This exhibition showcases historic Broadway posters from collector Richard C. Norton, a comprehensive selection of musical theater posters 1972 to the present ranging from the famous to the obscure, from the celebrated to the damned. These posters offer insight into the evolution of American musical theater, graphic design, marketing, image branding and audience engagement. Far more than advertisements, they reflect the artistic, social and commercial contexts of their time—revealing how productions were first introduced, how stars were celebrated, and how visual trends paralleled theatrical innovation. As ephemeral objects, their preservation provides rare evidence of the material culture surrounding performance. By examining these posters through an academic lens, we can better understand Broadway’s influence on American theater, music and popular culture. The exhibition invites viewers to explore how theater has been represented and remembered, and how visual media contributes to the construction of cultural memory.
The exhibition will be accompanied by a lecture featuring Nicholas van Hoogstraten, author of Broadway Poster Art: 1945–1969 (Schiffer Publishing, 2024).

About the Richard C. Norton Musical Theater History Collection:
The Richard C. Norton Musical Theater History Collection consists of materials documenting musical theater including 25,000 playbills, 800 typescripts, and 1,500 published libretti, as well as sheet music and 78rpm records. Norton is the author of A Chronology of American Musical Theater (Oxford UP, 2002) a landmark work with details on thousands of Broadway productions. The collection was assembled to support the research for his book.