Council. Efforts
to revive the facility included attractions such as professional boxing matches. The theater was sold in the 1970s to the
Valley congregation of the Jehovah's Witnesses and used as an assembly hall. It was eventually resold, and in ca. 2007 the
Valley Music Theatre was demolished and the site used to construct a luxury apartment complex and work lofts.
Randolph Hale was born in San Francisco, CA on July 26, 1909. He located to Van Nuys CA, in 1958. He operated the Alcazar
Theatre in San Francisco, and acted in own productions. He also produced nationally touring stage productions. From 1947
to 1953 was involved with operating Summer House, a summer theatre in Albuquerque, NM. From 1956 to 1961, he owned and operated,
and was entertainer at the Excusez Moi restaurant in Los Angeles. In the early 1960s he, along with Nick Mayo and Art Linkletter
were responsible for starting the Valley Music Theatre in the San Fernando Valley and was stockholder, vice president, and
treasurer. Randolph Hale died in 1974.
Collection consists of two scrapbooks related to productions staged at the Valley Music Theatre. Included are playbills and
cast (group) photographs representing 40 productions staged at the theater, and publicity photographs documenting what appear
to be the ground breaking for construction of the playhouse. Additionally included is a very small amount of ephemera including
a Valley Music Theatre securities brochure.
There is no specific arrangement to the collection.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Theaters -- California -- Los Angeles -- Archives
Valley Music Theatre Woodland Hills (Los Angeles, Calif.)
Hale, Randolph
folder 1
Randolph Hale Valley Music Theatre scrapbook [1964-1965]
Language of Material: English.
With playbills and/or group cast photographs for productions of
Auntie Mame,
Bells are Ringing,
Call Me Madam,
Camelot,
Come Back Little Sheba,
Come Blow Your Horn,
Damn Yankees,
Dial M For Murder,
Fanny,
A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum,
Guys and Dolls,
Gypsy,
Irma La Douce,
Mary, Mary,
Medea,
The Music Man,
My Fair Lady,
Oklahoma,
Paint Your Wagon,
Pajama Game,
Peter Pan,
The Sound of Music,
South Pacific,
The Teahouse of the August Moon,
Westside Story,
Wizard of Oz, and
Wonderful Town. Cast shots include Anna Maria Alberghetti, Judith Anderson, Eve Arden, Sidney Blackmer, Janet Blair, Shirley Booth, Eddie
Bracken, Vic Damone, Howard Duff, Buddy Ebsen, Maurice Evans, Sterling Holloway, Werner Klemperer, Robert Q. Lewis, Marjorie
Lord, Gordon MacCrae, Sheila MacCrae, Gisele Mackenzie, Hal March, Ethel Merman, John Myhers, Reginald Owen, Vincent Price,
Juliet Prowse, Jane Powell, John Raitt, Mickey Rooney, Walter Slezak, and Gig Young among others.
Group photograph of unidentified males, photograph of Alcazar theatre exterior and marquee, and newspaper clipping about Randolph
Hale.
folder 2
Randolph Hale Valley Music Theatre scrapbook 1966
Language of Material: English.
With playbills and/or group cast photographs for productions of
Bye Bye Birdie,
Carnival,
Do I Hear a Waltz,
Flower Drum Song,
High Spirits,
How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying,
The King and I,
A Man for All Seasons,
Take Her She's Mine,
Unsinkable Molly Brown,
What Makes Sammy Run,
Wizard of Oz (continued from other scrapbook),
and
World of Susie Wong. Cast shots include George Gorshin, Charlton Heston, Anne Jeffreys, Carolyn Jones, Rose Marie, James Mitchell, Walter Pidgeon,
Jane Powell, Jack Soo, Rudy Vallee, and Jerry Van Dyke, among others. Photographs of what appears to be publicity for ground
breaking construction of Valley Music Theatre with Rose Marie, Marjorie Lord, Art Linkletter, Randolph Hale, Nick Mayo, Ross
Martin, Ann Jeffreys, Danny Thomas, Bob Hope, and others. Group photographs of unidentified males and Art Linkletter.
folder 3
Music Valley Theatre securities brochure (3 copies)
Language of Material: English.
folder 3
Holograph diagram of unidentified theater interior (not Valley Music Theatre)
Language of Material: English.
folder 3
Photographs of unidentified theater interior (2 items) (not Valley Music Theatre) undated
Language of Material: English.
folder 4
Walnut Creek brochure undated
Language of Material: English.