Let me clarify a few things. There was a Theatre Museum in the N-S passageway of the building at 1515 Broadway, formerly known as the Minskoff building after the builder and sometimes Broadway producer, Jerry Minskoff. It had many costumes on display and was quite beautiful but did not garner much public attention. This was at a time when Broadway was sort of on the skids selling about 8 million tickets a year or less (now 13 million). With Jerry out of the picture, and some funding from various sources like the American Theatre Wing (think Tony Awards) and the League of American Theatres (now Broadway League), it disappeared and the space on the ground floor of 1515 Bway is no longer visible to the public. The site was on the west side of the passageway – the east side has the entrance to the Minskoff Theatre where The Lion King is presently playing.
As for the Hall of Fame at the Gershwin, it is not a museum but a place, through pictures and plaques, to honor those famous in the theatre and, to a large part, known mostly to the theatre community. Last I looked, that installation was on the second floor of the Gershwin theatre where Wicked has been ensconced since Oz.
Lastly, the Museum of the City of New York, one of my current clients, has an amazing Theatre Collection – including many set models – that is in storage now as the Museum has spent over $100 million over the past ten years upgrading the facility and moving in a more social/political direction. It's amazing new installation opens to the public on November 16, New York at Its Core, three galleries (likely to become permanent) on the first floor. I recently talked with Sarah Henry, the chief curator, who indicated that some of the theatre collection would indeed resurface in the near future.
Having given you all this background, yours is truly lovely idea. Museums are a huge draw in NY as is Broadway. The timing couldn't be better. But funding is always the issue. You need really deep pockets to get this off the ground. And space in Times Square is at a premium.
I was the director of research for the Broadway League for 20 years and now run Audience Research & Analysis, so can you see, I am very to the industry and its people. I might also mentioned that John Vollmer is curator par-excellence; we worked briefly on a Theatre Museum in Toronto, that, as you might surmise, didn't come to fruition because of lack of funding. (Yes, Toronto has and is major theatre city in North America, with some of the finest new and restored theatres.)
Finally, Broadway is not a non-profit industry. That's why we call it the commercial theatre. So I would set my sites more on commercial backers, perhaps with from government or institutional seed money. When MoMA expanded in 2004, we conducted an economic impact study which resulted in then Mayor Giuliani awarding the museum $65 million (10% of budget) from the City's capital budget. That initial contribution served as an imprimatur helping the museum go on to raise the balance of the $650 needed for the project privately.
Glad to continue the conversation.
Best,
George Wachtel
www.audienceresearch.com george@audineceresearch.com