Watercolor Box costume design for “The Artist’s Shop” scene in the Hippodrome production of Everything

The Hippodrome, built in 1905 just a few blocks north of where this Library building now stands, served as a venue for some of the most exciting spectacles of the early 20th century. During its peak years (1908–1923), the artistic director was Richard H. Burnside, a Scottish immigrant who prided himself on the mass appeal of his productions. Burnside’s papers are preserved in the Billy Rose Theatre Division and include this costume rendering by Gladys Monkhouse for the 1918–1919 musical Everything. The musical featured a score by John Philip Sousa and Irving Berlin and lyrics by John Golden (for whom Broadway’s John Golden Theatre is named). Monkhouse, Cora MacGeachy, and Aline Bernstein were among a cohort of notable early-20th-century female costume designers in the often male-dominated field of theatrical design.