Warren Casey Papers

Abstract

Draft and final scripts, lyrics and scores, as well as some administrative material such as correspondence for productions and projects on which Warren Casey worked during the 1970s and 1980s. Includes considerable materials relating to Grease, including working notes, draft and final versions of the script and score in its various manifestations, and the published score. Also included are drafts of screenplays for the film version of Grease and its sequel, Grease 2.

Biographical/Historical

Warren Casey, at times an author, lyricist, composer and actor, is best known as co-author with Jim Jacobs of the hit musical Grease. A native of Yonkers, N.Y., Casey attended Syracuse University, where he earned a degree in fine arts. He later taught in New York high schools. Casey moved to Chicago in the early 1960s, where he became heavily involved in the local theater scene. He met Jim Jacobs in 1963, while acting with the Chicago Stage Guild. The two began writing Grease, a parody about high school in the 1950s, in 1970, after Casey had been fired from a job as a lingerie salesman and purchased a typewriter in preparation for a job as an advertising copywriter. The musical premiered at the Kingston Mines Theatre in Chicago in 1971. Grease moved to New York in a slightly altered form in 1972, where it earned Tony nominations and became the longest-running Broadway show of its time. In 1978 a film version of Grease was produced starring John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John. This was followed by a less successful film sequel, Grease 2, in 1982.

In addition to his work with the Chicago Stage Guild and his work on Grease, Casey was involved in various ways with a number of Chicago theaters and independent writing projects. He was on the original artistic board of the Victory Gardens Theater, and created the role of Bernie in the 1974 Organic Theater premier of David Mamet’s Sexual Perversity in Chicago. He and Jacobs also collaborated on a musical entitled Island of the Lost Co-Eds, which was produced by Columbia College in 1981. One of his final, and unfinished, projects included a collaboration on a musical with Brazilian performer Valucha de Castro. Casey died of complications of AIDS on November 8, 1988, at the age of 53.

Scope and Contents

The Warren Casey papers document creative projects undertaken by Casey in the 1970s and 1980s. The papers primarily consist of manuscript and typewritten working notes, scene ideas, draft scripts, lyrics and scores. While the bulk of the materials relate to Grease and provide considerable insight into its conception and evolution, the papers also provide insight into the variety of other projects which Casey worked on.

Arrangement

The papers have been arranged into two series:

• Series 1: General, 1973, 1975, undated
• Series 2: Productions and Projects, 1970-1988, undated

Related Materials

Researchers should note that Special Collections also holds a program from the original Kingston Mines Theatre production, 1971, in the Chicago Theater Collection-Miscellaneous Programs, and a program from a Blackstone Theatre production, 1973, in the Chicago Theater Collection-Historical Programs. Additional materials relating to this production can be found in the Victory Gardens Theater Records.

Subject Headings

• Jacobs, Jim – Archives
• Casey, Warren – Archives.
• Casey, Warren, -1988
• Chicago Stage Guild – Archives.
• Dramatists – History – Sources.

Collection Inventory

Series 1: General, 1973, 1975, undated

Scope and Contents

The General series spans .25 linear ft. and includes correspondence, drafts of lyrics and scenes for unidentified projects and one folder of miscellaneous freelance writing. The correspondence consists of an inquiry by Casey and Chicago writer Gary Houston into the state of musical stage rights for a children’s book, as well as an exchange between Casey and composer Lawrence S. Hurwit regarding a potential idea for a stage musical. Freelance writing includes a brief autobiographical sketch and a draft review article, as well as song lyrics and music with correspondence with the person for whom they were written.

Arrangement

Files are arranged by topic.

Series 2: Productions and Projects, 1970-1988, undated

Scope and Contents

The Productions and Projects series spans 3.25 linear ft. and includes draft and final scripts, lyrics and scores, as well as some administrative material such as correspondence, for productions and projects on which Casey worked during the 1970s and 1980s.

Of note within this series are the considerable materials relating to Grease, which include working notes, draft and final versions of the script and score in its various manifestations and the published score, as well as drafts of screenplays for the film version of Grease and its sequel, Grease 2. Also included is one folder of correspondence consisting of exchanges regarding songs in the film Grease 2, and a note from Eugene Suttel to Casey regarding the retention of the early working drafts which are now included in this collection. One folder of schedules for a proposed Grease reunion program includes some factual information about the original, New York, and film productions. Researchers should note that Special Collections also holds a program from the original Kingston Mines Theatre production, 1971, in the Miscellaneous Programs Collection, and a program from a Blackstone Theatre production, 1973, in the Chicago Theater Collection-Historical Programs.

Also of note in this series are materials relating to Island of Lost Co-Eds, which include an audiocassette of the 1981 production at Columbia College. Other titles represented which are known to have reached production include original lyrics and scores written for a 1977 Victory Gardens Theater production of June Moon. Additional materials relating to this production can be found in the Victory Gardens Theater Records.

Other titles in this series are or may have been working titles only and never reached the production stage. Original folder titles have been maintained whenever possible. Of note are materials relating to Brasileira, a project on which Casey was working with Brazilian performer Valucha de Castro before his death, including an audiocassette of four professionally recorded songs.

Arrangement

As a large proportion of materials are undated, these files are arranged alphabetically by project or production title. Throughout the Collection Inventory, “draft” refers to both handwritten materials and typescript materials with handwritten annotations or other indications of draft status. Where there is a significant amount of material or it is otherwise useful, materials within each production or project have been arranged into sub-categories of Administrative materials, Scripts and Music.