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| Treasury of Broadway | |
|---|---|
| Title | Treasury of Broadway |
| Type | anthology series |
| Genre | Musical theatre compilation |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Released | 20th century |
| Label | Various |
| Producer | Multiple producers |
Treasury of Broadway is a curated anthology and brand compiling landmark selections from American musical theatre, encompassing cast recordings, studio recreations, and concert presentations drawn from Broadway, Off-Broadway, and touring productions. The project aggregates works associated with major composers, lyricists, librettists, producers, and performers connected to venues such as Majestic Theatre (New York City), Winter Garden Theatre, and Richard Rodgers Theatre. It functions as both a commercial recording series and a repertory concept linking titles from the eras of Jerome Kern, George Gershwin, Cole Porter, Rodgers and Hammerstein, Stephen Sondheim, and later figures.
The anthology is presented across albums, radio broadcasts, and televised specials, bringing together repertory from musicals like Show Boat, Porgy and Bess, Anything Goes, Oklahoma!, The King and I, West Side Story, My Fair Lady, Fiddler on the Roof, Company, Sweeney Todd, Rent, and Hamilton (musical). Recordings feature performers drawn from companies of New York Philharmonic, Metropolitan Opera, New York City Ballet and commercial labels including RCA Victor, Columbia Records, and Decca Records. The compilation intersects with institutions such as the American Theatre Wing, The Shubert Organization, Nederlander Organization, Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall, and archives like the Library of Congress.
Origins trace to mid-20th-century retrospectives mounted by impresarios and producers like David Merrick, Richard Rodgers, Oscar Hammerstein II, and record executives collaborating with conductors such as Leopold Stokowski and Moses Haskell. Early iterations were influenced by historical projects involving Frank Loesser and curatorial endeavors parallel to the revival movements led by Jerome Robbins, Hal Prince, Guthrie Theater, and archives at New York Public Library for the Performing Arts. Expansion continued through partnerships with broadcasters including NBC, CBS, and PBS and through commercial reissues by Sony Music Entertainment and Warner Music Group. Scholarly curation drew on research from figures like Arthur Laurents, Lynn Ahrens, Stephen Sondheim (as subject), Ian McKellen (stage historian), and institutions such as Yale School of Drama and Juilliard School.
The series assembles principal songs, overtures, incidental music, and dialogue excerpts from landmark musicals by composers and lyricists including Irving Berlin, Harold Arlen, Kurt Weill, Alan Jay Lerner, Kander and Ebb, Andrew Lloyd Webber, Jason Robert Brown, and Lin-Manuel Miranda. Editions include career-spanning anthologies for stars like Ethel Merman, Judy Garland, Alfred Drake, Rita Moreno, Angela Lansbury, Bernadette Peters, Hugh Jackman, and Idina Menzel. Companion booklets offer essays by critics and historians such as Ken Bloom, Ethan Mordden, Bernard Levin, and Thomas Hischak, and provide production photographs from archives of The New York Times, Playbill, Vogue (magazine), and the Museum of the City of New York.
Recording sessions span studio ensembles, full original cast sessions, and concert stagings with orchestras like the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Philadelphia Orchestra, and Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Notable live presentations were staged at Radio City Music Hall, Avery Fisher Hall, Beacon Theatre, and festival venues such as Spoleto Festival USA and Edinburgh Festival Fringe. Productions have involved conductors and arrangers including Don Walker, Johnny Green, Gavin Greenaway, and Michael John LaChiusa, and engineers from Abbey Road Studios and AIR Studios. Releases have appeared in formats from vinyl LP to compact disc and digital streaming on platforms associated with Apple Music, Spotify, and TIDAL.
Producers, music directors, and impresarios associated with the project include George Abbott, Tommy Krasker, Cameron Mackintosh, Terrence McNally, Susan Stroman, and Olivier Awards-winning teams. Choreographers and directors involved in staged anthology performances include Bob Fosse, Susan Stroman, Michael Bennett, Julie Taymor, and Trevor Nunn. The series also engaged licensing bodies like Theatrical Rights Worldwide and The Rodgers & Hammerstein Organization for rights clearance, and partnered with foundations such as the Kennedy Center and National Endowment for the Arts for grant-supported presentations.
Critics from publications including The New York Times, The Guardian, Variety (magazine), The Washington Post, and Los Angeles Times reviewed releases and concerts, praising archival fidelity and casting while sometimes noting curatorial choices. Musicologists from Oxford University Press and journals like The Musical Quarterly analyzed historical authenticity, orchestration, and performance practice. The project influenced revival programming at venues like Goodman Theatre, Almeida Theatre, and Royal National Theatre, and shaped educational curricula at New York University and Royal Conservatoire of Scotland.
The anthology helped catalyze interest in revival-style productions, informed casting trends that elevated crossover artists from Broadway to Hollywood and West End, and contributed to preservation initiatives at the Library of Congress and Smithsonian Institution. It influenced new staging approaches seen in revivals of Carousel, Chicago (musical), A Chorus Line, Rent, and fostered scholarship that underpins programs at Columbia University and Princeton University. Awards and honors related to the series include retrospectives noted by the Tony Award, Grammy Award, and museum exhibitions at the New-York Historical Society.
Category:Musical theatre anthologies