This immersive celebration of the history of Broadway has been exquisitely designed and will make you fall in love with theatre all over again.
Set close to Times Square and of course the many Broadway theatres that surround it, the Museum of Broadway is certainly a place that those with a love of theatre will want to visit.
Designed as a rather immersive experience that focuses on many the biggest moments in musical theatre (although plays are also referenced to as well) to give a comprehensive overview of how far Broadway has come.
With original costumes and props from shows such as The Lion King, Cabaret and Hello Dolly to name a tiny portion of the shows covered in this comprehensively designed museum, it feels like a true celebration of how far that Broadway has come – during times of strife (such as of course the COVID pandemic and HIV pandemic) and how theatre can be used to highlight powerful issues. The section devoted to RENT and a quilt created to express the grief and loss of those devastated by the HIV epidemic is particularly moving.
This being said, for the most part of the museum has a joyful nature to it and the way in which each room has been designed to reflect the style of show (some given more room to breath than others depending on their influence on Broadway thus far) – prepared to be surrounded by corn in the Oklahoma! styled room, immerse yourself in the glitz and glamour of the Ziegfeld follies or the colourful section devoted to Hair. It really is immersive with plenty of photographable moments.
But of course, the museum also pays tribute to those behind some of the shows – including famous directors, composers such as Hal Prince, Andrew Lloyd Webber and of course Stephen Sondheim. Yet for me, I particularly loved the way in which the museum is laid out to make visitors feel as though they are sneaking behind the scenes, starting us by climbing the stairs of what it would be like to be working backstage all the way through to taking to centre stage. It has been cleverly designed and pays tribute effectively to all the departments who are heavily involved with getting the show to the stage.
The overall vibe of the museum is bright and vivid and while it would be nice to see some other more modern day shows such as Hamilton and Lin-Manuel Miranda getting a slightly bigger celebration, i can appreciate given the space it wouldn’t be possible and it has be selective.
Organised chronologically, at no point to do you ever feel lost or weighed down in information and it is possible to spend as much time as you want to linger over your favourite sections and shows.
A must-visit for anyone with an interest in theatre, the Museum of Broadway will certainly make you fall in love with theatre and appreciate it all the more all over again.
By Emma Clarendon
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐