The papers are arranged in two series: the Original Collection received in 1967 and 1968, and Additions processed in 1984. The original portion of the collection is subdivided into GENERAL PAPERS and PRODUCTION FILES; the 1984 additions are arranged as GENERAL PAPERS, THEATER-PRODUCED, and THEATER-UNPRODUCED. The boxes are numbered 1-62 and 184-203; there are no boxes numbered 63-183.
The majority of the material consists of records of My Fair Lady, Levin's most phenomenal success. The remainder consists of production records from eleven other major productions, including Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, Call Me Mister, The Great White Hope, and Lovely Ladies, Kind Gentlemen.
The GENERAL PAPERS subseries of the Original Collection consists of agent files, general correspondence, some miscellaneous financial records, and other theatrical material that came to Levin's attention. The agent files consist of materials on persons for whom Levin served as theatrical agent and shows which he considered for production. Information is varied and scant; included is material on ten plays, ten radio shows, and fifteen clients. Levin's early correspondence with Oliver Smith begins here in 1946. This section also includes some general correspondence dating from the period 1944 to 1963, financial records (some of which may relate to the production of No Exit), and miscellaneous material relating to the League of New York Theatres, a typed script by Noel Coward, and a copy of a handwritten score by Aaron Copland.
The PRODUCTION FILES subseries of the Original Collection makes up the bulk of the collection. These records are arranged chronologically by opening date and thereunder alphabetically by type of record. The main exception to this order occurs within the files on My Fair Lady, which are subdivided into the New York City-based Liza Company, the National touring company, and various foreign productions. The same types of material are present for all productions, although they vary in quantity and completeness.
In general, financial and legal documentation predominates, although there is documentation relating to the artistic aspects of the production including script and musical score revisions, set designs, and correspondence with actors and playwrights. Documentation on advertising and publicity includes correspondence, clippings and scrapbooks (available only on microfilm), programs and playbills, and reviews.
The financial records were reappraised in 1992 and routine documentation for all plays including bills, invoices, and daily box office statements discarded when the information was sufficiently summarized in the financial statements, the theaters' weekly settlements, and elsewhere. In addition, routine contracts were sampled when employee salary information was available in more concise form. Documentation of this type was also removed from the 1984 Additions to the Levin Papers, although that section of the collection was not otherwise altered. At the same time, all photographs received with the collection were separated to the WCFTR theatrical stills file, where they are available by production title or lot number.
Particularly notable in the My Fair Lady files is the documentation on the extensive litigations involving CBS and the Mark Hellinger Theatre and the material (including photographs and a 35mm film) concerning the goodwill tour made to the Soviet Union.
Scattered prominent correspondents include Marc Blitzstein, Richard Rodgers, Wolfgang Roth, Alex Cohen and Jack Vaughn (in The Temptation of Maggie Haggerty); Burt Bacharach, Irving Berlin, Leonard Bernstein, Hume Cronyn, Alfred Knopf, Jr., Jo Mielziner, Eleanor Roosevelt, and James Thurber (in My Fair Lady Liza Company records); Richard Nixon (in My Fair Lady Russian company files); Eleanor Roosevelt (in My Fair Lady London company files); and Katherine Cornell and Noel Coward (in The Girl Who Came to Supper).
The Additions portion of the Herman Levin collection documents the final years of Levin's involvement with the theater. Nearly three-fourths of the material concerns his last four productions, and includes extensive business and financial records, correspondence, production information, reviews, and publicity.
The GENERAL subseries primarily contains correspondence -- both incoming and outgoing-- that does not relate to any single production. Also included is material on a proposed record album entitled “The Official Sex Manual.”
The THEATER-PRODUCED subseries consists of material concerning four plays: My Fair Lady (1958; 1976)); The Great White Hope (1968); Lovely Ladies, Kind Gentlemen (1970); and Tricks (1973). The plays are arranged chronologically by production except for the revival of My Fair Lady, which immediately follows the original My Fair Lady material. Under each production, papers from the New York opening appear first, followed by those from any touring productions (either before and/or after the New York opening).
To facilitate research into the individual plays, the major productions' records are subdivided into three categories: Financial, General, and Production. The Financial category includes bank statements, operating statements, insurance, investors, limited partnership agreements, and earnings statements. The General category contains files on litigation and other legal matters, ticket requests, general correspondence, programs, and subject files. The Production category includes all material relating directly to the production of the play, such as information on casting, contracts, equipment, publicity, scripts, and theaters.
Although the large-format reel-to-reel tape recordings were not listened to because of the lack of special equipment, they are believed to be a duplication of the phonographic recording of The Great White Hope.
The THEATER-UNPRODUCED subseries consists of scripts and correspondence relating to nine unproduced plays.
