46 | JANUARY 12 • 2023

ARTS&LIFE
MUSEUMS

Stationed in each room
is a docent ready to answer
questions and take a photo
of you with your phone
or camera. Instagram-able
opportunities abound —
visitors can pose in front
of any display or have their
picture taken while leaning
over Max Bialystock’s desk
chair from The Producers
or sitting at the counter in
Doc’s drugstore from West
Side Story. Another one of
the many popular photo ops
is sitting on the chairs from
Cabaret, posing in front of
make-up mirrors.
The museum winds down
with a special section called
The Making of a Broadway
Show. It explains what goes
on behind the scenes of
every Broadway production
and highlights all the
backstage roles, including
writers, stage managers,
set designers and many

more. Videos are available
to view, with theater people
describing their craft.
Visitors can have their
“on-stage moment” with a
projection that makes it look
like they are standing on the
stage of a Broadway house
with the seats behind them.
In a very moving section,
the AIDS quilt is on dis-
play, and on the walls are
names of artists lost to the
epidemic, including Michael
Bennett, who directed A
Chorus Line. (Bennett’s
mother was Jewish.)
The museum is appro-
priately located off Times
Square in the heart of
Broadway, next to the
Lyceum Theater. It was orig-
inally scheduled to open in
2020 but was delayed because
of the COVID pandemic.
New exhibits will be added
as new shows open.

MONIQUE CARBONI

LEFT: Costumes
from Hamilton.
BELOW: The
dress from Annie.
Desk from The
Producers, where
you can have a
photo taken.

continued from page 45

ALICE BURDICK SCHWEIGER

ALICE BURDICK SCHWEIGER