Tuesday,
February 18, 2025
Year : 2, Issue: 25
ABC7: The Museum of Broadway is well-known for its immersive celebration of all things theater. And in honor of Black History Month, a new pop-up exhibit is celebrating the Black storytellers of the past and present — while looking toward the future.
On the walls of the museum, a story of excellence unfolds – from the early pioneers who broke barriers to the voices shaping theater today.
In the special exhibit celebrating Black History Month, “Crafting Excellence” showcases the Black storytellers who have shaped American theater.
The exhibit highlights the contributions of more than 40 trailblazers, including legends like Duke Ellington, Lorraine Hansberry and Langston Hughes.
It also features iconic costumes, including ones worn by Eartha Kitt, Denzel Washington and Cynthia Erivo in “The Color Purple.”
“So folks will walk in, and they will encounter a section dedicated to the past,” West said. “The first thing that we see here, of course, are the four gentlemen who created ‘Shuffle Along.’”
The history lesson continues with trailblazers like Bob Cole, known as the father of Black musical theater, who fought for better working conditions and pay in the early 1900s.
Also displayed on the walls are the faces of the current generation of Black voices transforming theater.
From Lynn Nottage’s powerful dramas to Michael R. Jackson’s groundbreaking “A Strange Loop,” Katori Hall’s “Tina” and George C. Wolfe, who helms the revolutionary production of “Gypsy.”
People will come to the museum and to the exhibit to see there are Black voices that were part of the conversation throughout the history of Broadway.
