Cataloguing information relating to the Willy Russell archive

Duplicates of the material in the archive may exist in the collections of the:

• Liverpool Everyman Theatre
• Liverpool Playhouse Theatre
• papers of Margaret Ramsay
• Adrian Henri
• Roger McGough
• Alan Plater
• other literary and theatrical figures with whom Willy Russell corresponded

The collection includes:

• Manuscripts
• CD
• records and tapes
• programmes
• publicity and media material including newspaper cuttings and press releases
• correspondence
• legal, financial and administrative documents
• material relating to the casting and audition process
• administrative material
• ephemera produced for promotional purposes

The material was produced throughout the course of Willy Russell’s career and is a comprehensive representation of his body of work. The catalogues of correspondence are not available online.

 To request access to this material, please contact the LJMU Archivist.  

The material in this collection was amassed by Willy Russell over the course of his career. The production programmes were collected either from attendance at productions, or sent from the director/production team to the author. The correspondence was collected and arranged by Willy Russell and his administrative team. The newspaper cuttings were sent from production companies or individual producers.

The material has been housed in archival quality storage boxes. It was initially arranged by Willy Russell’s father-in-law – the librarian Michael Seagroatt. The collection was arranged and catalogued by Jessica Smith, with three months assistance from Louise Bruton between October 2011 and October 2012.

The material has been initially arranged and stored by individual work. This is reflected in the arrangement of the archive catalogue structure. The catalogue retains the series devised by Michael Seagroatt for works that generated a smaller volume of material, including: Early Produced Works, Unproduced Works and Television and Radio Works. Series that were created for the archive catalogue include a series of material relating to Willy Russell as an individual and material relating to music, song writing and live performance works.

The catalogue’s sub-series are based on records that result from the original filing process or have similar format or informational content. The original order has been retained at item level. In some series, documents that support legal documents and their negotiation can be found within the correspondence.

Access to the material is open and unrestricted. However, a selection of the correspondence material has been embargoed. Access to correspondence material may be granted, but requires direct permission from Willy Russell, or the relevant copyright holder.

Material cannot be photocopied or otherwise reproduced without written permission from the copyright holder – Willy Russell. For further details, please contact the LJMU Archivist

The material has been appraised prior to listing and cataloguing by Willy Russell and Jessica Smith.

Material for the archive was acquired from Willy Russell.

Material in the archive was previously in the custody of Willy Russell.

Further accruals to this archive collection are expected, as productions and pieces of Willy Russell’s work continue to be staged worldwide. Additions to most catalogue series are probable.

Paper and electronic copies of the finding aid for the collection is available.

British English spelling conventions have been used in the catalogue description for continuity, unless an American title of name has been used, in which case American English spelling is retained. When material is described as amended and annotated, this refers to amendments made by Willy Russell.

Additional information on Willy Russell can be found at:

• Willy Russell’s website
• McCarthy, Shaun, Creative Lives: Willy Russell (Heinemann, 2002) 
• Merkin, Ros, Liverpool’s Third Cathedral – The Liverpool Everyman Theatre, in the Words of Those Who Were and Are, There. Liverpool & Merseyside Theatre Trust, 2004)

This material may be considered in conjunction with the Liverpool Everyman Theatre Archive held at Liverpool John Moores University, the Liverpool Playhouse Archive, held at Liverpool Record Office, and the papers of the Merseybeat poets, held at the Special Collections and Archives of the University of Liverpool.