David Korins Broadway designs exhibit opens at Tucson museum

The Mini Time Machine Museum of Miniatures in Tucson opened a world premiere exhibition, “Stages of Imagination: The Iconic Broadway Designs of David Korins.”

Executive Director of The Mini Time Machine Museum of Miniatures Billy Russo joined “Arizona Horizon” to discuss more about the exhibition.

The new exhibit hosts miniature set designs created by David Korins, which were then used on stage on Broadway. Made primarily out of cardboard, set designers create small dioramas before show rehearsal. Then dioramas are presented to the production company that builds the full-size set.

“These models are the tools that develop the visual vocabulary and the production design. These are made in that process,” Russo said. “What the exhibit does is follow the process and the miniature’s role in that process.”

Korins is a visionary set designer on Broadway. He is most widely known for his creations of the smash-hit musical, “Hamilton.”

“He’s got a major presence in the creative design world,” Russo said.

Using intricate scale models, real-life recreations and interviews with Korins’ world-class collaborators, Korins brought Broadway scripts to life.

Highlights of the exhibit include intricate concept designs, miniature set pieces and full-scale scenic elements from the world of “Beetlejuice” and the ingenious sets of “Hamilton.” The exhibit also includes a display of Broadway fan art, comprised of fans’ renditions of Korin’s Broadway sets.

“I worked with David,” Russo said. “I came from the theater in New York. I worked off-Broadway with him 20 years ago, and when I got this job at the Mini Time Machine, I called him up.”

The exhibit opened on September 21 and will run through May 2025.