Each site includes a searchable database of catalog entries, order forms, and information on royalties, rights, and restrictions. The information is divided into categories that include Reference, Museum, History, Ethnic, Instructions, Accessories, Costumes. Then comes a significant number of links, which, unfortunately, are not annotated. While the history of theater is spotty on the web, these vastly different sites show its potential. American Variety Stage is a multimedia anthology of documents on vaudeville and popular entertainment, 1870-1920, drawn primarily from the Rare Books and Special Collections Division of the Library of Congress.
Navigation is easy, with both browsing and searching available.
Numerous hyperlinks within the text provide additional information from specialized dictionaries, encyclopedias, and image databases. The Broadway Musical Cast Album Database Musicals. The Broadway Musical Cast Album Database is a find within an otherwise confusing site. Net concentrates on only 80 popular Broadway shows, but each show is described in-depth. While the sites listed in links at Playbill On-Line's Theatre Central are a mixed bag, the Gilbert and Sullivan Archive is exemplary.