Genealogy and Local History Department

Abe Feder/Springer Opera House 

Lighting Design Collection

 

Table of Contents

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Administrative and Access Note

Accessioned: 1985

Provenance: The materials where given to the Springer Opera House in 1985 by Abe Feder. 

Extent: 181 linear feet

Inclusive Dates: 1936-1976

Content: stage drawings, theatre lighting drawings, cue sheets

Access: The Collection is open to research. The Digital Collection is  hosted by the Chattahoochee Valley Regional Library System.
A physical surrogate collection is held at the Marshall Library and Archives at the Springer Opera House. Prior appointment is necessary to view the collection held at the Springer Opera House.

Preferred Citation: [item] Abe Feder/Springer Opera House Lighting Design Collection, Marshall Library and Archives, Springer Opera House.

Copyright: Copyrights remain under the purview of the Estate of Abe Feder

Processed: 2005 John J. Lyles 

Historical Note

Abe Feder (1909-1997)

Abe Feder is recognized as one of the most distinguished Lighting Designers in Broadway's history; he is also considered a major architectural lighting designer. Modestly, Feder often referred to himself as a "worker in light." However, contemporaries described Feder as "a genius with light," who was obsessed with light and how it could be used to enhance an architectural or theatrical design. Feder is credited with practically invented the position of Lighting Designer

Born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin in 1909, Feder went on to study engineering and theatre technology at the Carnegie Institute of Technology (now Carnegie-Mellon University) in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. His academic career was short-lived spanning two years of study. However, Feder pursued what turned out to be a 50 year education and career in lighting design. Leaving Philadelphia, Feder found employment at the Goodman Theatre in Chicago as a lighting director. In 1930, Feder traveled to the Mecca of theatrical production, New York City, and scored his first Broadway credit with Trick for Trick in 1932. No doubt the Depression made employment in the world of theatre difficult, however, Feder was one 2900 professional theatrical workers who found employment with the Federal Theatre Project.  The Federal Theatre Project was created on August 29, 1935, under the auspicious of the Works Progress Administration (WPA), to provide employment for displace theatrical workers and entertainment for Americans. During 1935-1939, Feder continued to light Broadway as the lighting supervisor for the Works Progress Administration's Federal Theatre Project. All totaled, Feder is credited with lighting over 200 WPA Federal Theatre Projects. Included in this extensive list of WPA projects are T.S. Elliot's Murder in the Cathedral (1936), the Living Newspaper's presentations of Power (1937) and One Third of a Nation (1938), Orson Welles' famous production of a "voodoo" Macbeth (1936) set on a West Indies island with an all-black cast, Dr. Faustus (1937) staged on a bare stage surrounded by black drapes, and The Cradle Will Rock (1938) which was locked out of its theatre by the United States government and union organizers and forced to give an "outlaw" performance in the Venice Theatre. 

Feder would then join the American Ballet Theatre (ABT) where he served  as a production coordinator and lighting designer for the ABT's first national tour in 1940. Feder returned to New York City and lit productions on and off Broadway. Feder won the 1975 Toney Award for Best Lighting Design for his work on Goodtime Charley.

In addition to design, he wrote the unit on stage lighting in John Gassner's Producing the Play (1940). Building on his theatrical experience, Feder created a second career as an architectural lighting designer. With his company, Lighting By Feder, he was a lighting designer and consultant for projects that ranged from the 1964 New York World's Fair, Expo '67, the San Francisco Civic Center, Rockefeller Plaza, the Israel National Museum in Jerusalem, the Minskoff Theatre in New York, the relighting of New York's RCA Building in Rockefeller Center, the Empire State Building, the United Nations building, and the Springer Opera House, Georgia's State Theatre, in Columbus, Georgia. In 1993 Abe Feder was the first to be honored as a USITT Distinguished Lighting Designer.

Scope and Content Note

The Abe Feder/Springer Opera House Lighting Design Collection consists of  181 linear feet of material divided into 2 series. Series I. Drawings (1936-1979) is the most voluminous at 258 items (180 linear feet.) Series I contains technical theatrical lighting and scenic drawings representing productions in which Feder served as lighting designer and/or consultant. Although most of the drawings cover shows that appeared on Broadway, NYC theatres, a few drawings cover productions that appeared in theatres across the United States and the United Kingdom. Drawings range in sizes (10"x17" to 36"x48"). 

Series II: Data Books represents 1 linear foot of material that comprise of correspondence, stage light cue sheets, play bills and assorted technical production material. These books document some of the business transactions of Lighting By Feder and contain an array of information concerning the behind the scenes work that is incurred before and during a theatrical performance. Of particular note, are the data books for the 1972 reopening of the Springer Opera House in Columbus, Georgia.

Arrangement Note

Series I and Series II are arranged chronological by year then alphabetically by production within its production year. 

Series List

I.   Drawings
 II.  Data Books

Contents List

Series I Drawings

Flat File -- Drawer -- Item --Contents

D     1           Feder 1-2                Waldorf Astoria, 2 items, 24"x30", 1936, 1962

D    1            Feder 3-4                Dr. Faustus, 2 items, 1937

D    1            Feder 5                   Johnny Belinda, 10"x12", 1940

D    1            Feder 6-8               The Walking Gentleman, 3 items, 20"x36" and below, 1942

D    1            Feder 9-10             Gioconda Smile, 2 items, 28"x38" and below, 1950

D    1            Feder 11-12            NY Times Fashion Show, 2 items 24"x36" and below, 1950

D    2            Feder 13-16            Out of This World, 4 items, 24x40" and below, 1950

D    2            Feder 17-19            Three Wishes for Jamie, 3 items, 14"x21", 1952  

D    2            Feder 20-24            Thunderland, 5 items, 24"x36" and below, 1952

D    3            Feder 25-30            A Pin To See A Peepshow, 6 items, 24"x40" and below, 1953

D    3            Feder 31-39            The Immoralist, 9 items, 28"x40" and below, 1953

D    4            Feder 40-58            The Boyfriend, 19 items, 10"x17" and below, 1954

D    5            Feder 59-60            The Flowering Peach, 2 items, 15"x22" and below, 1954

D    5            Feder 61                  What Every Woman Knows, 12"x24", 1954

D    5            Feder 62-63            Inherit the Wind, 2 items, 13"x22", 1955

D    5            Feder 64                  Lambs Gambols, 13"x18", 1955

D    5            Feder 65                  Maiden Voyage, 12"x18", 1955

D    5            Feder 66                  Seventh Heaven, 12"x24", 1955

D    6            Feder 67-73             The Skin of Our Teeth, 15"x30" and below, 1955

D    6            Feder 74-75             Wisteria Trees, 2 items, 14"x32" and below, 1955

D    6            Feder 76                   A Clearing in the Woods, 13"x25", 1956

D    6            Feder 77-79             A Visit to a Small Planet, 3 items, 18"x31", 1956

D    7            Feder 80-87             Blues for Mr. Charlie, 8 items, 14"x21" and below, 1956

D    8            Feder 88-111           My Fair Lady, 24 items, 30"x48" and below, 1957

D    9            Feder 112-113        Orpheus Descending, 2 items, 19"x24", 1957

D    9            Feder 114-115        Time Remembered, 2 items, 18"x24", 1957

D    9            Feder 116-118        A Grand Hotel Production, 3 items, 16"x24" and below, 1958

D    9            Feder 119                Goldilocks, 13"x25", 1958

D    9            Feder 120                The Cold Wind and the Warm, 11"x21", 1958

D    10          Feder 121                A Loss of Roses, 24"x48", 1959

D    10          Feder 122-126        Come Play With Me, 5 items, 17"x40" and below, 1959

D    11          Feder 127-131        Green Willow, 5 items, 28"x40" and below, 1959

D    12          Feder 132-138        Elizabeth the Queen, 7 items, 14"x23" and below, 1960

D    12          Feder 139-141        A Place Without Twilight, 3 items, 18"x26" and below, 1962

D    12          Feder 142                Tiger, Tiger, Burning Bright, 24"x48", 1962

D    13          Feder 143-152        Once for the Asking, 10 items, 24"x40" and below, 1963

D    13          Feder 153-161        Camelot, 9 items, 24"x40" and below, 1963

D    14          Feder 162-166        Three Sisters, 5 items, 19"x30" and below, 1964

D    14          Feder 167-193        On a Clear Day You Can See Forever, 27 items, 15"x25" and below, 1965

D    15          Feder 194                Carousel, 24"x40", 1966

D    15          Feder 195-206        Country Girl, 12 items, 24"x36" and below, 1966

D    15          Feder 207-212        Beyond Desire, 6 items, 24"x40" and below, 1967

D    16          Feder 213-219        Washington Salute to the American Musical Theatre, 7 items, 21"x30" and below, 1967

D    16          Feder 220-222        Carnival, 3 items, 24"x40" and below, 1968

D    16          Feder 223                The King and I, 24"x36", 1968

D    17          Feder 224-229         Scratch, 6 items, 24"x40" and below, 1971

D    18          Feder 230-241        Springer Opera House, 12 items, 25"x36" and below, 1972

D    19          Feder 242-243        Goodtime Charley, 2 items, 24"x40" and below, 1974

D    19          Feder 244                Doctor Jazz, 15"x24", 1975

D    19          Feder 245-249        Carmelina, 4 items, 24"x40 and below, 1979

D    20          Feder 250-254        Theatre in the Park, 5 items, 18"x36" and below, date unknown

D    20          Feder 255-258        Connecticut Fashion Show, 4 items, 25"x36" and below, date unknown

 

 

Series II: Data Files

Box - Folder - Contents

Box 1

            Folder 1                            Androcles and the Lion

            Folder 2                            Big Blow

            Folder 3                            Carmelina Blocking Plans

            Folder 4                            Carmelina Script

            Folder 5                            Dr. Faustus

            Folder 6                            Federal Theatre

            Folder 7                            Fighting Jew

            Folder 8                            Goodtime Charley

            Folder 9                            Lighting Design Clinic 1979

            Folder 10                          Lighting Design Clinic 1980

            Folder 11                          Mac Beth

            Folder 12                         My Fair Lady

            Folder 13                         Native Ground

            Folder 14                        News Clippings

            Folder 15                        On A Clear Day

            Folder 16                        On A Clear Day Board Layout

            Folder 17                        On A Clear Day Cue Sheets

            Folder 18                        On A Clear Day Cue Sheets

            Folder 19                        Passenger to Bali

            Folder 20                        Prologue to Glory

            Folder 21                        Repertory of important Plays

            Folder 22                       Springer Opera House

            Folder 23                       Springer Opera House Specifications

            Folder 24                       Talk of the Town

            Folder 25                       "Uses of Light and Light Sources"

            Folder 26                        Works in Progress

 

For reference assistance 

 

Marshall Library and Archives, Springer Opera House

103 Tenth Street Columbus, Georgia 31901

(706) 324-5714

 Genealogy and Local History Department, Columbus Public Library

3000 Macon Road, Columbus, Georgia 31906

(706) 243-2681