Letter From the Museum of Broadway

Betty Buckley replaced Bernadette Peters in "Song and Dance."

Carolee Carmello led "Kiss Me Kate" after the Marin Mazzie departure.

"Fiddler on the Roof" was, indirectly, a comment on American anxiety during the 1960s--a comment that avoided the words "birth control," "feminist," and "Vietnam."

When someone tried to market "Fun Home," an early plan was just to splash little Sydney Lucas's face all over billboards. Conversely, an executive behind "Gypsy" once thought it might be great *not* to feature Bernadette's profile on every ad.

Tony Richardson was the secretly bisexual spouse of Vanessa Redgrave; he died of AIDS.

When creatives approached Agnes de Mille with a draft of "Oklahoma," she said, "Where is the SEX?"

Obviously, I liked this museum, but parts are misconceived. It makes sense, I guess, to spotlight "Wicked" and "The Lion King"--but how about alcoves for "Falsettos," "Dreamgirls," "Big River," "Fun Home," "Caroline," "Urinetown," "Passing Strange"? How about a spotlight on a massive failure, such as the musical "Carrie"?

Also, the founders had the uninspired wish to march people through a long, long chronology--which means you basically start with the Ziegfeld Follies. But few people care about the Follies. And theater seasons tend to run classics alongside new shows, so a person's experience of Broadway involves a weird dialogue between "Showboat" and "Hamilton," "Tina" and "A Chorus Line." Why not try something like this in a museum? Why not stick the Lapine/Sondheim set right next to the little facsimile "calling cards" from "Hello, Dolly"?

Finally, the space could benefit from irreverence. Did Sondheim really have a sex dungeon? Which are the three biggest tantrums in Mandy Patinkin's professional history? What might we learn from colleagues of Beanie Feldstein, or Lea Michele? A little "Michael Riedel" would go a long way.

In any case, I had a great time, and I'll be back, I think.

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