Behind the Curtain: A Virtual Tour of the Beginnings of Broadway

Behind the Curtain is a unique look at New York City’s earliest theaters—the birth of Broadway—through images of its locations, its builders and managers, and the actors who made history on its stages. Join downtown theater-maker Ralph Lewis of Peculiar Works Project for a virtual tour up Broadway and the Bowery from Lower Manhattan to Astor Place. Inspired by a rare 1851 book, Before and Behind the Curtain by William Knight Northall, Lewis shares the writer’s passion for the struggles and the growth of theater in New York City, from a single venue to an entire Theater District. See the sites today where the first theaters once stood, why they succeeded, and what became of them, with over-the-top anecdotes from the book and over 100 images. For anyone interested in American popular theater and its NYC history, this is the down-n-dirty story of how the Great White Way was born!

 

All proceeds from this event will go to support the charitable programs of EAG and NYC's performing artists in need.

Running time: 60 minutes