New York Public Library for the Performing Arts Partners with Society of London Theatre & Victoria and Albert Museum for CURTAIN UP Exhibit!

Today (Friday, February 13, 2015), at The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts in Lincoln Center, the Mayor of London Boris Johnson announced an exciting collaboration between the Society of London Theatre (SOLT), London's Victoria and Albert Museum and The Library for the Performing Arts, celebrating the creative talent on both sides of the Atlantic and marking the unique cultural arc shared by these two great cities.

In 2016 and 2017, a new exhibition will be staged in both London and New York celebrating 40 years of theater in these two great capitals of culture. The exhibition will highlight how this important, multi-million dollar sector has developed and flourished, underpinning the relationship between the two cities. Using the 40th anniversary of The Olivier Awards with MasterCard (presented annually at the Royal Opera House in London across the performing arts) as its inspiration, the exhibition will showcase past winners in numerous fields across performance and design.

The exhibition, with the provisional title Curtain Up!, will be designed by Tom Piper MBE, with RFK Architects. Piper is Associate Designer for the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) and was awarded his MBE in the 2015 New Year's Honours' list for the art installation Blood Swept Land And Seas of Red, which saw 888,246 ceramic poppies flood the moat at the Tower of London to mark the centenary of World War I.

Curtain Up! will be exhibited at the Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A) in London from February 2016, travelling to The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts in Fall 2016. It will be curated by the V&A's Department of Theatre and Performance, with support from The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts.

The transfer to New York is being organized by the Society of London Theatre. Additional artifacts and material will be on display from theatre collections and trusts across the UK and USA.

Dame Helen Mirren DBE said: "Having been fortunate to work on both West End and Broadway stages, I am delighted that the exhibition, Curtain Up!, marking 40 years since the Olivier awards were inaugurated, honours the shared artistic heritage which binds London and New York and showcases the alchemy of creative talent necessary to bring great productions to the stage on both sides of the Atlantic."

The Mayor of London Boris Johnson, who is in New York as part of a three city visit to promote London and strengthen cultural and business links with the States, said:

"Theatre is an essential part of the fantastic mix of culture and creativity that make London and New York such exciting and dynamic places to live, work and visit. This exciting new exhibition will celebrate the unique creative relationship that has blossomed between our great cities, with talented people on the stage and behind the scenes moving back and forth across the Atlantic to bring pleasure and insight to theatregoers in their millions."

Accompanying the exhibition in both London and New York will be a multi-strand education program, including elements to encourage young people with an interest in the performing arts. Participants in these activities will be given the opportunity to learn about the experiences of some of the world's leading theater experts.

The last few years have seen a host of productions beginning on one side of the Atlantic and transferring to the other. Acclaimed British productions travelling to Broadway include The Audience, with Olivier Award winner Dame Helen Mirren, Constellations, Skylight and Wolf Hall/Bring Up The Bodies. Multi Olivier Award-winning Producer Sonia Friedman has enjoyed huge success with London and Broadway transfers of plays such as Jerusalem, Twelfth Night and Richard III.

Productions which began on Broadway and are currently in the West End include The Book Of Mormon, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, Jersey Boys, Disney's The Lion King, Once, The Scottsboro Boys, Women On The Verge Of A Nervous Breakdown and Wicked. It was recently announced that the Academy Award nominated actor Bradley Cooper will be appearing on the London stage in the acclaimed Broadway production of The Elephant Man.