Musical Theater Museum Struggles To Preserve Archives

by Alex Schmidt, NPR

The Institute of the American Musical in Los Angeles is home to footage collected by one of the earliest pirates --Ray Knight of Jacksonville, Fla. Between 1931 and 1973, Knight would make trips up to Broadway and sneak a 16 mm camera into theaters. He eventually collecting footage of over 175 musicals. Knight's family gifted the films — which, in many cases, are the only visual record of many of the earliest musicals — to the Institute of the American Musical when Knight died. But, there's a problem. The institute is a one-person operation that has been housed in a Los Angeles duplex for the past 30 years. The tiny nonprofit is having a hard time finding a way to preserve the Knight films — and the rest of its archives.

Broadcast Dates

• All Things Considered, March 2, 2011