New York Public Library for the Performing Arts

10/22/2026

Wallace Shawn in "The Fever" now (2026) and then (1990). Shawn's two-hour monologue, first performed in 1990, was revived this year at the Greenwich House Theater. The new production was captured by the Library for the Performing Arts and it's now accessible to view at our Theatre on Film and Tape Archive.

https://www.nypl.org/research/research-catalog/bib/b24050533

📷: Wallace Shawn in "The Fever," 2026, photo by Julieta Cervantes. Wallace Shawn in "The Fever," 1990, photo by Martha Swope.

10/22/2026

"I felt so empowered through the movement vocabulary of Graham." Jack Ferver, who curated our centennial exhibition on Martha Graham, spoke to Dance Magazine.

A century after Martha Graham founded her eponymous company, audiences still feel the impact of her psychologically layered, erotically charged, and intensely dramatic choreography, and contemporary artists grapple anew with the themes she introduced into modern dance. Among them is postmodern dance...

10/20/2026

Just announced! By popular demand our centennial Martha Graham exhibition has been extended to run through Jan 2, 2027. If you haven't seen it yet, now's your chance to visit "Martha Graham: The Mother of Psychological Dance," curated by Jack Ferver, at the Library for the Performing Arts at Lincoln Center.

This centennial exhibition traces the arc of Martha Graham's groundbreaking career, centering her visionary approach to dance as psychological expression. Graham transformed the dancing body into a vessel for inner life, using movement to externalize em...

10/20/2026

Documentary filmmaking was the first genre to emerge from the new medium of film when it was presented to the public in the late 19th century. Termed "actualities," these short recordings captured life as it was happening: workers leaving a factory, a family at an outdoor breakfast table, the arrival of a train at the station. In a film program at the Library for the Performing Arts on 10/22, we screen an interview with members of the Direct Cinema movement from the 1960s, as well as their essential works, that emerged as a reaction to early documentary film. All films from the Reserve Film and Video Collection will be shown in their original 16mm format.

Join us for an evening of curated films from the Reserve Film and Video Collection and discussion with special guests.

10/19/2026

On Oct 26, Lainie Sakakura and Asian American and Pacific Islander Broadway veterans join the Library for the Performing Arts to reflect on their history and the modern theater landscape. Moderator Sakakura speaks with Albert Guerzon, Ann Harada, Emily Hsu, JoAnn M. Hunter, Darren Lee, Raymond J. Lee, Jodi Long, Jason Ma, J. Elaine Marcos, Alan Muraoka, and Thom Sesma. They share their struggles and triumphs of their multi-decade careers and share how they continue to thrive in today's theater landscape.

Lainie Sakakura and Asian American and Pacific Islander Broadway veterans reflect on their history and the modern theater landscape.

10/17/2026

Happy birthday to the one and only Doris Humphrey!

This founder of American modern dance choreographed her first works in 1920 after training with Denishawn. She is pictured here in one of those early works, "Soaring," choreographed with Ruth St. Denis. She went on to have a prolific career as a choreographer, dancer, teacher, artistic director, and writer. Her movement centered around the idea of fall and recovery.

Humphrey's archive is at the Jerome Robbins Dance Division, where anyone can view her works, notes, letters, and writing. Get started: https://on.nypl.org/4zet4b8

📷: Doris Humphrey in "Soaring," photographer unknown, 1920. Jerome Robbins Dance Division.

10/16/2026

"The greatest gift to me is the reaction that I get from my work. That is a given which I never, ever take for granted. But to be given that by audiences, individuals, on the street, in the theater, is an extraordinary feeling." — Angela Lansbury, born on this day in 1925.

Explore more images from Lansbury's stage performances in our archive: https://on.nypl.org/4yQn5Jz

📷: Angela Lansbury, photo by Kenn Duncan, 1980.

10/15/2026

We were recently honored to have Indian Bharatnatyam artist RAMA VAIDYANATHAN visit the Library for the Performing Arts from Delhi to deliver the fifth annual Dr. Kothari Honorary Lecture presented by the Jerome Robbins Dance Division. Thank you, Rama!

10/14/2026

Celebrating the official "First Lady of American Cinema," Lillian Gish! Born on this day in 1893, Gish didn’t just act in silent films, she also helped define the art of screen acting itself. Gish's film career spanned 75 years, from 1912's silent shorts all the way to 1987’s "The Whales of August" alongside Bette Davis, she was an unparalleled icon of early Hollywood.

Spanning 1909 to 1992, the Lillian Gish papers, preserved by the Library for the Performing Arts, document the lives and careers of Lillian and Dorothy Gish through correspondence, business and personal documents, scripts, scrapbooks, programs, clippings, and extensive photography—including early D.W. Griffith film stills and portraits by famous photographers.

Check out the archive at the Library today: https://on.nypl.org/3Uf3hAE

10/14/2026

The Broadway revival of "Chess," starring Lea Michele and Aaron Tveit, was recorded by the Library for the Performing Arts and it's now accessible at our Theatre on Film and Tape Archive.

The archive also includes the original 1988 Broadway production of Chess. Both productions were staged at the Imperial Theatre.

Learn more about accessing these titles at the Library: https://on.nypl.org/4B3IBMF

📷: Lea Michele and the cast of "Chess," photo by Matthew Murphy, 2025.