On November 15, the Museum of Broadway—the first permanent museum dedicated to the history of New York City's Theater District—officially opened to the public. Located in the heart of Times Square, the Museum will take visitors on an interactive journey through New York City’s musical history.
The Making of a Broadway Show
Rockwell Group was tasked with creating the museum’s finale and largest exhibition, “The Making of a Broadway Show.”
Drawing on our intimate backstage knowledge accrued over decades of designing sets for Broadway shows, we created as authentic an experience as possible, pulling back the curtain on trade secrets to introduce guests to each professional discipline backstage.
The journey begins at the stage door, the threshold between the street and the world-making environment of backstage.
Monitors at each section play interviews with important Broadway artists who recount favorite theater memories and relay insight on life backstage.
Spike tapes on the floor and quotes from Broadway authors, designers, and composers are scattered throughout. Each discipline is represented by a diverse set of voices and shows, both historical and contemporary, and will feature components that are updated seasonally.
We designed a non-linear choreography for the exhibition to express the balletic coordination involved in backstage production.
Learn more about the design process for "Making of a Broadway Show" in an interview with David Rockwell here.