Five years after Broadway’s historic shutdown, acclaimed photographer Mark S. Kornbluth is unveiling never-before-seen images from his celebrated series DARK.
His upcoming solo exhibition, ENCORE, opened April 17 at Cavalier Galleries, revisits the silent yet powerful portraits of Broadway theaters taken during the pandemic—but this time, with newly released works that have never been exhibited or published before.
Kornbluth’s large-format photographs transform empty theaters into striking symbols of resilience, capturing a rare moment when Broadway went dark. Iconic venues like the Majestic, Shubert, and New Amsterdam Theatres stand as quiet sentinels, while marquees—such as Hamilton’s Richard Rodgers Theatre declaring “History is Happening in Manhattan”—serve as poetic reminders of an extraordinary era.
With these newly revealed images, ENCORE offers an exclusive, immersive experience that pays tribute to the indomitable spirit of Broadway.
The exhibition opens Thursday, April 17, with an artist reception from 5–7 p.m., and runs through Saturday, May 17, 2025, at Cavalier Gallery, 3 W 57th Street, 4th floor. View the photographs online at cavaliergalleries.com.
DARK comprises large-format photographs of Broadway theaters that quickly became symbols of the resilience of New York City, and a poetic tribute to the power of the arts for healing and human connection. While the buildings themselves awaited the return of actors and audiences, Kornbluth saw the opportunity to shift the spotlight to these sentinels of Times Square, many of them architectural marvels who play understudy to the incredible talents they house. Trained as a professional actor, with close friends affected by the unprecedented interruption of live performances, Kornbluth began the series as his own artistic homage to the age-old mantra “the show must go on.”
ENCORE is a reprise of Kornbluth’s 2023 solo exhibition that features beloved photographs from the original collection as well as several new releases on view for the first time. Collector favorites like Richard Rodgers, in which the Hamilton marquee poignantly declares “History is Happening in Manhattan,” are on view alongside The Phantom of the Opera at the Majestic Theatre, nearing the end of its record-setting run. Kornbluth took his photographs at night, with streetlights serving as stagecraft, and theater signage as dialogue. There are no passersby in the images, but each artwork nevertheless comes alive with its own sort of humanity. Kornbluth succeeds in capturing the presence of absence, and in doing so, reflects a shared and profound experience.
Theaters depicted in ENCORE include Ambassador, Barrymore, Belasco, Booth, Kerr, Lyceum, Lunt-Fontanne, Music Box, New Amsterdam, Radio City Music Hall, Shubert, and more. Broadway productions include legendary shows such as Chicago, Moulin Rouge, The Music Man, and West Side Story. The large-format photographs, printed as dye sublimations on aluminum, are immersive and luminous testaments to the grandeur and indomitable spirit of New York. This is an encore performance not to be missed.