Entitled "Writing to Character: Songwriters & the Tony Awards," the exhibition will feature "manuscripts, posters, photographs, designs, letters, original cast recordings, videos, and other memorabilia [that] provide insights into the collaborative process – both the missteps and achievements – of creating such smash hits as Rodgers and Hammerstein's South Pacific, Frank Loesser's Guys and Dolls, Bock and Harnick's Fiddler on the Roof, Kander and Ebb's Cabaret and Sondheim's Company."

Exhibition hours at the Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center (40 Lincoln Center Plaza) are Monday-Thursday, noon-8 PM; Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday, 11 AM-6 PM; and Saturday, 10 AM-6 PM. Admission is free.

In conjunction with the exhibit, the Library will also present five programs that focus on Tony-winning musicals:

March 15 at 3 PM
Screening: "The Colors of My Life: The Musical Theater of Michael Stewart" by Barry Day and Francine Pascal. With Charles Busch, Melissa Errico, Jim Dale, James Naughton, Lee Roy Reams, Steve Ross, Charles Strouse.
"Originally presented by the Library for the Performing Arts in November 2006, this program focuses on the author of the Tony Award-winning books for Bye Bye Birdie and Hello, Dolly!"

March 17 at 6 PM
"Simple, These Affairs That Touch the Heart: Affect and Character in Musical Theater Song"
Lecture-demonstration by Maury Yeston
Yeston is the Tony Award-winning composer of Nine, Titanic and Grand Hotel (additional music). April 10 at 6 PM
"An Evening with Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty"
Ahrens and Flaherty are the award-winning composers of Ragtime, Once on This Island, Dessa Rose, A Man of No Importance, Seussical and The Glorious Ones.

April 24 at 6 PM
Barbara Carroll, piano/vocals
"This famed pianist and singer will perform songs from Tony Award-winning shows. She appeared on Broadway in Rodgers and Hammerstein's Me and Juliet."

May 10 at 3 PM
"An Afternoon with Charles Strouse"
Strouse won Tony Awards for Annie, Applause and Bye Bye Birdie and was Tony-nominated for his work on Charlie and Algernon, Golden Boy, Mayor, Nick & Nora and Rags.

The five free events will take place in the Library's Bruno Walter Auditorium. Admission is free and is on a first-come, first-served basis, except for the May 10 program. For May 10, free tickets will be distributed, one per person, beginning at 1 PM at the Library's Lincoln Center Plaza entrance.

For further information call (212) 642-0142 or visit www.nypl.org/lpaprograms.