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Clark Gesner Papers
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Held at: Princeton University Library: Manuscripts Division [Contact Us]
This is a finding aid. It is a description of archival material held at the Princeton University Library: Manuscripts Division. Unless otherwise noted, the materials described below are physically available in their reading room, and not digitally available through the web.
Overview and metadata sections
Most renowned for having written the book, music and lyrics for You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown, Clark Gesner, Princeton Class of 1960, was born March 27, 1938, in Augusta, Maine, the son of H. Mortimer Gesner, Jr., a Unitarian minister, and Eleanor Clark Gesner. Gesner attended high school in Plainfield, New Jersey where he wrote and performed in high school theater productions. Like his grandfather, Herbert M. Gesner, Class of 1890, Gesner joined Triangle Club at Princeton, serving as cast member, writer, musical director and vice-president. He also produced a one-act musical Mother Loves Me in 1958. He majored in English and wrote his senior thesis on "The Evolution of the American Musical Theater, 1925-1960."
Gesner was an important figure in early children's television, writing for Captain Kangaroo, Mister Mayor, The Children's Television Workshop, and its programs, Sesame Street and The Electric Company.
After college, Gesner worked briefly for the Captain Kangaroo television show beginning in 1961, holding cue cards and doing some writing while also composing music and lyrics for a Yale Drama School production. Drafted into the Army in 1961, Gesner spent his two-year military career at Governor's Island and in Manhattan selling theater tickets at the USO in Times Square, while continuing to write for Captain Kangaroo and producing his first recording, A Musical Visit to Captain Kangaroo's Treasure House, in 1962. After his discharge in 1963, Gesner continued to work for Captain Kangaroo, the Mister Mayor show, and wrote satirical pieces for the television show That Was the Week That Was, and recorded Societus Manificat, a satire on Lyndon Johnson's Great Society from Julius Monk's 1965 review "Pick a Number XV."
During the early 1960s, Gesner had begun writing songs based on Charles Schulz's Charlie Brown comic strip characters but was unable to get permission from United Features to use the characters in his songs. Eventually Gesner sent Schulz a tape of some of the songs and Gesner soon had permission to record them which he did in 1966 with Orson Bean as Charlie Brown and Gesner as Linus. At the time, Gesner had no plans for a musical based on this pre-production "concept album." However, encouraged by Arthur Whitelaw, Gesner quickly wrote the book for You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown, which opened Off-Broadway on March 7, 1967 and ran nearly 1600 performances at Theater 80 in the West Village. An attempt to move the play to Broadway in 1971 closed within a month of opening night. A 1973 television show, road companies, productions in a number of foreign languages, and a 1999 revival fared better. The play remains a staple of local and community theater and Gesner commented that it was his "MacArthur Grant," providing a steady income for the rest of his life. Gesner was to write other plays, including Animal Fair, The Ransom of Red Chief, the musical review The Jello is Always Red (1998), The Adventures of Betty Boop, and The Utter Glory of Morrissey Hall. None ever achieved the success of Charlie Brown, and the latter closed on Broadway after a single performance in 1979 (it was also staged at McCarter Theater in 1977). Gesner also acted in various small theater productions in New York City (for instance B.T. McNicholls's Musicals in Concert) and in summer stock at the Weston Playhouse in Vermont for many years. Gesner authored Stuff, etc.: A Collection (1970) and wrote special material for television, Broadway and night-club reviews.
Gesner was a bachelor all his life. He joined the Advance Science Writing Program at Columbia University during the 1967-1968 academic year. He also served on the Triangle board and on the Advisory Council of Princeton's English Department. Gesner died on July 23, 2002, of a coronary in New York City.
Gesner's papers document his entire career and include scripts and scores, as well as production notes, correspondence, publicity and reviews, and photographs. The papers include materials related to his plays, music, television, and writings, including materials from his collegiate years, as well as a small number of business papers. Notably productions include You're A Good Man, Charlie Brown, The Utter Glory of Morrissey Hall, and Animal Fair.
Clark Gesner's Undergraduate Alumni File (Class of 1960) in the Princeton University Archives was consulted during preparation of biographical note.
Gift of Page Gesner on December 15, 2006, with additional gifts from Melissa McGann of the Charles Schulz Museum on November 8, 2006 and the gift of the Plainfield High School musical recording from Jeannette Boucher on May 28, 2009. Additional gifts of manuscripts, programs, clippings, and recordings were given by Andrea Fleck Clardy on October 1, 2009 and October 16, 2009. The recording of You're A Good Man, Charlie Brown arranged by "Bugs" Bower was purchased by the department on October 6, 2009.
For preservation reasons, original analog and digital media may not be read or played back in the reading room. Users may visually inspect physical media but may not remove it from its enclosure. All analog audiovisual media must be digitized to preservation-quality standards prior to use. Audiovisual digitization requests are processed by an approved third-party vendor. Please note, the transfer time required can be as little as several weeks to as long as several months and there may be financial costs associated with the process. Requests should be directed through the Ask Us Form.
This collection was processed by Matt Callahan and Ingmar Saberi in 2009. Finding aid written by Matt Callahan in August 2009.
Duplicate materials, largely sheet music and scripts, and a collection of newspaper advertisements unrelated to Gesner's career were separated from this collection (approximately 6 linear feet).
- Publisher
- Manuscripts Division
- Finding Aid Author
- Matt Callahan
- Finding Aid Date
- 2009
- Sponsor
- Processing of this collection was supported by the Princeton University Class of 1960.
- Access Restrictions
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Collection is open for research use.
- Use Restrictions
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Single copies may be made for research purposes. To cite or publish quotations that fall within Fair Use, as defined under U. S. Copyright Law, no permission is required. For instances beyond Fair Use, it is the responsibility of the researcher to determine whether any permissions related to copyright, privacy, publicity, or any other rights are necessary for their intended use of the Library's materials, and to obtain all required permissions from any existing rights holders, if they have not already done so. Princeton University Library's Special Collections does not charge any permission or use fees for the publication of images of materials from our collections, nor does it require researchers to obtain its permission for said use. The department does request that its collections be properly cited and images credited. More detailed information can be found on the Copyright, Credit and Citations Guidelines page on our website. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us through the Ask Us! form.
Collection Inventory
This series looks at Clark Gesner's major theatrical productions. These productions include You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown, The Utter Glory of Morrissey Hall, Animal Fair, Betty Boop and The Jello is Always Red, and the television show Captain Kangaroo. For each production this series contains scripts, production notes, music, business correspondence, social correspondence, playbills, and newspaper clippings.
The productions are organized by size of the files.
Physical Description23 boxes
6 boxes
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6 boxes
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6 boxes
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This series looks at Gesner's smaller musical productions and works. These folders include production notes, music, playbills, and additional related papers. Series 2 also contains miscellaneous music from 1968 as filed by Gesner.
Arranged by production or work.
Physical Description2 boxes
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4 folders
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This looks at past writing projects and performances as filed by Gesner. These folders include a number of very small musical productions, songs, sermons, articles, and various projects by Gesner. There are also assorted folders containing work by other composers.
The files are kept in the original order as left by Gesner.
Physical Description5 boxes
4 boxes
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Series 4 contains the legal/business correspondence from Jeremy Music Inc. and Gesner Music Inc. These papers consist of general business correspondence as well as applications and approvals for copyrighting a song.
The folders are filed as they were by Gesner and contain general business correspondence arranged by date and then are filed by individual song.
Physical Description2 boxes
1 folder
1 folder
2 folders
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This series includes all the materials donated to the Mudd Library by Melissa McGann. The work found here is mostly from Gesner's early years and collegiate years. The folders contain early plays, songs, and scripts.
These materials remain in the order in which they were received.
Physical Description2 boxes
(Featured players include William Shakespeare, R. Burbage and the Queen of England.)
Physical Description1 folder
2 folders
1 folder
1 folder
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(Lyrics for "Stalemate" and music for "The Lament", "In the Still of the Night", "An Undersea Song", "It is Spring", "Shoe Shine", "Love in the Air", "Never More", "East of the Sun", and "La Valse d'Arene".)
Physical Description1 folder
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1 folder
(Includes "Let's You & I Stay Together", "Channel Girls", "Bow Music", "Revival", "March", "Easy Way", and "Island Dance".)
Physical Description1 folder
(Includes "Carnival", "Now the Day is Starting", and "An Undersea Song".)
Physical Description1 folder
1 folder
1 folder
(This is another version of the play in Box 33, Folder 1.)
Physical Description1 folder
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This series contains all the multimedia and photographs in the Gesner collection. The photographs are arranged by production and are mostly undated. In addition to CDs and various multimedia Box 1 also contains miscellaneous papers including Gesner's 40th Reunion papers and photos and an untitled book.
Arranged by media type.
Physical Description4 boxes
1 folder
1 folder
1 folder
1 folder
1 folder
4 folders
1 box
1 folder
1 folder
1 folder
1 box
This last series contains all of Gesner's oversize work from the collection. The oversize contents include sheet music, manuscripts, conductor's scores, posters, a scrapbook, and Gesner's diploma from Princeton University.
Arranged by size.
Physical Description4 boxes
1 box
1 box
1 box
4 folders
1 folder
1 folder
1 folder
This series contains unprocessed additions to the collection. The series includes scripts, scores and recordings, as well as photographs and correspondence, related to music and plays by Gesner. These include You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown, Princeton University Triangle Club productions, and Plainfield High School productions.
Arranged by accession number.
Physical Description4 boxes
1 box
1 folder
2 folders
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1 folder
(Includes material from Princeton Triangle Club shows, 1957-1960.)
Physical Description2 folders
1 folder
3 boxes
1 folder
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(5 records and 1 audio cassette)
Physical Description4 folders
1 folder
1 folder
1 folder
1 folder
2 folders
1 folder
1 folder
1 box
1 folder