HOUSTON — Award-winning Broadway performer Tommy Tune is donating much of his personal archives to the University of Houston, where he studied in the 1960s, the university announced Thursday.
The collection includes more than 50,000 items such as costumes, scripts, design sketches, choreography notes, photographs and personal letters. The materials will be housed at the University of Houston’s MD Anderson Library.
“The University of Houston felt like the natural home for it because it’s where my story truly began,” Tune said in a university news release. “This collection represents my life in musical theater, and I want it to inspire the next generation of artists in the city that first inspired me.”
Tune is a singer, director and choreographer who began his career more than six decades ago. A native of Texas, he is known for directing the original Broadway productions of “The Will Rogers Follies,” “Nine” and “The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas.” In some productions, including the 1983 musical “My One and Only,” Tune served as director, choreographer and lead performer.
He received the National Medal of Arts in 2003 from then-President George W. Bush and was honored with a Lifetime Achievement Tony Award in 2015.
University of Houston Archivist Mary Manning said the donation will support the study of theater history, particularly musical theater.
“This collection is a significant contribution to the study of theater history,” Manning said. “It will be invaluable to students, performers, filmmakers and researchers who want to explore Tune’s creative process, reconstruct productions or gain cultural context for the works he directed and performed in.”
