Museum Map
Ten galleries
The exhibition is designed to be explored chronologically. Each gallery is an era or movement; each exhibition card is a production seen as both a work of art and a historical document. Periods overlap when artistic movements developed simultaneously.
Gallery I · 1866–1942
Foundations of American Musical Theatre
From operetta and vaudeville to Show Boat, discover how Broadway developed its artistic identity and laid the groundwork for the modern musical.
Gallery II · 1943–1959
The Golden Age
Explore the era that established the integrated musical, where music, story, choreography, and character became inseparable.
Gallery III · 1960–1975
Broadway Grows Up
Follow Broadway as it embraced social change, political commentary, psychological realism, and increasingly ambitious storytelling.
Gallery IV · 1970–1991
Sondheim and the Expansion of the Musical
Examine how Stephen Sondheim transformed the possibilities of musical theatre through complexity, innovation, and emotional depth.
Gallery V · 1978–1995
The British Mega-Musical
Witness the rise of global productions that combined spectacular staging, technological innovation, and international commercial success.
Gallery VI · 1994–2006
Disney and the Broadway Renaissance
See how Broadway reached new generations through visually ambitious family productions while expanding the artistic possibilities of stagecraft.
Gallery VII · 1995–2010
New Voices, New Forms
Discover musicals that addressed contemporary social issues, experimented with new musical styles, and broadened whose stories were told.
Gallery VIII · 2011–2019
The New Broadway
Experience a decade when diverse creators, innovative storytelling, and digital culture reshaped the American musical.
Gallery IX · 2020–Present
Broadway Today
Instead of chronology alone, this gallery examines why certain new works and revivals became historically significant in the present.
Gallery X · Five themes
Broadway as Living History
Rather than focusing on individual productions, this gallery explores Broadway itself—as a record of American arguments about identity, power, and belonging.