Syncopated Stages Exhibition Gallery Tour

Join us at the Library for the Performing Arts for a free, guided tour of our new exhibition on Black musical theater history, Syncopated Stages: Black Disruptions to the Great White Way! This staff-led tour highlights the contributions of Black artists, shows, and theaters in the musical theater field, from pioneering artists of the 19th century to the great culture shapers and innovators of today.

Photo Credit: NYPL/Jonathan Blanc

About The Exhibition

Although the common nickname for Broadway, “the Great White Way,” refers, historically, to its dazzling lights, the phrase also suggests the ways in which many histories of New York theater center white artists. Black artists, though, have been important shapers of musical theater in the United States before the electric light was ever used on stage. In the early 20th century, Black composers and writers created many popular musicals in New York that helped define the genre, setting it apart from 19th-century traditions. New forms of syncopation, the disruption of the dominant rhythm, and narratives composed and written by Black artists challenged the prevailing sounds and depictions of Black people on stage. These innovations were more than stylistic. They pushed back against exclusion and stereotype, laying the groundwork for generations of Black artists whose contributions have reshaped Broadway. Syncopated Stages spotlights their work, acknowledges the challenges they faced, and celebrates the brilliance of what they made. We invite you to explore how Black artists transformed the New York stage and how their work still reverberates today.

Read more about the exhibition

ASSISTIVE LISTENING AND ASL | ASL interpretation and real-time (CART) captioning available upon request. Please submit your request at least two weeks in advance by emailing accessibility@nypl.org.

AUDIO/VIDEO RECORDING | Programs may be photographed and recorded by and at the discretion of the Library for the Performing Arts and will post signs indicating as such. If you would prefer your image not be captured, please let us know and we can seat you accordingly. Attending any program indicates your consent to being filmed/photographed and your consent to the use of your recorded image for any and all purposes of the New York Public Library.

PRESS | Please send all press inquiries to Alex Teplitzky at alexteplitzky@nypl.org. Please note that all recording, including professional video recordings, are prohibited without expressed consent from the Library.