From 1986 – 2003, the Broadway Theatre Institute developed programs that fostered the appreciation of theatre in New York and served more than 100,000 school children and adults in New York City. It merged with the Theatre Museum in 2003.
Activities
In 2007, the annual Awards for Excellence Ceremony honored actress Ellen Burstyn, The New York TimesChief Theater Critic Ben Brantley, actor, dancer and choreographer Carmen de Lavallade, and Arts Horizons, an institution that uses professional performers to foster creativity in students. The Theatre Museum has mounted exhibitions in New York throughout the year celebrating the history of the theatre, but none in a long time. Exhibitions included the architecture of the historic Times Square theatres, and the history of the Americanshowboat, which brought entertainment on adapted barges along rivers throughout the country. The showboat exhibition display in Red Hook, Brooklyn until May 2008 included panels displaying images of showboats, Playbills, programs, production photographs and written descriptions, artifacts, oral histories of those who lived on these entertainment barges, video clips, a painted scrim, and a calliope on performance days. The Theatre Museum has a photo collection of historic Broadway shows, which was donated by board member Basil Hero, president of Broadway Digital Entertainment, a pioneer in preserving Broadway’s greatest masterpieces.
Board
The founding members of The Theatre Museum in 2003 were Helen Marie Guditis, Tony Award winning producer Stewart F. Lane, Richard F. Bernstein, Esq, Linda B. Leff and William Rappaport. Ms. Guditis sat on Manhattan Community Board 5 and represented that board on the Times Square Alliance Board of Directors, which serves the Theater District in New York City. She has also served on the board of directors of the League of Professional Theatre Women and the New York Women’s Agenda. The Theatre Museum’s board of trustees included Stewart F. Lane, Helen Marie Guditis, George Thomas, William Walters, James Heinze and Basil Hero. Mr. Lane is a writer, director and producer whose credits include Fiddler on the Roof, Thoroughly Modern Millie and La Cage aux Folles, which won him his first Tony Award at the age of 33. Mr. Hero has been cited in The New York Times for his work with PBS to digitally preserve such masterpieces as the original Death of a Salesman with Lee J. Cobb and The Iceman Cometh with Jason Robards. William Walters is a VP of Theatrical Stage Workers Local One I.A.T.S.E.
Award recipients
2010
The Mint Theatre Company – Theatre History Preservation
Samuel French, Inc. – Theatre Arts Education
Richard M. Sherman and Robert B. Sherman – Career Achievement
2011
Frank Cullen – Theatre History Preservation
Frank Sinatra High School for the Arts – Theatre Arts Education
Sheldon Harnick – Career Achievement
Bonnie Comley – Distinguished Service to the Theatre
2012
Don B. Wilmeth – Theatre History Preservation
Stagedoor Manor – Theatre Arts Education
Fred Olsson – Career Achievement
Theatre Communications Group – Distinguished Service to the Theatre
2013
Emerson College – Theatre Arts Education
Helen M. Guditis – Distinguished Service to the Theatre
