The collection consists of materials from author and theater history scholar John Franceschina relating to two of his publications, Incidental and Dance Music in the American Theatre from 1786 to 1923, and Hermes Pan: The Man Who Danced with Fred Astaire. Items in the collection include research files, musical scores, programs, photographs, news clippings, publications, and videos. Much of the material within the Incidental and Dance Music series contains information and sheet music by composer Rudolph Friml. The series consisting of musical and theatrical compositions houses play scripts, audio/visual recordings of songs, and sheet music both handwritten and printed. Much of this piece of the collection holds sheet music composed by the donor Mr. John Franceschina in his work as a professor and musician. Some of the original folders contained notes on which school the donor used the pieces for or which theaters they were performed at. These notes were placed at the item level.

The collection also includes unprocessed accruals, containing more original compositions, scores, and arrangements by Franceschina, and research materials from Franceschina's books Ross Alexander: The Life and Death of a Contract Player, and The Musical Theatre of Charles Dibdin. Those research materials include articles and reviews, screenplays, scripts, scores, notes, and drafts of Franceschina's works.

Books, DVDs, and VHS tapes apart of the original collection are cataloged in UCR's Special Collections. Any folders with a bracket were provided by the finding aid author and not the creator.