The Women Who Created Broadway

Doug Reside, Curator of the Billy Rose Theatre Division at New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, will discuss the women whose innovations and entrepreneurship shaped New York City theatre as we know it today. Using artifacts selected from the archives of Rachel Crothers, Theresa Helburn, Cheryl Crawford, and Ruth Mitchell, Reside will show that many 20th century histories of Broadway which often celebrate the “great men” of the industry obscure the work of some of the most influential people who shaped the American theatre repertory and helped to define theatre as we understand it today.