The Wiman Papers consist almost entirely of scripts, orchestrations, press books, and incidental material relating to stage productions. Only a 1922 contract for The Scarecrow (in which Wyman appeared in a bit part) relates to his film production company during the early 1920's. Because of the scarcity of correspondence and financial records there is little
information in the papers about the process of theatrical production, although there is good information about the work actually staged. There is no personal material in the collection concerning either Wiman or his many important theatrical collaborators.
Press books were microfilmed for preservation and destroyed in 1986. In 1994 the remainder of the collection (including production stills that had been separated to the WCFTR Theatrical Stills File, but not the portraits of individual performers that had been separated to the Name File) was also microfilmed.
The GENERAL FILES consist of miscellaneous correspondence concerning partnerships formed to underwrite productions (Diversified Theatre Corp., Ima, and Theatrical Projects, Inc.) and some legal matters dating from the 1940's.
The PRODUCTION FILES consist of documentation relating to individual productions dating from the mid 1920's until Wiman's death in 1951. The files are arranged alphabetically by title. Documentation on each production varies, ranging from scripts, press books, published sheet music, to playbills and programs. The scripts often include both typed manuscripts submitted by important playwrights such as Howard Lindsay, Clifford Odets, Paul Osborn, Robert E. Sherwood, and John Van Druten as well as final mimeographed versions. The mimeographed scripts frequently contain information on casting, properties, lighting, and even set design sketches. The annotations on the scripts are unattributed, although many appear to have been made by authors, directors, and stage managers. The collection also includes a few stage designs by Jo Mielziner and original orchestrations for shows composed by Arthur Schwartz and Frederick Loewe, as well as scores (some extensively annotated) for individual instruments.
Publicity photographs received with the papers have been removed to the WCFTR Title Files. In microfilming this section of the collection captioning information has been filmed (if it appears) after the image to which it refers.
