Syncopated Stages Exhibition Gallery Tour

TheNew York Public Library for the Performing Artshouses one of the worlds most extensive combination of circulating, reference, and rare archival collections in its field. These materials are available free of charge, along with a wide range of special programs, including exhibitions, seminars, and performances. An essential resource for everyone with an interest in the arts — whether professional or amateur — the Library is known particularly for its prodigious collections of non-book materials such as historic recordings, videotapes, autograph manuscripts, correspondence, sheet music, stage designs, press clippings, programs, posters, and photographs.Please read ourPrivacy Policy.

New York Public Library for the Performing Arts

A free guided tour of our exhibition on Black musical theater history, Syncopated Stages: Black Disruptions to the Great White Way.

LPA Exhibition Tours

Staff led tours at the Library for the Performing Arts for our exhibitions around theatre, dance, music, and recorded sound.

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 ExhibitionAlthough 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.<a href="https://www.nypl.org/events/exhibitions/syncopated-stages-black-disruptions-great-white-way" title="https://www.nypl.org/events/exhibitions/syncopated-stages-black-disruptions-great-white-way" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">Read more about the exhibition</a>

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.

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