We had a great time on Monday night at the opening of "Writing to Character: Songwriters and the Tony Awards®," which is a free new exhibition at the NY Public Library for the Performing Arts at Lincoln Center in Manhattan.  Curated by Tony Award Productions' own John Johnson and Barbara Cohen-Stratyner from the Library, the exhibition is a fascinating collection of documents, manuscripts, photos, and other memorabilia that tell the story of how a show gets from an idea to opening night on Broadway.

It's a great show, and there are so many highlights it's hard to know where to begin.  One treat is a penciled version of what was labeled "Tevye Music" by Jerry Bock from Fiddler on the Roof.  There is also a draft of lyrics for "Cellblock Tango" written by Fred Ebb on the back of a dry cleaning bill from the hotel where he was staying when Chicago played its pre-Broadway tryout. 

And then there's the guitar—the actual instrument—on which Duncan Sheik plucked out the melody to "Mamma Who Bore Me," the opening number of Spring Awakening. 

Each show represented, from Kiss Me, Kate in 1949 to Spring Awakening last June, won a Tony as either Best Musical or Best Score.

At the opening we ran into composer/lyricist Mark Hollmann, who said how thrilled he was that his contribution, a draft of a segment from Urinetown The Musical, was in the same display case as works by his idols such as Rodgers & Hammerstein and Kander & Ebb.  And Lynn Ahrens was pleased to see, among other things, an opening night gift she had given the cast of Ragtime: a lyrical toast to the company set to the melody of "Buffalo Nickel Photoplay, Inc."

The exhibition also includes several public performances and lectures.  It runs through June 14, the day before the 2008 Tony Awards.  Admission is free.  Enjoy!

More info on the exhibition is at TonyAwards.com.