Century of Broadway art

A new Manhattan exhibit is putting Broadway design on the wall, with a century of sketches, sculptures and paintings now on view through May 10. (broadwaynews.com) The show is called *Showstoppers: The Art of Stage and Screen*, and Helicline Fine Art said it is installed at its private Midtown gallery. Broadway News reported the exhibition opened by April 13, 2026. (broadwaynews.com) The collection spans work from the 1920s through the 1990s and includes more than three dozen pieces tied to theater, film, dance and opera. Playbill said the Broadway titles represented include *Cat on a Hot Tin Roof*, *My Fair Lady*, *Funny Girl*, *West Side Story*, *The King and I*, *South Pacific* and *Follies*. (playbill.com) Visitors can see original costume illustrations for *Dreamgirls*, *Sweet Charity* and *Bye Bye Birdie*, plus set designs for the 1955 Broadway production of *Cat on a Hot Tin Roof* and the 1987 revival of *Anything Goes*. The exhibit also includes caricatures by Al Hirschfeld and Sam Norkin and paintings inspired by Broadway theaters and opera houses. (broadwaynews.com) The artists in the show include Bob Mackie, Cecil Beaton, Jo Mielziner, Irene Sharaff, Tony Walton and Miles White. One highlighted object is Walton’s sculpture for the Scarecrow costume worn by Michael Jackson in the 1978 film *The Wiz*. (broadwaynews.com; playbill.com) The exhibit arrives as Broadway institutions keep building a market for theater artifacts beyond the stage door. The Museum of Broadway, which opened in 2022 at 145 West 45th Street, describes itself as an immersive museum dedicated to Broadway’s history, backstage process and major figures. (themuseumofbroadway.com; themuseumofbroadway.com) That wider push has also included designer-focused exhibitions. In 2025, the Museum of Broadway mounted *Stages of Imagination: The Iconic Broadway Designs of David Korins*, a special exhibition centered on scenic design and the collaborative process behind building a show. (broadwaynews.com; broadwaynews.com) Keith Sherman, Helicline’s founder and a theater publicist, said some of the artists in *Showstoppers* were “friends” and “clients” during his career in Times Square communications. He said gallery visits and private Zoom presentations are available by appointment. (broadwaynews.com) For theater fans, the result is a Broadway history lesson told through paper, paint and model-making instead of a cast album. For collectors, the window is short: the current run ends May 10. (broadwaynews.com; playbill.com)