Industry NewsA Broadway Museum Eyes 2020 Opening in Times SquareThe pop-up museum will take visitors on a journey from the birth of Broadway through present day.
By
Andrew Gans
May 31, 2019
Times Square
Monica Simoes
The Museum of Broadway, which will take visitors on a journey from the birth of Broadway through present day, will launch in the heart of New York City's theatre district in 2020.
The pop-up museum will focus on three main components: the evolution of the theatre district from lower Manhattan to Times Square, the making of a Broadway show, and landmark musicals the defined eras of Broadway.
“We are excited to welcome the new Museum of Broadway to Times Square in 2020. No visit to New York City is complete without seeing a Broadway show, and now with this new pop-up museum, visitors can further immerse themselves in the history and legacy of one of our City’s most iconic draws,” said NYC & Company President and CEO Fred Dixon.
The Museum will be presented by three time Tony-nominated producer, Julie Boardman, of Untitled Theatricals and Boardman Productions and President of Rubik Marketing, Diane Nicoletti.
Viva O'Brien Playbill. Showing a script logo, but no show title.
Saint Joan – Playbill – 1936. With a more delicate font, but still no play title.
Ambassador Theatre Standard from the 1940s. Displaying a curly-serif logo.
On the Town Playbill — 1944. With the sepia cover and Egyptian hollow font.
Annie Get Your Gun Playbill – 1946. Showing the Egyptian hollow font logo. The play title finally appears.
Cat On A Hot Tin Roof Playbill – 1955. Sepia covers were used from the 1920s to the 1950s, usually with the solid Egyptian font for the logo. Note that it is still called “The” Playbill.
Auntie Mame Playbill – 1958. New logo design with the new logo in Latin Wide font on a colored background (here, green) with the theatre name in a box in the upper left. And no more “The” Playbill.
Auntie Mame Playbill – 1958. Showing a blue logo.
West Side Story Playbill – 1958
Promises, Promises Playbill – 1969. The standard look from the late 1950s to 1973, with the Latin Wide logo on a yellow background, with the theatre name in a box in the upper left.
Grease Playbill, 1973. A sample of the tri-color logo used from February to December 1973.
A Little Night Music Playbill
Chicago Playbill – 1975. The classic cover design that lasted from 1974 to 2016. The tall official Playbill font on the yellow background with the theatre name beneath. Both the logo and the cover art have a white border around them,
Angels in America Millenium Approaches Playbill – 1993. The cover style used from 1974 to 2016 with the tall “Playbill” font on the yellow background with the theatre name beneath, and a white border around both the logo and the cover art.
Fun Home Playbill - June 2015
Hamilton Playbill – 2015. One of the last of the old bordered covers.
