And it must be located in mid-town Manhattan. So what is Broadway? There is, in fact, an industry definition.Ī Broadway theater must be 500 seats or more (499 seats or less is technically off-Broadway). More: 'Some Like It Hot,' with new score, is cross-dressing for success on Broadway But I think people are rediscovering it now." Maybe you took it for granted before - like you always had Broadway in your backyard. "It's always been part of the fabric of New York City, but I think with COVID and the pandemic we just went through, it made people realize just how important it was to the city, and to themselves. "There's a nostalgia for Broadway now," Boardman said. Millions of visitors had another name for it. "Jazz interpreted in light," is how journalist Will Irwin described it in 1927. But it wasn't until the early 1900s, when the New York theater scene had begun to move uptown from Union Square, that those characteristic twinkling bulbs began appearing on marquees up and down the theater district. Along with the Gershwins and Sondheims who wrote the music for them, the Shuberts who produced them, and the Fosses who set them dancing.īroadway was electrified as early as the 1880s. To this day, having "your name in lights" is shorthand for being a star.Īnd what stars! Ethel Merman, Carol Channing, Alfred Drake, Nathan Lane, Audra McDonald - those are the names, spelled out in glowing letters, that had crowds lining up around the block. The lights are what everyone thinks of first. "It's always been synonymous with New York." Lights of Broadway "Broadway's always been here, right?" Boardman said. Give My Regards to Broadway! Broadway Rhythm! Lullaby of Broadway! "A million lights, they flicker there! A million hearts beat quicker there!" "They say the neon lights are bright on Broadway." But equally, it's about the romance of a street that has been celebrated in story and song - especially song - for 150 years. The Museum of Broadway is about that history. "Just thinking of all that history, and what actually took place on those stages, is just so wonderful," she said. She and Nicoletti, friends for 20 years, have been working on this idea for the last five. "It's our understanding that this is the very first permanent project of this size," said Julie Boardman, the other co-founder. More: Broadway, in 2022, is 'colorblind.' Would August Wilson approve? Show tunes permeate the rooms as you saunter down Broadway's 100-plus year timeline.Īn exhibit opening in tandem with the permanent collection, "The American Theatre as seen by Hirschfeld," will feature caricatures of Julie Andrews, Liza Minnelli, Meryl Streep and others, drawn by Broadway's cartoonist-in-chief. Here too are production photos, scores, a display case full of cast albums, a play-it-yourself anagram game that Stephen Sondheim used to entertain his friends with.
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