From 1954–1970, the studio of Friedman-Abeles photographed the majority of the plays and musicals on Broadway. Although their black and white images are familiar to fans and historians, the studio also photographed many shows in color, and the Library for the Performing Arts received them as color slides. The cost of reproducing these images in the pre-digital era meant that, aside from a few selections in record album liner notes or on magazine covers, these photographs have never been seen before. Over the last three years the Library has digitized all of the negatives for dozens of shows along with most of the color slides in the collection. These images are showcased in a unique way in this exhibition.
Rather than selecting a single shot from these shows, the Library for the Performing Arts has used the analog-printing technology of lenticular printing to simulate animations of several of the shots. These animations give a sense of the movement of the original production, and can reveal details that would be impossible to notice in a static image.
This exhibition showcases selections of some of the studio’s most iconic images from Broadway hits like the original productions of Camelot, West Side Story, and Bye Bye Birdie.
