Chestnut Street Theatre: Studies of the Theatre

Studies of the Chestnut Street Theatre Building

Carey (Frost), Darcy Sabin: "A Conjectural Reconstruction of the Chestnut Street Theatre, Philadelphia, 1794-1820". Unpublished MA Thesis, University of Washington School of Drama. 1974
The companion to this work, and the center piece of the study, is a scale model of the theatre building, which for many years could be seen on display in Meany Hall on the University of Washington Campus. The model was relegated to storage in the late 1980s, where it remains. Mrs Frost's study includes a complete set of architectural plans for the theatre model, as well as numerous photographs of the model in various stages of its construction.
In developing the three dimensional computer model of the theatre, Wolcott et al are deeply indebted to the work of Mrs. Frost.
James, Reese D.: Cradle of Culture: 1800-1810, The Philadelphia Stage. University of Pennsylvania Press, 1957
James, Reese D.: Old Drury of Philadelphia. University of Pennsylvania Press, 1932
Pollock, Thomas C.: The Philadelphia Theatre in the Eighteenth Century. University of Pennsylvania Press, 1933
Wolcott, John R.: "Philadelphia's Chestnut Street Theatre: A Plan and Elevation." In the Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians, October 1971. vol.XXX, no. 3. pp. 209-218. This essay establishes the relationship between the so-called Nisbet-Darley plan and elevation of the first Chestnut Street Theatre.
Wolcott, John R.: "English Influences on American Staging Practice: A Case Study of the Chestnut Street Theatre, Philadelphia, 1794 - 1820." The Ohio State University, 1967. Unpublished doctoral dissertation (The Ohio State University Library; University Microfilms, Ann Arbor; and the University of Washington School of Drama Library)
This study is one of only two sources in which materials from the scrapbook of Henry Warren can be seen. A designer at the theatre for many years, Henry was the younger brother of William Warren, the theatre's manager. The Henry Warren scrapbook may also be seen on microfilm in The Ohio State University Theatre Collection (OSUTC Film No. 1759*)