"Curtain up!" on the Museum of Broadway

The lights of Broadway have always beckoned, but something's been missing. Julie Boardman, a co-producer on nine Broadway shows, said, "There's never been a permanent space that you could go to in Times Square to experience and learn about the history of Broadway." So she and her college pal, Diane Nicoletti, who works in brand marketing, are creating the Museum of Broadway. Nicoletti said, "We want it to be inspiring to guests. We want it to be fun, and we want to provide an education as well." Historian Ben West told correspondent Rita Braver, "The Broadway that we think of now essentially began in the late 1800s-early 1900s." West has created a Broadway timeline, with hundreds of images: Gene Kelly in "Pal Joey," Ethel Merman in "Gypsy," Ben Vereen in "Pippin." "Broadway is our history," said West. "Broadway is integral to American culture, to American life. And the history of Broadway is the history of a people. It's the history of a country." The exhibit includes the landmark musi