A new exhibit is celebrating the art of performance with designs, illustrations, sculptures and paintings used in and inspired by a century of Broadway productions. Helicline Fine Art’s “Showstoppers: The Art of Stage and Screen” is on display now through May 10, featuring art and design from live theater, film, dance, opera and other forms of popular entertainment at Helicline’s private Midtown gallery.
The Broadway productions represented in the exhibit span the 20th century, from the 1920s through the 1990s, including shows like “My Fair Lady,” “Funny Girl,” “The King and I,” “Bye Bye Birdie,” “Anything Goes,” “The Phantom of the Opera,” “South Pacific,” “The Pajama Game” and “Follies.” Art inspired by nightclub-turned-Broadway theater Studio 54 is also on display.
Visitors can see illustrations of the original costume designs for “Dreamgirls,” “Sweet Charity” and “Bye Bye Birdie,” set design for the first Broadway staging of “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof” and the 1987 revival of “Anything Goes,” along with caricatures by Al Hirschfeld and Sam Norkin and paintings inspired by Broadway theaters and opera houses across the globe.
Artists represented at the exhibit include Bob Mackie, Cecil Beaton, Jo Mielziner, Irene Sharaff, Tony Walton and Miles White.
“Although I founded Helicline Fine Art in 2008, my lifelong professional passion has been leading a Times Square communications firm,” said Helicline founder Keith Sherman, who is also a theater publicist. “From the start of my career, I’ve worked in theater, film, television, music, dance and major cultural events. Some of the artists in this exhibition were friends — and even clients. These works are profoundly personal to me, and I believe they will resonate deeply with anyone who loves entertainment and the arts.”
Viewings at the gallery’s Midtown Manhattan space and private zoom presentations are available by appointment.
