Take A Look Inside The Newly Opened Museum Of Broadway
The neon lights of Broadway are shining especially bright as the newly launched Museum of Broadway has officially opened its doors. Pop Culture Planet got a look inside the first-ever permanent museum dedicated to the rich history of Broadway during its opening week and can confirm its a cannot miss experience.
The three-floor immersive and interactive experience can take about 60-90 minutes to walk through in a self-guided tour, but there’s so much to look at and explore that you could easily stay longer. The experience kicks off in a Playbill-themed waiting room showcasing the shows currently on Broadway, before heading into a room to watch a video about the history of all of New York’s iconic theaters.
Next you head into the Timeline of Broadway hallway that begins the journey from the 1700s all the way to today. As you walk through the experience, there are both smaller hallways featuring props and costumes for various musicals and plays, as well as feature rooms designed to take you deeper into the shows. You can take photos and videos as if you’re center stage in productions of The Ziegeld Follies, Show Boat, Oklahoma!, West Side Story, Hair, Company, A Chorus Line, and Rent, among others. There are over 500 individual productions represented in the museum, so there’s something for everyone.
The experience ends with The Making of a Broadway Show exhibit that takes you backstage to learn more about creating a show, from the writing process to set design, and beyond. The museum will also feature a selection of special exhibits, the first being The American Theatre as seen by Hirschfeld, which takes visitors through nine decades of Al Hirschfeld’s iconic images of theater through twenty-five drawings and prints from 1928 to 2002.
Co-founded by entrepreneurs and producers Julie Boardman and Diane Nicoletti, the Museum of Broadway is a true theatre lover’s dream. With the wealth of history to go through, its surprising this museum didn’t exist earlier. It truly is a jam-packed experience that is perfect for both Broadway veterans and newbies. It will be exciting to see how the exhibits evolve over time.
The Museum of Broadway is located at 145 W 45th St, between 6th and 7th Aves, and is open from 10am to 10pm daily. Tickets start at $39, with a portion of every ticket being donated to Broadway Care/Equity Fights AIDS.
