Gaiety Theatre Scrapbook

Maire O'Neill in General John Regan at the Hudson Theatre, 1913

Among the Irish theater treasures in the Special Collections Research Center is the Gaiety Theatre Scrapbook, 1913-1937, documenting performances at the Gaiety Theatre in Dublin, Ireland, including production photographs of The Mermaid, Eleanor's Enterprise, and General John Regan.

Specializing in operatic and musical productions with occasional dramas, the Gaiety Theatre has hosted many stars, including Luciano Pavarotti, Jack Benny, Julie Andrews, Peter O’Toole, and Michael Gambon. Designed by architect C. J. Phipps and built in less than seven months, the Gaiety opened in 1871 with the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland as the guest of honor and a double bill of the comedy She Stoops to Conquer and the burlesque La Belle Sauvage. Extended by renowned theater architect Frank Matcham in 1883, the Gaiety has maintained its Victorian style in spite of renovations, and remains Dublin's longest-established, continuously producing theater.