Scope and Content Note
The Robert Wright and George Forrest Papers span from 1934 to 2003 with the bulk of materials dating from 1936 to 1990. The Music series encompasses nearly the entire length and breadth of their careers, containing everything from lyrics they wrote for songs popularized in films of the 1930s to music and lyrics they composed for club acts, revues, television, radio, staged musicals, and productions into the 1990s. The music they created for several musicals was based on the works of others, such as Alexander Borodin's music that served as the basis for Kismet. For other musicals, such as Kean and Grand Hotel, all the compositions were entirely their own. The series also includes music the duo wrote and considered for concepts that were never produced. Materials consist of holograph and copyist manuscripts, printed piano-vocal scores, full scores, piano-conductor scores, short scores, vocal scores, lead sheets, parts, sketches, fragments, and lyric sheets.
The Production Files contain clippings, contracts, correspondence, lists, lyric sheets, notes, photographs, programs, schedules, and scripts chiefly for musicals that Wright and Forrest composed or concepts they considered. A small amount of material concerns flims for which they wrote songs.