fbpx
Wikipedia

Broadway theatre

January 01, 1970

This article is about the type of theatre. For the individual theatre, see Broadway Theatre (53rd Street). For other uses, see Broadway Theatre.

Broadway theatre,[nb 1] or Broadway, is a theatre genre that consists of the theatrical performances presented in 41 professional theaters, each with 500 or more seats, in the Theater District and Lincoln Center along Broadway, in Midtown Manhattan, New York City.[1][2] Broadway and London's West End together represent the highest commercial level of live theater in the English-speaking world.[3]

From right to left: John Golden Theatre, Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre, Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre, and Booth Theatre on West 45th Street in Manhattan's Theater District

While the Broadway thoroughfare is eponymous with the district, it is closely identified with Times Square. Only three theaters are located on Broadway itself: Broadway Theatre, Palace Theatre, and Winter Garden Theatre. The rest are located on the numbered cross streets, extending from the Nederlander Theatre one block south of Times Square on West 41st Street, north along either side of Broadway to 53rd Street, and Vivian Beaumont Theater, at Lincoln Center on West 65th Street. While exceptions exist, the term "Broadway theatre" is used predominantly to describe venues with seating capacities of at least 500 people. Smaller theaters in New York City are referred to as off-Broadway, regardless of location, while very small venues with fewer than 100 seats are called off-off-Broadway, a term that can also apply to non-commercial, avant-garde, or productions held outside of traditional theater venues.[4]

The Theater District is an internationally prominent tourist attraction in New York City. According to The Broadway League, for the 2018–19 season total attendance was 14,768,254. Broadway shows had $1,829,312,140 in grosses, with attendance up 9.5%, grosses up 10.3%, and playing weeks up 9.3%.[5] The Museum of Broadway on West 45th Street, opened to the public in November 2022, became the first museum to document the history and experience of Broadway theatre and its profound influence upon shaping Midtown Manhattan and Times Square.

Most Broadway shows are musicals. Historian Martin Shefter argues that "Broadway musicals, culminating in the productions of Rodgers and Hammerstein, became enormously influential forms of American popular culture" and contributed to making New York City the cultural capital of the world.[6]

History edit

Early theatre in New York edit

 
The interior of Park Theatre, built in 1798

New York City's first significant theatre was established in the mid-18th century, around 1750, when actor-managers Walter Murray and Thomas Kean established a resident theatre company at the Theatre on Nassau Street in Lower Manhattan, which held about 280 people. They presented Shakespeare plays and ballad operas such as The Beggar's Opera.[7] In 1752, William Hallam sent a company of twelve actors from Britain to the colonies with his brother Lewis as their manager. They established a theatre in Williamsburg, Virginia, and opened with The Merchant of Venice and The Anatomist. The company moved to New York in 1753, performing ballad operas and ballad-farces like Damon and Phillida.

During the Revolutionary War, theatre was suspended in New York City. But after the war's end, theatre resumed in 1798, when the 2,000-seat Park Theatre was built on Chatham Street on present-day Park Row.[7] A second major theatre, Bowery Theatre, opened in 1826,[8] followed by others.

By the 1840s, P.T. Barnum was operating an entertainment complex in Lower Manhattan. In 1829, at Broadway and Prince Street, Niblo's Garden opened and soon became one of New York's premier nightspots. The 3,000-seat theatre presented all sorts of musical and non-musical entertainments. In 1844, Palmo's Opera House opened and presented opera for only four seasons before bankruptcy led to its rebranding as a venue for plays under the name Burton's Theatre. The Astor Opera House opened in 1847. A riot broke out in 1849 when the lower-class patrons of the Bowery Theatre objected to what they perceived as snobbery by the upper-class audiences at Astor Place: "After the Astor Place Riot of 1849, entertainment in New York City was divided along class lines: opera was chiefly for the upper-middle and upper classes, minstrel shows and melodramas for the middle-class, variety shows in concert saloons for men of the working class and the slumming middle-class."[9]

The plays of William Shakespeare were frequently performed on the Broadway stage during the period, most notably by American actor Edwin Booth who was internationally known for his performance as Hamlet. Booth played the role for a famous 100 consecutive performances at the Winter Garden Theatre in 1865 (with the run ending just a few months before Booth's brother John Wilkes Booth assassinated Abraham Lincoln), and would later revive the role at his own Booth's Theatre (which was managed for a time by his brother Junius Brutus Booth, Jr.). Other renowned Shakespeareans who appeared in New York in this era were Henry Irving, Tommaso Salvini, Fanny Davenport, and Charles Fechter.

Birth of the musical and post-Civil War edit

Theatre in New York moved from Downtown gradually to Midtown Manhattan, beginning around 1850, seeking less expensive real estate. At the beginning of the nineteenth century, the area that now comprises the Theater District was owned by a handful of families and comprised a few farms. In 1836, Mayor Cornelius Lawrence opened 42nd Street and invited Manhattanites to "enjoy the pure clean air."[10] Close to 60 years later, theatrical entrepreneur Oscar Hammerstein I built the iconic Victoria Theater on West 42nd Street.[10]

Broadway's first "long-run" musical was a 50-performance hit called The Elves in 1857. In 1870, the heart of Broadway was in Union Square, and by the end of the century, many theatres were near Madison Square. Theatres arrived in the Times Square area in the early 1900s, and the Broadway theatres consolidated there after a large number were built around the square in the 1920s and 1930s. New York runs continued to lag far behind those in London,[11] but Laura Keene's "musical burletta" The Seven Sisters (1860) shattered previous New York records with a run of 253 performances. It was at a performance by Keene's troupe of Our American Cousin in Washington, D.C. that Abraham Lincoln was shot.

 
The Black Crook (1866), considered by some historians to be the first musical.[12] Poster for the 1873 revival by The Kiralfy Brothers.

The first theatre piece that conforms to the modern conception of a musical, adding dance and original music that helped to tell the story, is considered to be The Black Crook, which premiered in New York on September 12, 1866. The production was five-and-a-half hours long, but despite its length, it ran for a record-breaking 474 performances. The same year, The Black Domino/Between You, Me and the Post was the first show to call itself a "musical comedy".[12]

Tony Pastor opened the first vaudeville theatre one block east of Union Square in 1881, where Lillian Russell performed. Comedians Edward Harrigan and Tony Hart produced and starred in musicals on Broadway between 1878 (The Mulligan Guard Picnic) and 1890, with book and lyrics by Harrigan and music by his father-in-law David Braham. These musical comedies featured characters and situations taken from the everyday life of New York's lower classes and represented a significant step forward from vaudeville and burlesque, towards a more literate form. They starred high-quality professional singers (Lillian Russell, Vivienne Segal, and Fay Templeton), instead of the amateurs, often sex workers, who had starred in earlier musical forms.

As transportation improved, poverty in New York diminished, and street lighting made for safer travel at night, the number of potential patrons for the growing number of theatres increased enormously. Plays could run longer and still draw in the audiences, leading to better profits and improved production values. As in England, during the latter half of the century, the theatre began to be cleaned up, with less prostitution hindering the attendance of the theatre by women. Gilbert and Sullivan's family-friendly comic opera hits, beginning with H.M.S. Pinafore in 1878, were imported to New York (by the authors and also in numerous unlicensed productions). They were imitated in New York by American productions such as Reginald Dekoven's Robin Hood (1891) and John Philip Sousa's El Capitan (1896), along with operas, ballets, and other British and European hits.

 
Sheet music to "Give My Regards to Broadway"

Charles H. Hoyt's A Trip to Chinatown (1891) became Broadway's long-run champion when it surpassed Adonis and its 603 total performances in 1893, holding the stage for 657 performances. Chinatown itself was surpassed by the musical Irene (1919) in 1921 as the longest-running Broadway musical, and even earlier, in March 1920, by Lightnin' (1918) as the longest-running Broadway show. In 1896, theatre owners Marc Klaw and A. L. Erlanger formed the Theatrical Syndicate, which controlled almost every legitimate theatre in the U.S. for the next sixteen years.[13] However, smaller vaudeville and variety houses proliferated, and Off-Broadway was well established by the end of the nineteenth century.

A Trip to Coontown (1898) was the first musical comedy entirely produced and performed by African Americans in a Broadway theatre (inspired largely by the routines of the minstrel shows), followed by the ragtime-tinged Clorindy: The Origin of the Cakewalk (1898), and the highly successful In Dahomey (1902). Hundreds of musical comedies were staged on Broadway in the 1890s and early 1900s made up of songs written in New York's Tin Pan Alley involving composers such as Gus Edwards, John Walter Bratton, and George M. Cohan (Little Johnny Jones (1904), 45 Minutes From Broadway (1906), and George Washington Jr. (1906)). Still, New York runs continued to be relatively short, with a few exceptions, compared with London runs, until World War I.[11] A few very successful British musicals continued to achieve great success in New York, including Florodora in 1900–01.

Early 20th century edit

 
Victor Herbert

In the early years of the twentieth century, translations of popular late-nineteenth century continental operettas were joined by the "Princess Theatre" shows of the 1910s, by writers such as P. G. Wodehouse, Guy Bolton, and Harry B. Smith. Victor Herbert, whose work included some intimate musical plays with modern settings as well as his string of famous operettas (The Fortune Teller (1898), Babes in Toyland (1903), Mlle. Modiste (1905), The Red Mill (1906), and Naughty Marietta (1910)).[14]

Beginning with The Red Mill, Broadway shows installed electric signs outside the theatres. Since colored bulbs burned out too quickly, white lights were used, and Broadway was nicknamed "The Great White Way". In August 1919, the Actors' Equity Association demanded a standard contract for all professional productions. After a strike shut down all the theatres, the producers were forced to agree. By the 1920s, the Shubert Brothers had risen to take over the majority of the theatres from the Erlanger syndicate.[15]

During this time, the play Lightnin' by Winchell Smith and Frank Bacon became the first Broadway show to reach 700 performances. From then, it would go on to become the first show to reach 1,000 performances. Lightnin' was the longest-running Broadway show until being overtaken in performance totals by Abie's Irish Rose in 1925.

Competing with motion pictures edit

 
Broadway north from 38th St., New York City, showing the Casino and Knickerbocker Theatres ("Listen, Lester", visible at lower right, played the Knickerbocker from December 23, 1918, to August 16, 1919), a sign pointing to Maxine Elliott's Theatre, which is out of view on 39th Street, and a sign advertising the Winter Garden Theatre, which is out of view at 50th Street. All but the Winter Garden are demolished. The old Metropolitan Opera House and the old Times Tower are visible on the left.

The motion picture mounted a challenge to the stage. At first, films were silent and presented only limited competition. By the end of the 1920s, films like The Jazz Singer were presented with synchronized sound, and critics wondered if cinema would replace live theatre altogether. While live vaudeville could not compete with these inexpensive films that featured vaudeville stars and major comedians of the day, other theatres survived. The musicals of the Roaring Twenties, borrowing from vaudeville, music hall, and other light entertainment, tended to ignore plot in favor of emphasizing star actors and actresses, big dance routines, and popular songs.

Florenz Ziegfeld produced annual spectacular song-and-dance revues on Broadway featuring extravagant sets and elaborate costumes, but there was little to tie the various numbers together. Typical of the 1920s were lighthearted productions such as Sally; Lady Be Good; Sunny; No, No, Nanette; Harlem; Oh, Kay!; and Funny Face. Their books may have been forgettable, but they produced enduring standards from George Gershwin, Cole Porter, Jerome Kern, Vincent Youmans, and Rodgers and Hart, among others, and Noël Coward, Sigmund Romberg, and Rudolf Friml continued in the vein of Victor Herbert. Live theatre has survived the invention of cinema.

Between the wars edit

Leaving these comparatively frivolous entertainments behind and taking the drama a step forward, Show Boat premiered on December 27, 1927, at the Ziegfeld Theatre. It represented a complete integration of book and score, with dramatic themes, as told through the music, dialogue, setting, and movement, woven together more seamlessly than in previous musicals. It ran for 572 performances.[16]

 Ina ClairePaul McCulloughBobby ClarkGeorge M. CohanAnn PenningtonHassard ShortRichard BennettMarilyn MillerW. C. FieldsMadge KennedyFanny BriceRaymond HitchcockBillie BurkeFlorenz Ziegfeld Jr.Groucho MarxHarpo MarxLenore UlricEd WynnEddie CantorAl JolsonRalph Barton
This February 21, 1925 Judge magazine cover by Ralph Barton features caricatures of various movie and theater personalities from the 1920s; click on a caricature to be taken to the corresponding person's Wikipedia article.

The 1920s also spawned a new age of American playwright with the emergence of Eugene O'Neill, whose plays Beyond the Horizon, Anna Christie, The Hairy Ape, Strange Interlude, and Mourning Becomes Electra proved that there was an audience for serious drama on Broadway, and O'Neill's success paved the way for major dramatists like Elmer Rice, Maxwell Anderson, Robert E. Sherwood, Clifford Odets, Tennessee Williams, and Arthur Miller, as well as writers of comedy like George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart. Classical revivals also proved popular with Broadway theatre-goers, notably John Barrymore in Hamlet and Richard III, John Gielgud in Hamlet, The Importance of Being Earnest and Much Ado About Nothing, Walter Hampden and José Ferrer in Cyrano de Bergerac, Paul Robeson and Ferrer in Othello, Maurice Evans in Richard II and the plays of George Bernard Shaw, and Katharine Cornell in such plays as Romeo and Juliet, Antony and Cleopatra, and Candida.

As World War II approached, a dozen Broadway dramas addressed the rise of Nazism in Europe and the issue of American non-intervention. The most successful was Lillian Hellman's Watch on the Rhine, which opened in April 1941.[17]

Postwar era edit

After the lean years of the Great Depression, Broadway theatre had entered a golden age with the blockbuster hit Oklahoma!, in 1943, which ran for 2,212 performances. According to John Kenrick's writings on Broadway musicals, "Every season saw new stage musicals send songs to the top of the charts. Public demand, a booming economy and abundant creative talent kept Broadway hopping. To this day, the shows of the 1950s form the core of the musical theatre repertory."[18]

Decline in late 1960s edit

Kenrick notes that "the late 1960s marked a time of cultural upheaval. All those changes would prove painful for many, including those behind the scenes, as well as those in the audience."[19] Of the 1970s, Kenrick writes: "Just when it seemed that traditional book musicals were back in style, the decade ended with critics and audiences giving mixed signals."[20]

Ken Bloom observed that "The 1960s and 1970s saw a worsening of the area [Times Square] and a drop in the number of legitimate shows produced on Broadway."[21] By way of comparison, in the 1950 to 1951 season (May to May) 94 productions opened on Broadway; in the 1969 to 1970 season (June to May) there were 59 productions (fifteen were revivals).[22][23] In the twenties, there were 70–80 theaters, but by 1969, there were 36 left.[24]

Resurgence in early 1980s edit

In early 1982, Joe Papp, the theatrical producer and director who established The Public Theater, led the "Save the Theatres" campaign.[25] It was a not-for-profit group supported by the Actors Equity union to save the theater buildings in the neighborhood from demolition by monied Manhattan development interests.[26][27][28][29] Papp provided resources, recruited a publicist and celebrated actors, and provided audio, lighting, and technical crews for the effort.[27]

At Papp's behest, in July 1982, a bill was introduced in the 97th Congress, entitled "H.R.6885, A bill to designate the Broadway/Times Square Theatre District in the City of New York as a national historic site".[30] The legislation would have provided certain U.S. government resources and assistance to help the city preserve the district.[30] Faced with strong opposition and lobbying by Mayor Ed Koch's Administration and corporate Manhattan development interests, the bill was not passed. The Save the Theatres campaign then turned their efforts to supporting the establishment of the Theater District as a registered historic district.[31][32] In December 1983, Save the Theatres prepared "The Broadway Theater District, a Preservation Development and Management Plan", and demanded that each theater in the district receive landmark designation.[32] Mayor Ed Koch ultimately reacted by creating a Theater Advisory Council, which included Papp.[27]

COVID-19 impact edit

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic in New York City, Broadway theaters closed on March 12, 2020, shuttering 16 shows that were playing or were in the process of opening. The Broadway League shutdown was extended first to April, then to May, then June, then September 2020 and January 2021,[33] and later to June 1, 2021.[34] Then-governor Andrew Cuomo announced that most sectors of New York would have their restrictions lifted on May 19, 2021, but he stated that Broadway theatres would not be able to immediately resume performances on this date due to logistical reasons. In May 2021, Cuomo announced that Broadway theaters would be allowed to reopen on September 14, and the League confirmed that performances would begin to resume in the fall season.[35]

Springsteen on Broadway became the first full-length show to resume performances, opening on June 26, 2021, to 1,721 vaccinated patrons at the St. James Theatre.[36] Pass Over then had its first preview on August 4, and opened on August 22, 2021, becoming the first new play to open.[37][38] Hadestown and Waitress were the first musicals to resume performances on September 2, 2021.[39] The 74th Tony Awards were also postponed; the Tony nominations were announced on October 15, 2020,[40] and took place on September 26, 2021.[41] On July 30, 2021, it was announced that all Broadway theaters required attendees to provide proof of full COVID-19 vaccination. The rule applied to guests ages 12+. Those under age 12 were required to provide a negative COVID-19 test (PCR within 72 hours or antigen within six hours of the performance start time). Beginning November 8, those ages 5–11 also had the option to provide proof of at least one vaccination shot. Effective December 14, in accordance with NYC's vaccination mandate, guests ages 5–11 were required to have at least one vaccination shot until January 29, 2022, where they had to be fully vaccinated.[42] The vaccine mandate lasted until April 30,[43][44] and attendees were also required to wear face masks until July 1.[45]

During the COVID-19 shutdown, the Shubert Organization, the Nederlander Organization, and Jujamcyn had pledged to increase racial and cultural diversity in their theaters, including naming at least one theater for a Black theatrical personality.[46] The August Wilson Theatre, owned by Jujamcyn, had been renamed after Black playwright August Wilson in 2005.[47] The Shuberts announced in March 2022 that the Cort Theatre, which was under renovation at the time, would be renamed after actor James Earl Jones.[48][49] In June 2022, the Nederlanders announced that the Brooks Atkinson Theatre would be renamed after Lena Horne,[50][51][47] The James Earl Jones Theatre was rededicated in September 2022,[52] while the Lena Horne Theatre was rededicated that November.[53]

Description edit

Schedule edit

Although there are some exceptions, shows with open-ended runs generally have evening performances Tuesday through Saturday, with a 7:00 p.m. or 8:00 p.m. "curtain". The afternoon "matinée" performances are at 2:00 p.m. on Wednesdays and Saturdays and at 3:00 p.m. on Sundays. This makes for an eight-performance week. On this schedule, most shows do not play on Monday and the shows and theatres are said to be "dark" on that day.[54][55] The actors and the crew in these shows tend to regard Sunday evening through Monday evening as their weekend. The Tony award presentation ceremony is usually held on a Sunday evening in June to fit this schedule.

In recent years, some shows have moved their Tuesday show time an hour earlier to 7:00 pm.[54] The rationale for this move was that since fewer tourists take in shows midweek, Tuesday attendance depends more on local patrons. The earlier curtain makes it possible for suburban patrons to get home by a reasonable hour after the show. Some shows, especially those produced by Disney, change their performance schedules fairly frequently depending on the season. This is done in order to maximize access to their target audience.

Producers and theatre owners edit

Most Broadway producers and theatre owners are members of The Broadway League (formerly "The League of American Theatres and Producers"), a trade organization that promotes Broadway theatre as a whole, negotiates contracts with the various theatrical unions and agreements with the guilds, and co-administers the Tony Awards with the American Theatre Wing, a service organization. While the League and the theatrical unions are sometimes at loggerheads during those periods when new contracts are being negotiated, they also cooperate on many projects and events designed to promote professional theatre in New York.

Of the four non-profit theatre companies with Broadway theatres, all four (Lincoln Center Theater, Manhattan Theatre Club, Roundabout Theatre Company, and Second Stage Theatre) belong to the League of Resident Theatres and have contracts with the theatrical unions which are negotiated separately from the other Broadway theatre and producers. (Disney also negotiates apart from the League, as did Livent before it closed down its operations.)

The majority of Broadway theatres are owned or managed by three organizations: the Shubert Organization, a for-profit arm of the non-profit Shubert Foundation, which owns seventeen theatres; the Nederlander Organization, which controls nine theatres; and Jujamcyn, which owns five Broadway houses.

Personnel edit

Both musicals and straight plays on Broadway often rely on casting well-known performers in leading roles to draw larger audiences or bring in new audience members to the theatre. Actors from film and television are frequently cast for the revivals of Broadway shows or are used to replace actors leaving a cast. There are still, however, performers who are primarily stage actors, spending most of their time "on the boards", and appearing in screen roles only secondarily. As Patrick Healy of The New York Times noted:

Broadway once had many homegrown stars who committed to working on a show for a year, as Nathan Lane has for The Addams Family. In 2010, some theater heavyweights like Mr. Lane were not even nominated; instead, several Tony Awards were given for productions that were always intended to be short-timers on Broadway, given that many of their film-star performers had to move on to other commitments.[56]

According to Mark Shenton, "One of the biggest changes to the commercial theatrical landscape—on both sides of the Atlantic—over the past decade or so is that sightings of big star names turning out to do plays has [sic] gone up; but the runs they are prepared to commit to has gone down. Time was that a producer would require a minimum commitment from his star of six months, and perhaps a year; now, the 13-week run is the norm."[57]

The minimum size of the Broadway orchestra is governed by an agreement with the musicians' union (Local 802, American Federation of Musicians) and The Broadway League. For example, the agreement specifies the minimum size of the orchestra at the Minskoff Theatre to be eighteen, while at the Music Box Theatre it is nine.[58]

Runs edit

See also: List of the longest-running Broadway shows

Most Broadway shows are commercial productions intended to make a profit for the producers and investors ("backers" or "angels"), and therefore have open-ended runs (duration that the production plays), meaning that the length of their presentation is not set beforehand, but depends on critical response, word of mouth, and the effectiveness of the show's advertising, all of which determine ticket sales. Investing in a commercial production carries a varied degree of financial risk. Shows need not make a profit immediately; should they make their "nut" (weekly operating expenses), or lose money at a rate acceptable to the producers, they may continue to run in the expectation that, eventually, they will pay back their initial costs and become profitable. In some borderline situations, producers may ask that royalties be temporarily reduced or waived, or even that performers—with the permission of their unions—take reduced salaries, to prevent a show from closing. Theatre owners, who are not generally profit participants in most productions, may waive or reduce rents, or even lend money to a show to keep it running.

Some Broadway shows are produced by non-commercial organizations as part of a regular subscription season—Lincoln Center Theatre, Roundabout Theatre Company, Manhattan Theatre Club, and Second Stage Theater are the four non-profit theatre companies that currently have permanent Broadway venues. Some other productions are produced on Broadway with "limited engagement runs" for several reasons, including financial issues, prior engagements of the performers, or temporary availability of a theatre between the end of one production and the beginning of another. However, some shows with planned limited engagement runs may, after critical acclaim or box office success, extend their engagements or convert to open-ended runs. This was the case with 2007's August: Osage County, 2009's God of Carnage, 2012's Newsies, and 2022's Take Me Out.[59]

Historically, musicals on Broadway tend to have longer runs than "straight" (i.e., non-musical) plays. On January 9, 2006, The Phantom of the Opera at the Majestic Theatre became the longest-running Broadway musical, with 7,486 performances, overtaking Cats.[60] The Phantom of the Opera closed on Broadway on April 16, 2023, soon after celebrating its 35th anniversary, after a total of 13,981 performances.[61][62]

Audience edit

Attending a Broadway show is a common tourist activity in New York. The TKTS booths sell same-day tickets (and in certain cases, next-day matinee tickets) for many Broadway and Off-Broadway shows at a discount of 20 to 50%.[63] The TKTS booths are located in Times Square, in Lower Manhattan, and at Lincoln Center. This service is run by Theatre Development Fund. Many Broadway theatres also offer special student rates, same-day "rush" or "lottery" tickets, or standing-room tickets to help ensure that their theatres are as full—and their grosses as high—as possible.[64]

According to The Broadway League, total Broadway attendance was 14.77 million in 2018–2019, compared to 13.79 million in 2017–2018.[5] The average age of the Broadway audience in the 2017–18 theater season was 40, the lowest it had been in nearly two decades.[65] By 2018, about 20% of Broadway tickets were sold to international visitors, although many visitors reported not being able to use their tickets.[66] In 2022–2023, the first full season since the COVID-19 pandemic, Broadway theaters sold 12.3 million tickets, of which 35% were to local residents and 17% to international visitors. At the time, the average age of theatergoers was 40.4; nearly two-thirds of the audience were women; and 29% identified as a racial minority.[67]

Off-Broadway and off-off-Broadway edit

Main articles: Off-Broadway and Off-off-Broadway

The classification of theatres is governed by language in Actors' Equity Association contracts. To be eligible for a Tony, a production must be in a house with 500 seats or more and in the Theater District, which are the criteria that define Broadway theatre. Off-Broadway and off-off-Broadway shows often provide a more experimental, challenging, and intimate performance than is possible in the larger Broadway theatres. Some Broadway shows, however, such as the musicals Hair, Little Shop of Horrors, Spring Awakening, Next to Normal, Rent, Avenue Q, In the Heights, Fun Home, A Chorus Line, Dear Evan Hansen, and Hamilton, began their runs Off-Broadway and later transferred to Broadway, seeking to replicate their intimate experience in a larger theatre. Other productions are first developed through workshops and then out-of-town tryouts before transferring to Broadway. Merrily We Roll Along famously skipped an out-of-town tryout and attempted to do an in-town tryout—actually preview performances—on Broadway before its official opening, with disastrous results.[68][69]

Broadway national tours edit

After, or even during, successful runs in Broadway theatres, producers often remount their productions with new casts and crew for the Broadway national tour, which travels to theatres in major cities across the country. Sometimes when a show closes on Broadway, the entire production, with most if not all of the original cast intact, is relaunched as a touring company, hence the name "Broadway national tour". Some shows may even have several touring companies out at a time, whether the show is still running in New York or not, with many companies "sitting down" in other major cities for their own extended runs. For Broadway national tours of top-tier cities, the entire Broadway production is transplanted almost entirely intact and may run for many months (or years) at each stop. For example, the first U.S. tour of The Phantom of the Opera required 26 53-foot-long (16.1 m) semi-trailers to transport all its sets, equipment, and costumes, and it took almost 10 days to properly unload all those trucks and install everything into a theater.[70]

Second-tier and smaller cities can also attract national tours, but these are more likely to be "bus and truck" tours.[70] These are scaled-down versions of the larger, national touring productions, historically acquiring their name because the casts generally traveled by bus instead of by air, while the sets and equipment traveled by truck. Tours of this type often run for weeks rather than months, and frequently feature a reduced physical production to accommodate smaller venues and tighter schedules, and to fit into less trucks.[70] A typical second-tier city can usually sell only up to about eight shows (one week) of tickets.[70] For cities smaller than that, a touring production might move twice a week ("split weeks") or every day ("one-nighters").[70] For "bus and truck" tours, the production values are usually less lavish than the typical Broadway national tour or national touring production, and the actors, while still members of the actors' union, are compensated under a different, less lucrative union contract. The Touring Broadway Awards, presented by The Broadway League, honored excellence in touring Broadway.

Awards edit

Broadway productions and artists are honored by the annual Antoinette Perry Awards (commonly called the "Tony Awards", or "Tonys"), given by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League, and that were first presented in 1947.[71] The Tony is Broadway's most prestigious award, comparable to the Academy Awards for Hollywood film productions. Their importance has increased since 1967 when the awards presentation show began to be broadcast on national television. In a strategy to improve the television ratings, celebrities are often chosen to host the show, some with scant connection to the theatre.[72] The most recent Tony Awards ceremony was held on June 11, 2023. Other awards given to Broadway productions include the Drama Desk Award, presented since 1955, the New York Drama Critics' Circle Awards, first given in 1936, and the Outer Critics Circle Award, initially presented in 1950.

Broadway theatres and current productions edit

Main article: List of Broadway theaters
  • An * after the opening date indicates that the listed production has yet to open and is scheduled for the given date at that theatre.
  • An * after the closing date indicates that there is another show scheduled for that theatre.
  • If the next show planned is not announced, the applicable columns are left blank.
  • Capacity is based on the capacity given for the respective theatre at the Internet Broadway Database.[73]
Theatre Address Capacity Owner/Operator Current production Type Opening Closing
Al Hirschfeld Theatre W. 45th St. (No. 302) 1424 Jujamcyn Theaters Moulin Rouge! Musical 2019-07-25July 25, 2019 Open-ended
Ambassador Theatre W. 49th St. (No. 219) 1125 Shubert Organization Chicago Musical 1996-11-14November 14, 1996 Open-ended
August Wilson Theatre W. 52nd St. (No. 245) 1228 Jujamcyn Theaters Cabaret[74] Musical 2024-04-21April 21, 2024 Open-ended
Belasco Theatre W. 44th St. (No. 111) 1018 Shubert Organization Appropriate[75] Play 2023-12-18December 18, 2023 2024-06-23June 23, 2024
Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre W. 45th St. (No. 242) 1078 Shubert Organization The Outsiders[76] Musical 2024-04-11April 11, 2024 Open-ended
Booth Theatre W. 45th St. (No. 222) 766 Shubert Organization The Roommate[77] Play 2024-09-12September 12, 2024* 2024-12-15December 15, 2024
Broadhurst Theatre W. 44th St. (No. 235) 1186 Shubert Organization A Beautiful Noise Musical 2022-12-04December 4, 2022 2024-06-30June 30, 2024
Broadway Theatre W. 53rd St & Broadway (No. 1681) 1761 Shubert Organization The Great Gatsby[78] Musical 2024-04-25April 25, 2024 Open-ended
Circle in the Square Theatre W. 50th St. (No. 235) 840 Independent An Enemy of the People[79] Play 2024-03-18March 18, 2024 2024-06-23June 23, 2024
Ethel Barrymore Theatre W. 47th St. (No. 243) 1096 Shubert Organization Patriots[80] Play 2024-04-22April 22, 2024 2024-06-23June 23, 2024*
Eugene O'Neill Theatre W. 49th St. (No. 230) 1066 Jujamcyn Theaters The Book of Mormon Musical 2011-03-24March 24, 2011 Open-ended
Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre W. 45th St. (No. 236) 1079 Shubert Organization The Notebook[81] Musical 2024-03-14March 14, 2024 Open-ended
Gershwin Theatre W. 51st St. (No. 222) 1933 Nederlander Organization Wicked Musical 2003-10-30October 30, 2003 Open-ended
Hayes Theater W. 44th St. (No. 240) 597 Second Stage Theater Mother Play[82] Play 2024-04-25April 25, 2024 2024-06-16June 16, 2024*
Hudson Theatre W. 44th St. (No. 141) 970 Ambassador Theatre Group Merrily We Roll Along[83] Musical 2023-10-10October 10, 2023 2024-07-07July 7, 2024
Imperial Theatre W. 45th St. (No. 249) 1443 Shubert Organization Water for Elephants[84] Musical 2024-03-21March 21, 2024 Open-ended
James Earl Jones Theatre W. 48th St. (No. 138) 1084 Shubert Organization The Heart of Rock and Roll[85] Musical 2024-04-22April 22, 2024 Open-ended
John Golden Theatre W. 45th St. (No. 252) 805 Shubert Organization Stereophonic[86] Play 2024-04-19April 19, 2024 2024-08-18August 18, 2024
Lena Horne Theatre W. 47th St. (No. 256) 1094 Nederlander Organization Six Musical 2021-10-03October 3, 2021 Open-ended
Longacre Theatre W. 48th St. (No. 220) 1091 Shubert Organization Lempicka[87] Musical 2024-04-14April 14, 2024 2024-05-19May 19, 2024
Lunt-Fontanne Theatre W. 46th St. (No. 205) 1519 Nederlander Organization Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street[88] Musical 2023-03-26March 26, 2023 2024-05-05May 5, 2024
Lyceum Theatre W. 45th St. (No. 149) 922 Shubert Organization Oh, Mary![89] Play 2024-07-11July 11, 2024* 2024-09-15September 15, 2024
Lyric Theatre W. 43rd St. (No. 214) 1622 Ambassador Theatre Group Harry Potter and the Cursed Child Play 2018-04-22April 22, 2018 Open-ended
Majestic Theatre W. 44th St. (No. 245) 1645 Shubert Organization
Marquis Theatre W. 46th St. (No. 210) 1612 Nederlander Organization The Wiz[90] Musical 2024-04-17April 17, 2024 Open-ended
Minskoff Theatre W. 45th St. (No. 200) 1710 Nederlander Organization The Lion King Musical 1997-11-13November 13, 1997 Open-ended
Music Box Theatre W. 45th St. (No. 239) 1009 Shubert Organization Suffs[91] Musical 2024-04-18April 18, 2024 Open-ended
Nederlander Theatre W. 41st St. (No. 208) 1235 Nederlander Organization The Who's Tommy[92] Musical 2024-03-28March 28, 2024 Open-ended
Neil Simon Theatre W. 52nd St. (No. 250) 1467 Nederlander Organization MJ the Musical Musical 2022-02-01February 1, 2022 Open-ended
New Amsterdam Theatre W. 42nd St. (No. 214) 1747 Disney Theatrical Group Aladdin Musical 2014-03-20March 20, 2014 Open-ended
Palace Theatre W. 47th St. & Broadway (No. 1564) 1743 Nederlander Organization Ben Platt: Live at the Palace[93] Concert 2024-05-28May 28, 2024* 2024-06-15June 15, 2024*
Richard Rodgers Theatre W. 46th St. (No. 226) 1400 Nederlander Organization Hamilton Musical 2015-08-06August 6, 2015 Open-ended
St. James Theatre W. 44th St. (No. 246) 1709 Jujamcyn Theaters Illinoise[94] Dance 2024-04-24April 24, 2024 2024-08-10August 10, 2024*
Samuel J. Friedman Theatre W. 47th St. (No. 261) 650 Manhattan Theatre Club Mary Jane[95] Play 2024-04-23April 23, 2024 2024-06-16June 16, 2024*
Shubert Theatre W. 44th St. (No. 225) 1460 Shubert Organization Hell's Kitchen[96] Musical 2024-04-20April 20, 2024 Open-ended
Stephen Sondheim Theatre W. 43rd St. (No. 124) 1055 Roundabout Theatre Company & Juliet Musical 2022-11-17November 17, 2022 Open-ended
Studio 54 W. 54th St. (No. 254) 1006 Roundabout Theatre Company A Wonderful World[97] Musical 2024-11-11November 11, 2024* Open-ended
Todd Haimes Theatre W. 42nd St. (No. 227) 740 Roundabout Theatre Company Home[98] Play 2024-06-05June 5, 2024* 2024-07-21July 21, 2024*
Vivian Beaumont Theater W. 65th St. (No. 150) 1080 Lincoln Center Theatre Uncle Vanya[99] Play 2024-04-24April 24, 2024 2024-06-16June 16, 2024
Walter Kerr Theatre W. 48th St. (No. 219) 945 Jujamcyn Theaters Hadestown Musical 2019-04-17April 17, 2019 Open-ended
Winter Garden Theatre W. 50th St. & Broadway (No. 1634) 1526 Shubert Organization Back to the Future: The Musical[100] Musical 2023-08-03August 3, 2023 Open-ended

Upcoming productions edit

The following shows are confirmed as future Broadway productions. The theatre in which they will run is either not yet known or currently occupied by another show.

Production Type Theatre Opening Ref
Boop! The Musical Musical TBA Spring 2025 [101]
English Play Todd Haimes Theatre 2025-01-23January 23, 2025 [102]
Eureka Day Play Samuel J. Friedman Theatre Fall 2024 [103]
Left on Tenth Play TBA Fall 2024 [104]
Othello Play TBA Spring 2025 [105]
Our Town Play Ethel Barrymore Theatre 2024-10-10October 10, 2024 [106]
The Pirates of Penzance Musical Todd Haimes Theatre 2025-04-25April 24, 2025 [102]
Romeo and Juliet Play TBA Fall 2024 [107]
Smash Musical TBA 2024–25 season [108]
Stephen Sondheim's Old Friends Revue Samuel J. Friedman Theatre Spring 2025 [109]
Sunset Boulevard Musical St. James Theatre 2024-10-20October 20, 2024 [110]
Tammy Faye Musical Palace Theatre 2024-11-14November 14, 2024 [111]
Yellow Face Play Todd Haimes Theatre 2024-10-01October 1, 2024 [102]

Notes edit

  1. ^ Although theater is generally the spelling for this common noun in the United States (see American and British English spelling differences), many of the extant or closed Broadway venues use or used the spelling Theatre as the proper noun in their names. Many performers and trade groups for live dramatic presentations also use the spelling theatre.

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ Pincus-Roth, Zachary (February 8, 2008). "Ask Playbill.com: Broadway or Off-Broadway—Part I". Playbill. from the original on March 24, 2020. Retrieved August 14, 2022.
  2. ^ Viagas, Robert (December 16, 2015). "Hudson Theatre Will Be Reopened as Broadway House". Playbill. from the original on August 14, 2022. Retrieved August 14, 2022.
  3. ^ Naden, Corinne J. (2011). The Golden Age of American Musical Theatre: 1943–1965. Scarecrow Press. p. 1. ISBN 9780810877344. from the original on April 25, 2023. Retrieved November 9, 2020.
  4. ^ "How to Tell Broadway from Off-Broadway From..." Playbill. Playbill, Inc. January 13, 2019. from the original on October 21, 2019. Retrieved February 28, 2020.
  5. ^ a b "2018 – 2019 Broadway End-of-Season Statistics" ( December 6, 2019, at the Wayback Machine). Broadway League, May 28, 2019.
  6. ^ Martin Shefter (1993). Capital of the American Century: The National and International Influence of New York City. Russell Sage Foundation. p. 10. ISBN 9781610444972. from the original on April 25, 2023. Retrieved November 20, 2015.
  7. ^ a b Kenrick, John (2003–2005). "Theatre in NYC: A Brief History I". Musicals101.com. from the original on October 5, 2015. Retrieved January 24, 2008.
  8. ^ "Bowery Theatre history, Internet Broadway Database listing" October 28, 2011, at the Wayback Machine Internet Broadway Database, accessed August 26, 2011
  9. ^ Snyder, Robert W. (1995). Jackson, Kenneth T. (ed.). The Encyclopedia of New York City. New Haven: Yale University Press. p. 1226.
  10. ^ a b "Urban Development". spotlightonbroadway.com. from the original on June 7, 2020. Retrieved November 3, 2017.
  11. ^ a b "Longest Running Plays in London and New York" March 3, 2016, at the Wayback Machine dgillan.screaming.net (stagebeauty.net), copyright 2007, accessed August 26, 2011
  12. ^ a b Sheridan, Morley. Spread A Little Happiness:the First Hundred Years of the British Musical, New York: Thames and Hudson, 1987, ISBN 0-500-01398-5, p.15
  13. ^ Kenrick, John. "Kenrick's summary of New York theatre from 1865–1900" November 13, 2007, at the Wayback Machine Musicals101.com, accessed August 26, 2011
  14. ^ Midkoff, Neil. . home.earthlink.net. Archived from the original on April 25, 2009.
  15. ^ Kenrick, John (2003). "Theatre in NYC: History – Part IV". Musicals101.com. from the original on September 15, 2007. Retrieved January 24, 2008.
  16. ^ Lubbock, Mark (1962). The Complete Book of Light Opera. New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts. pp. 807–8.
  17. ^ Atkinson, Brooks (April 2, 1941). "Lillian Hellman's Watch on the Rhine Acted With Paul Lukas in the Leading Part" (PDF). The New York Times. from the original on January 21, 2022. Retrieved October 18, 2012.
  18. ^ Kenrick, John. "History of The Musical Stage. 1950s I: When Broadway Ruled" November 25, 2012, at the Wayback Machine musicals101.com, accessed December 2, 2012
  19. ^ Kenrick, John. "History of The Musical Stage.1960s II: Long Running Hits" March 18, 2013, at the Wayback Machine musicals101.com, accessed December 2, 2012
  20. ^ Kenrick, John. "History of The Musical Stage. 1970s Part V: Change" March 18, 2013, at the Wayback Machine musicals101.com, accessed December 2, 2012
  21. ^ Bloom, Ken. "Introduction" April 5, 2023, at the Wayback Machine Broadway: Its History, People, and Places (2004) (books.google.com) Taylor & Francis, ISBN 0-415-93704-3, p.xvi
  22. ^ "Productions Opening During the Season 1950–1951". InternetBroadwayDatabase. from the original on February 13, 2020. Retrieved February 13, 2020.
  23. ^ "Productions Opening During the Season 1969–1970". InternetBroadwayDatabase. from the original on October 29, 2013.
  24. ^ "Broadway 1950–1970" October 29, 2013, at the Wayback Machine mapsites.net, December 2, 2012
  25. ^ The name of the organization was "Save the Theatres, Inc., as noted in court papers. See Shubert Organization, Inc. v. Landmarks Preservation Commission of the City of New York and Save the Theatres, Inc. May 21, 2013, at the Wayback Machine, Supreme Court of New York, Appellate Division, First Department, May 16, 1991, accessed March 10, 2013
  26. ^ . LHP Architects. Archived from the original on May 20, 2015.
  27. ^ a b c Helen Epstein (March 1, 1996). Joe Papp: An American Life. Hachette Books. ISBN 0-306-80676-2. Retrieved February 22, 2013.[permanent dead link]
  28. ^ "City Panel Near Vote on Save-The-Theaters Proposals". The New York Times. New York City. April 15, 1984. from the original on August 28, 2020. Retrieved February 22, 2013.
  29. ^ Corwin, Betty "Theatre on film and tape archive" September 21, 2013, at the Wayback Machine, International Association of Libraries and Museums of the Performing Arts, accessed May 10, 2013
  30. ^ a b "Bill Summary & Status – 97th Congress (1981–1982) – H.R.6885". Thomas.loc.gov. Retrieved February 22, 2013.[permanent dead link]
  31. ^ Lynne B. Sagalyn (2003). Times Square Roulette: Remaking the City Icon. MIT Press. ISBN 978-0-262-69295-3. from the original on April 25, 2023. Retrieved February 26, 2013.
  32. ^ a b Peter Bosselmann (August 28, 1985). Representation of Places – Imprimé: Reality and Realism in City Design. University of California Press. ISBN 978-0-520-91826-9. from the original on April 25, 2023. Retrieved February 26, 2013.
  33. ^ Paulson, Michael (October 9, 2020). "Broadway Will Remain Closed at Least Through May". The New York Times. from the original on October 9, 2020. Retrieved October 9, 2020.
  34. ^ "Broadway League Extends Shutdown Until June 2021". Spectrum News. October 9, 2020. from the original on October 12, 2020. Retrieved October 9, 2020.
  35. ^ Evans, Greg (May 5, 2021). "Broadway To Reopen Sept. 14, Says Gov. Andrew Cuomo; Broadway League "Cautiously Optimistic"". Deadline. from the original on May 5, 2021. Retrieved May 27, 2021.
  36. ^ Corasaniti, Nick (June 27, 2021). "Bruce Springsteen Reopens Broadway, Ushering In Theater's Return". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. from the original on June 28, 2021. Retrieved June 29, 2021.
  37. ^ Dilella, Frank (August 5, 2021). ""Pass Over" becomes first new play on Broadway since COVID shutdown". NY1. from the original on August 23, 2021. Retrieved August 23, 2021.
  38. ^ Meyer, Dan (August 22, 2021). "Antoinette Chinonye Nwandu's Pass Over Opens on Broadway August 22". Playbill. from the original on August 23, 2021. Retrieved August 23, 2021.
  39. ^ Paulson, Michael (September 3, 2021). "Musicals Return to Broadway With 'Waitress' and 'Hadestown'". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on December 28, 2021. Retrieved October 13, 2021.
  40. ^ Moynihan, Caitlin (October 8, 2020). "2020 Tony Awards Nominations Will Be Announced on October 15". Broadway.com. from the original on January 16, 2021. Retrieved October 9, 2020.
  41. ^ McPhee, Ryan (May 26, 2021). "Tony Awards, Sidelined by the Pandemic, Sets September Date for 4-Hour Celebration". Playbill. from the original on May 26, 2021. Retrieved May 27, 2021.
  42. ^ "Broadway Toughens Vaccine Rule for Kids Under 12, Extends Mask Policy Through April". NBC News New York. January 10, 2022. from the original on January 12, 2023. Retrieved January 12, 2023.
  43. ^ "Broadway Adjusts COVID Vaccine Requirements, Extends Mask Policy". NBC News New York. April 15, 2022. from the original on January 12, 2023. Retrieved January 12, 2023.
  44. ^ Paulson, Michael (April 15, 2022). "Most Broadway Theaters Will Drop Vaccine Checks, but Not Mask Mandate". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. from the original on January 9, 2023. Retrieved January 9, 2023.
  45. ^ Paulson, Michael (June 21, 2022). "Broadway Will Drop Mask Mandate Beginning July 1". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. from the original on January 9, 2023. Retrieved January 9, 2023.
  46. ^ Paulson, Michael (August 23, 2021). "Broadway Power Brokers Pledge Diversity Changes as Theaters Reopen". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. from the original on March 6, 2022. Retrieved March 6, 2022.
  47. ^ a b Paulson, Michael (June 9, 2022). "In a First for Broadway, a Theater Will Be Renamed for Lena Horne". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. from the original on June 10, 2022. Retrieved June 10, 2022.
  48. ^ Paulson, Michael (March 2, 2022). "Broadway's Cort Theater Will Have a New Name: James Earl Jones". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. from the original on February 3, 2023. Retrieved March 2, 2022.
  49. ^ "James Earl Jones honored in renaming of historic N.Y. Broadway theater". NBC News. March 2, 2022. from the original on February 3, 2023. Retrieved March 3, 2022.
  50. ^ Evans, Greg (June 9, 2022). "Broadway Theater To Be Renamed For Icon Lena Horne In Historic First". Deadline. from the original on June 9, 2022. Retrieved June 10, 2022.
  51. ^ "Broadway's Brooks Atkinson Theatre will be renamed in honor of stage and screen star Lena Horne". CBS News. June 9, 2022. from the original on June 10, 2022. Retrieved June 10, 2022.
  52. ^ "Broadway's Cort Theatre renamed to honor actor James Earl Jones". CBS News. September 12, 2022. from the original on September 12, 2022. Retrieved September 12, 2022.
  53. ^ Carlin, Dave (November 1, 2022). "Lena Horne becomes first Black woman to have Broadway theater named after her". CBS News. from the original on November 1, 2022. Retrieved November 1, 2022.
  54. ^ a b Blank, Matthew (August 21, 2011). . Playbill. Archived from the original on September 5, 2011.
  55. ^ Simonson, Robert (April 4, 2011). "Ask Playbill.com: When Did Broadway Shows Start Offering Sunday Performances?". Playbill. from the original on August 14, 2022. Retrieved August 14, 2022.
  56. ^ Healy, Patrick. "Time Is Short to See Tony Winners" June 25, 2017, at the Wayback Machine. The New York Times, June 14, 2010
  57. ^ Shenton, Mark. "Rewarded today, gone tomorrow..." June 26, 2010, at the Wayback Machine. The Stage, June 17, 2010
  58. ^ "Local 802 Agreement" July 28, 2013, at the Wayback Machine. local802afm.org. p. 10. Retrieved August 10, 2013.
  59. ^ "Take Me Out Extends Run Through June 11th". BroadwayWorld.com. April 8, 2022. from the original on April 9, 2022. Retrieved April 28, 2022.
  60. ^ Playbill Staff. "Long Runs on Broadway" October 6, 2014, at the Wayback Machine Playbill.com, November 20, 2011
  61. ^ Gans, Andrew. "More 'Music of the Night': The Phantom of the Opera Sets New Closing Date on Broadway". PlayBill.com. from the original on December 4, 2022. Retrieved December 3, 2022.
  62. ^ Kennedy, Mark (April 17, 2023). "'The Phantom of the Opera' closes on Broadway after 35 years". apnews.com. from the original on April 24, 2023. Retrieved April 28, 2023.
  63. ^ "TKTS Discount Booths in NYC, Theatre Development Fund". www.tdf.org. from the original on May 10, 2015. Retrieved April 27, 2015.
  64. ^ Blank, Matthew. "Broadway Rush and Standing Room Only Policies" May 10, 2008, at the Wayback Machine. Playbill.com, March 1, 2011
  65. ^ Bellafante, Ginia (December 27, 2019). "9 Ways New York Changed That We Didn't See Coming". The New York Times. from the original on December 27, 2019. Retrieved December 27, 2019.
  66. ^ Fierberg, Ruthie (May 20, 2018). "Why Broadway Is Working to Attract More International Visitors". Playbill. Retrieved April 22, 2024.
  67. ^ Tsioulcas, Anastasia (December 12, 2023). "Broadway audiences are getting a little bit younger and more diverse". NPR. Retrieved April 22, 2024.
  68. ^ Sondheim, Stephen (2010). Finishing the Hat: Collected Lyrics (1954–1981) with Attendant Comments, Principles, Heresies, Grudges, Whines and Anecdotes. New York: Alfred A. Knopf. p. 382. ISBN 978-0679439073. from the original on April 5, 2023. Retrieved December 5, 2021.
  69. ^ Harrison, Thomas (2011). Music in the 1980s. Santa Barbara: ABC-CLIO. p. 136. ISBN 9780313366000. from the original on April 5, 2023. Retrieved December 5, 2021.
  70. ^ a b c d e Slaton, Shannon (2012). Mixing a Musical: Broadway Theatrical Sound Mixing Techniques. Waltham: Focal Press. p. 51. ISBN 9781136111815. from the original on April 5, 2023. Retrieved March 18, 2023.
  71. ^ "Tony Awards History" May 7, 2010, at the Wayback Machine tonyawards.com, accessed February 25, 2011
  72. ^ McKinley, Jesse. "Tony Awards Finish Up With a Fuzzy Surprise; Puppet Musical Wins Big, as Does 'My Own Wife'" January 21, 2022, at the Wayback Machine The New York Times, June 7, 2004
  73. ^ "Venues at the Internet Broadway Database November 24, 2010, at the Wayback Machine InternetBroadwayDatabase.com, accessed August 26, 2011
  74. ^ Culwell-Block, Logan. "Olivier-Winning London Cabaret Revival is Officially Broadway Bound" Playbill.com, July 11, 2023
  75. ^ Higgins, Molly. "Broadway's Appropriate Announces 2nd Extension, Transfer to Belasco Theatre" Playbill.com, February 13, 2024
  76. ^ Gans, Andrew. "The Outsiders Musical Will Arrive on Broadway in Spring 2024" Playbill.com, August 21, 2023
  77. ^ Gans, Andrew. "Mia Farrow and Patti LuPone Will Return to Broadway in The Roommate" Playbill.com, May 2, 2024
  78. ^ Gans, Andrew. "Jeremy Jordan and Eva Noblezada to Return to Broadway in The Great Gatsby Musical" Playbill.com, January 16, 2024
  79. ^ Hall, Margaret (November 14, 2023). "Michael Imperioli to Join Jeremy Strong in Broadway's An Enemy of the People". Playbill. Retrieved November 14, 2023.
  80. ^ Higgins, Molly. "Peter Morgan's Patriots Sets 2024 Broadway Bow" Playbill.com, January 22, 2024
  81. ^ Masseron, Meg & Gans, Andrew. "The Notebook Musical Will Come to Broadway This Spring" playbill.com, August 3, 2023
  82. ^ Hall, Margaret. "Jessica Lange, Jim Parsons, Celia Keenan-Bolger Will Star in Paula Vogel's Mother Play on Broadway" Playbill.com, September 6, 2023
  83. ^ Culwell-Block, Logan. "Upcoming Broadway Merrily We Roll Along Revival Sets Opening Night" Playbill.com, August 29, 2023
  84. ^ Culwell-Block, Logan. "Water For Elephants Musical Sets 2024 Broadway Bow" Playbill.com, September 12, 2023
  85. ^ Hall, Margaret. "Huey Lewis Jukebox Musical The Heart of Rock and Roll to Arrive on Broadway in Spring 2024" Playbill.com, November 1, 2023
  86. ^ [1]
  87. ^ Culwell-Block, Logan. "Lempicka Is Coming to Broadway Starring Eden Espinosa" Playbill.com, October 30, 2023
  88. ^ Culwell-Block, Logan. "Josh Groban and Annaleigh Ashford to Lead Broadway Revival of Sweeney Todd" October 4, 2022, at the Wayback Machine Playbill.com, September 6, 2022
  89. ^ Culwell-Block, Logan. "Oh, Mary! Will Transfer to Broadway's Lyceum" Playbill.com, April 24, 2024
  90. ^ Culwell-Block, Logan. "The Wiz Sets 2024 Broadway Dates, Theatre; Get a 1st Look at the New Production" Playbill.com, September 25, 2023
  91. ^ Culwell-Block, Logan. "Shaina Taub's Suffs Sets 2024 Broadway Bow; Hillary Clinton, Malala Yousafzai Are Co-Producing" Playbill.com, October 18, 2023
  92. ^ Higgins, Molly and Culwell-Block, Logan. "Reimagined The Who's Tommy Sets 2024 Broadway Bow" Playbill.com, October 26, 2023
  93. ^ Higgins, Molly. "Ben Platt Will Play Concert Residency at Broadway's Palace Theatre; Get a 1st Look at the Refurbished Venue" Playbill.com, March 18, 2024
  94. ^ Culwell-Block, Logan. "Sufjan Stevens Dance Musical Illinoise Will Open on Broadway This Season" Playbill.com, March 19, 2024
  95. ^ Culwell-Block, Logan. "Rachel McAdams Will Make Broadway Debut in Amy Herzog's Mary Jane" Playbill.com, September 11, 2023
  96. ^ Culwell-Block, Logan. "Broadway State of Mind: Alicia Keys Musical Hell's Kitchen Sets 2024 Broadway Bow" Playbill.com, December 4, 2023
  97. ^ Gans, Andrew. "James Monroe Iglehart Will Star in A Wonderful World: The Louis Armstrong Musical on Broadway" Playbill.com, February 28, 2024
  98. ^ Harms, Talaura. "Roundabout Sets Dates and Creative Team for Kenny Leon-Helmed Home's Broadway Revival" Playbill.com, December 6, 2023
  99. ^ Culwell-Block, Logan. "A New Translation of Uncle Vanya From Heidi Schreck Is Broadway-Bound" Playbill.com, September 14, 2023
  100. ^ Culwell-Block, Logan. "Back to the Future: The Musical Sets Broadway Bow; Roger Bart and Hugh Coles to Lead the Cast" October 21, 2022, at the Wayback Machine Playbill.com, October 21, 2022
  101. ^ "BOOP! The Musical Will Open on Broadway in Spring 2025". Broadway.com. Retrieved January 27, 2024.
  102. ^ a b c Harms, Tamara. "Sanaz Toossi's English, David Henry Hwang's Yellow Face, New Orleans-Themed Pirates of Penzance Join Roundabout Season" Playbill.com, January 9, 2024
  103. ^ [2]
  104. ^ Paulson, Michael (March 22, 2024). "Julianna Margulies and Peter Gallagher to Star in Broadway Play". The New York Times.
  105. ^ Paulson, Michael (March 6, 2024). "Denzel Washington and Jake Gyllenhaal to Lead Broadway 'Othello'". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved March 6, 2024.
  106. ^ Paulson, Michael (October 27, 2023). "Thornton Wilder's 'Our Town' to Return to Broadway Next Fall". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved October 30, 2023.
  107. ^ Wright, Joshua. "Rachel Zegler & Kit Connor Will Star in Sam Gold-Directed ROMEO + JULIET on Broadway". BroadwayWorld.com. Retrieved April 16, 2024.
  108. ^ Paulson, Michael (March 22, 2023). "A Stage Adaptation of 'Smash' Is Setting Its Sights on Broadway". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. from the original on March 22, 2023. Retrieved March 22, 2023.
  109. ^ [3]
  110. ^ Higgins, Molly. "Nicole Scherzinger-Led Sunset Boulevard Revival Sets Dates at Broadway's St. James; Live London Album Due in April" Playbill.com, March 25, 2024
  111. ^ Higgins, Molly. "Katie Brayben and Andrew Rannells to Star in Tammy Faye on Broadway" Playbill.com, March 22, 2024

Further reading edit

  • Ackerman, Alan. "Liberalism, Democracy, and the Twentieth-Century American Theater", American Literary History (2005) 17#4 pp. 765–780.
  • Bordman, Gerald. American Musical Comedy (Oxford University Press, 1982)
  • Bordman, Gerald. American Operetta (Oxford University Press, 1981)
  • Knapp, Raymond. The American Musical and the Formation of National Identity (Princeton University Press, 2005)
  • Middeke, Martin, et al. The Methuen Drama Guide to Contemporary American Playwrights (2013)
  • Mordden, Ethan. Anything Goes: A History of American Musical Theatre (2013)
  • Roudane, Matthew Charles. American Drama Since 1960: A Critical History (1996)
  • Shiach, Don. American Drama 1900–1990 (2000)
  • Stempel, Larry. Showtime: A History of the Broadway Musical Theater (WW Norton, 2010) 826 pp.
  • Weales, Gerald Clifford. American drama since World War II (1962)
  • White, Timothy R. Blue-Collar Broadway: The Craft and Industry of American Theater (2014)
  • Wolf, Stacy. Changed for Good: A Feminist History of the Broadway Musical (2010)

External links edit

 
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Broadway theatre.
  • The Internet Broadway Database
  • The Houses of Broadway, The New York Times, April 30, 2010

January 01, 1970
broadway, theatre, this, article, about, type, theatre, individual, theatre, broadway, theatre, 53rd, street, other, uses, broadway, theatre, broadway, theatre, genre, that, consists, theatrical, performances, presented, professional, theaters, each, with, mor. This article is about the type of theatre For the individual theatre see Broadway Theatre 53rd Street For other uses see Broadway Theatre Broadway theatre nb 1 or Broadway is a theatre genre that consists of the theatrical performances presented in 41 professional theaters each with 500 or more seats in the Theater District and Lincoln Center along Broadway in Midtown Manhattan New York City 1 2 Broadway and London s West End together represent the highest commercial level of live theater in the English speaking world 3 From right to left John Golden Theatre Bernard B Jacobs Theatre Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre and Booth Theatre on West 45th Street in Manhattan s Theater District While the Broadway thoroughfare is eponymous with the district it is closely identified with Times Square Only three theaters are located on Broadway itself Broadway Theatre Palace Theatre and Winter Garden Theatre The rest are located on the numbered cross streets extending from the Nederlander Theatre one block south of Times Square on West 41st Street north along either side of Broadway to 53rd Street and Vivian Beaumont Theater at Lincoln Center on West 65th Street While exceptions exist the term Broadway theatre is used predominantly to describe venues with seating capacities of at least 500 people Smaller theaters in New York City are referred to as off Broadway regardless of location while very small venues with fewer than 100 seats are called off off Broadway a term that can also apply to non commercial avant garde or productions held outside of traditional theater venues 4 The Theater District is an internationally prominent tourist attraction in New York City According to The Broadway League for the 2018 19 season total attendance was 14 768 254 Broadway shows had 1 829 312 140 in grosses with attendance up 9 5 grosses up 10 3 and playing weeks up 9 3 5 The Museum of Broadway on West 45th Street opened to the public in November 2022 became the first museum to document the history and experience of Broadway theatre and its profound influence upon shaping Midtown Manhattan and Times Square Most Broadway shows are musicals Historian Martin Shefter argues that Broadway musicals culminating in the productions of Rodgers and Hammerstein became enormously influential forms of American popular culture and contributed to making New York City the cultural capital of the world 6 Contents 1 History 1 1 Early theatre in New York 1 2 Birth of the musical and post Civil War 1 3 Early 20th century 1 4 Competing with motion pictures 1 5 Between the wars 1 6 Postwar era 1 7 Decline in late 1960s 1 8 Resurgence in early 1980s 1 9 COVID 19 impact 2 Description 2 1 Schedule 2 2 Producers and theatre owners 2 3 Personnel 2 4 Runs 2 5 Audience 2 6 Off Broadway and off off Broadway 2 7 Broadway national tours 2 8 Awards 3 Broadway theatres and current productions 3 1 Upcoming productions 4 Notes 5 See also 6 References 7 Further reading 8 External linksHistory editEarly theatre in New York edit nbsp The interior of Park Theatre built in 1798 New York City s first significant theatre was established in the mid 18th century around 1750 when actor managers Walter Murray and Thomas Kean established a resident theatre company at the Theatre on Nassau Street in Lower Manhattan which held about 280 people They presented Shakespeare plays and ballad operas such as The Beggar s Opera 7 In 1752 William Hallam sent a company of twelve actors from Britain to the colonies with his brother Lewis as their manager They established a theatre in Williamsburg Virginia and opened with The Merchant of Venice and The Anatomist The company moved to New York in 1753 performing ballad operas and ballad farces like Damon and Phillida During the Revolutionary War theatre was suspended in New York City But after the war s end theatre resumed in 1798 when the 2 000 seat Park Theatre was built on Chatham Street on present day Park Row 7 A second major theatre Bowery Theatre opened in 1826 8 followed by others By the 1840s P T Barnum was operating an entertainment complex in Lower Manhattan In 1829 at Broadway and Prince Street Niblo s Garden opened and soon became one of New York s premier nightspots The 3 000 seat theatre presented all sorts of musical and non musical entertainments In 1844 Palmo s Opera House opened and presented opera for only four seasons before bankruptcy led to its rebranding as a venue for plays under the name Burton s Theatre The Astor Opera House opened in 1847 A riot broke out in 1849 when the lower class patrons of the Bowery Theatre objected to what they perceived as snobbery by the upper class audiences at Astor Place After the Astor Place Riot of 1849 entertainment in New York City was divided along class lines opera was chiefly for the upper middle and upper classes minstrel shows and melodramas for the middle class variety shows in concert saloons for men of the working class and the slumming middle class 9 The plays of William Shakespeare were frequently performed on the Broadway stage during the period most notably by American actor Edwin Booth who was internationally known for his performance as Hamlet Booth played the role for a famous 100 consecutive performances at the Winter Garden Theatre in 1865 with the run ending just a few months before Booth s brother John Wilkes Booth assassinated Abraham Lincoln and would later revive the role at his own Booth s Theatre which was managed for a time by his brother Junius Brutus Booth Jr Other renowned Shakespeareans who appeared in New York in this era were Henry Irving Tommaso Salvini Fanny Davenport and Charles Fechter Birth of the musical and post Civil War edit Theatre in New York moved from Downtown gradually to Midtown Manhattan beginning around 1850 seeking less expensive real estate At the beginning of the nineteenth century the area that now comprises the Theater District was owned by a handful of families and comprised a few farms In 1836 Mayor Cornelius Lawrence opened 42nd Street and invited Manhattanites to enjoy the pure clean air 10 Close to 60 years later theatrical entrepreneur Oscar Hammerstein I built the iconic Victoria Theater on West 42nd Street 10 Broadway s first long run musical was a 50 performance hit called The Elves in 1857 In 1870 the heart of Broadway was in Union Square and by the end of the century many theatres were near Madison Square Theatres arrived in the Times Square area in the early 1900s and the Broadway theatres consolidated there after a large number were built around the square in the 1920s and 1930s New York runs continued to lag far behind those in London 11 but Laura Keene s musical burletta The Seven Sisters 1860 shattered previous New York records with a run of 253 performances It was at a performance by Keene s troupe of Our American Cousin in Washington D C that Abraham Lincoln was shot nbsp The Black Crook 1866 considered by some historians to be the first musical 12 Poster for the 1873 revival by The Kiralfy Brothers The first theatre piece that conforms to the modern conception of a musical adding dance and original music that helped to tell the story is considered to be The Black Crook which premiered in New York on September 12 1866 The production was five and a half hours long but despite its length it ran for a record breaking 474 performances The same year The Black Domino Between You Me and the Post was the first show to call itself a musical comedy 12 Tony Pastor opened the first vaudeville theatre one block east of Union Square in 1881 where Lillian Russell performed Comedians Edward Harrigan and Tony Hart produced and starred in musicals on Broadway between 1878 The Mulligan Guard Picnic and 1890 with book and lyrics by Harrigan and music by his father in law David Braham These musical comedies featured characters and situations taken from the everyday life of New York s lower classes and represented a significant step forward from vaudeville and burlesque towards a more literate form They starred high quality professional singers Lillian Russell Vivienne Segal and Fay Templeton instead of the amateurs often sex workers who had starred in earlier musical forms As transportation improved poverty in New York diminished and street lighting made for safer travel at night the number of potential patrons for the growing number of theatres increased enormously Plays could run longer and still draw in the audiences leading to better profits and improved production values As in England during the latter half of the century the theatre began to be cleaned up with less prostitution hindering the attendance of the theatre by women Gilbert and Sullivan s family friendly comic opera hits beginning with H M S Pinafore in 1878 were imported to New York by the authors and also in numerous unlicensed productions They were imitated in New York by American productions such as Reginald Dekoven s Robin Hood 1891 and John Philip Sousa s El Capitan 1896 along with operas ballets and other British and European hits nbsp Sheet music to Give My Regards to Broadway Charles H Hoyt s A Trip to Chinatown 1891 became Broadway s long run champion when it surpassed Adonis and its 603 total performances in 1893 holding the stage for 657 performances Chinatown itself was surpassed by the musical Irene 1919 in 1921 as the longest running Broadway musical and even earlier in March 1920 by Lightnin 1918 as the longest running Broadway show In 1896 theatre owners Marc Klaw and A L Erlanger formed the Theatrical Syndicate which controlled almost every legitimate theatre in the U S for the next sixteen years 13 However smaller vaudeville and variety houses proliferated and Off Broadway was well established by the end of the nineteenth century A Trip to Coontown 1898 was the first musical comedy entirely produced and performed by African Americans in a Broadway theatre inspired largely by the routines of the minstrel shows followed by the ragtime tinged Clorindy The Origin of the Cakewalk 1898 and the highly successful In Dahomey 1902 Hundreds of musical comedies were staged on Broadway in the 1890s and early 1900s made up of songs written in New York s Tin Pan Alley involving composers such as Gus Edwards John Walter Bratton and George M Cohan Little Johnny Jones 1904 45 Minutes From Broadway 1906 and George Washington Jr 1906 Still New York runs continued to be relatively short with a few exceptions compared with London runs until World War I 11 A few very successful British musicals continued to achieve great success in New York including Florodora in 1900 01 Early 20th century edit nbsp Victor Herbert In the early years of the twentieth century translations of popular late nineteenth century continental operettas were joined by the Princess Theatre shows of the 1910s by writers such as P G Wodehouse Guy Bolton and Harry B Smith Victor Herbert whose work included some intimate musical plays with modern settings as well as his string of famous operettas The Fortune Teller 1898 Babes in Toyland 1903 Mlle Modiste 1905 The Red Mill 1906 and Naughty Marietta 1910 14 Beginning with The Red Mill Broadway shows installed electric signs outside the theatres Since colored bulbs burned out too quickly white lights were used and Broadway was nicknamed The Great White Way In August 1919 the Actors Equity Association demanded a standard contract for all professional productions After a strike shut down all the theatres the producers were forced to agree By the 1920s the Shubert Brothers had risen to take over the majority of the theatres from the Erlanger syndicate 15 During this time the play Lightnin by Winchell Smith and Frank Bacon became the first Broadway show to reach 700 performances From then it would go on to become the first show to reach 1 000 performances Lightnin was the longest running Broadway show until being overtaken in performance totals by Abie s Irish Rose in 1925 Competing with motion pictures edit nbsp Broadway north from 38th St New York City showing the Casino and Knickerbocker Theatres Listen Lester visible at lower right played the Knickerbocker from December 23 1918 to August 16 1919 a sign pointing to Maxine Elliott s Theatre which is out of view on 39th Street and a sign advertising the Winter Garden Theatre which is out of view at 50th Street All but the Winter Garden are demolished The old Metropolitan Opera House and the old Times Tower are visible on the left The motion picture mounted a challenge to the stage At first films were silent and presented only limited competition By the end of the 1920s films like The Jazz Singer were presented with synchronized sound and critics wondered if cinema would replace live theatre altogether While live vaudeville could not compete with these inexpensive films that featured vaudeville stars and major comedians of the day other theatres survived The musicals of the Roaring Twenties borrowing from vaudeville music hall and other light entertainment tended to ignore plot in favor of emphasizing star actors and actresses big dance routines and popular songs Florenz Ziegfeld produced annual spectacular song and dance revues on Broadway featuring extravagant sets and elaborate costumes but there was little to tie the various numbers together Typical of the 1920s were lighthearted productions such as Sally Lady Be Good Sunny No No Nanette Harlem Oh Kay and Funny Face Their books may have been forgettable but they produced enduring standards from George Gershwin Cole Porter Jerome Kern Vincent Youmans and Rodgers and Hart among others and Noel Coward Sigmund Romberg and Rudolf Friml continued in the vein of Victor Herbert Live theatre has survived the invention of cinema Between the wars editLeaving these comparatively frivolous entertainments behind and taking the drama a step forward Show Boat premiered on December 27 1927 at the Ziegfeld Theatre It represented a complete integration of book and score with dramatic themes as told through the music dialogue setting and movement woven together more seamlessly than in previous musicals It ran for 572 performances 16 nbsp This February 21 1925 Judge magazine cover by Ralph Barton features caricatures of various movie and theater personalities from the 1920s click on a caricature to be taken to the corresponding person s Wikipedia article The 1920s also spawned a new age of American playwright with the emergence of Eugene O Neill whose plays Beyond the Horizon Anna Christie The Hairy Ape Strange Interlude and Mourning Becomes Electra proved that there was an audience for serious drama on Broadway and O Neill s success paved the way for major dramatists like Elmer Rice Maxwell Anderson Robert E Sherwood Clifford Odets Tennessee Williams and Arthur Miller as well as writers of comedy like George S Kaufman and Moss Hart Classical revivals also proved popular with Broadway theatre goers notably John Barrymore in Hamlet and Richard III John Gielgud in Hamlet The Importance of Being Earnest and Much Ado About Nothing Walter Hampden and Jose Ferrer in Cyrano de Bergerac Paul Robeson and Ferrer in Othello Maurice Evans in Richard II and the plays of George Bernard Shaw and Katharine Cornell in such plays as Romeo and Juliet Antony and Cleopatra and Candida As World War II approached a dozen Broadway dramas addressed the rise of Nazism in Europe and the issue of American non intervention The most successful was Lillian Hellman s Watch on the Rhine which opened in April 1941 17 Postwar era edit After the lean years of the Great Depression Broadway theatre had entered a golden age with the blockbuster hit Oklahoma in 1943 which ran for 2 212 performances According to John Kenrick s writings on Broadway musicals Every season saw new stage musicals send songs to the top of the charts Public demand a booming economy and abundant creative talent kept Broadway hopping To this day the shows of the 1950s form the core of the musical theatre repertory 18 Decline in late 1960s edit Kenrick notes that the late 1960s marked a time of cultural upheaval All those changes would prove painful for many including those behind the scenes as well as those in the audience 19 Of the 1970s Kenrick writes Just when it seemed that traditional book musicals were back in style the decade ended with critics and audiences giving mixed signals 20 Ken Bloom observed that The 1960s and 1970s saw a worsening of the area Times Square and a drop in the number of legitimate shows produced on Broadway 21 By way of comparison in the 1950 to 1951 season May to May 94 productions opened on Broadway in the 1969 to 1970 season June to May there were 59 productions fifteen were revivals 22 23 In the twenties there were 70 80 theaters but by 1969 there were 36 left 24 Resurgence in early 1980s edit In early 1982 Joe Papp the theatrical producer and director who established The Public Theater led the Save the Theatres campaign 25 It was a not for profit group supported by the Actors Equity union to save the theater buildings in the neighborhood from demolition by monied Manhattan development interests 26 27 28 29 Papp provided resources recruited a publicist and celebrated actors and provided audio lighting and technical crews for the effort 27 At Papp s behest in July 1982 a bill was introduced in the 97th Congress entitled H R 6885 A bill to designate the Broadway Times Square Theatre District in the City of New York as a national historic site 30 The legislation would have provided certain U S government resources and assistance to help the city preserve the district 30 Faced with strong opposition and lobbying by Mayor Ed Koch s Administration and corporate Manhattan development interests the bill was not passed The Save the Theatres campaign then turned their efforts to supporting the establishment of the Theater District as a registered historic district 31 32 In December 1983 Save the Theatres prepared The Broadway Theater District a Preservation Development and Management Plan and demanded that each theater in the district receive landmark designation 32 Mayor Ed Koch ultimately reacted by creating a Theater Advisory Council which included Papp 27 COVID 19 impact edit Due to the COVID 19 pandemic in New York City Broadway theaters closed on March 12 2020 shuttering 16 shows that were playing or were in the process of opening The Broadway League shutdown was extended first to April then to May then June then September 2020 and January 2021 33 and later to June 1 2021 34 Then governor Andrew Cuomo announced that most sectors of New York would have their restrictions lifted on May 19 2021 but he stated that Broadway theatres would not be able to immediately resume performances on this date due to logistical reasons In May 2021 Cuomo announced that Broadway theaters would be allowed to reopen on September 14 and the League confirmed that performances would begin to resume in the fall season 35 Springsteen on Broadway became the first full length show to resume performances opening on June 26 2021 to 1 721 vaccinated patrons at the St James Theatre 36 Pass Over then had its first preview on August 4 and opened on August 22 2021 becoming the first new play to open 37 38 Hadestown and Waitress were the first musicals to resume performances on September 2 2021 39 The 74th Tony Awards were also postponed the Tony nominations were announced on October 15 2020 40 and took place on September 26 2021 41 On July 30 2021 it was announced that all Broadway theaters required attendees to provide proof of full COVID 19 vaccination The rule applied to guests ages 12 Those under age 12 were required to provide a negative COVID 19 test PCR within 72 hours or antigen within six hours of the performance start time Beginning November 8 those ages 5 11 also had the option to provide proof of at least one vaccination shot Effective December 14 in accordance with NYC s vaccination mandate guests ages 5 11 were required to have at least one vaccination shot until January 29 2022 where they had to be fully vaccinated 42 The vaccine mandate lasted until April 30 43 44 and attendees were also required to wear face masks until July 1 45 During the COVID 19 shutdown the Shubert Organization the Nederlander Organization and Jujamcyn had pledged to increase racial and cultural diversity in their theaters including naming at least one theater for a Black theatrical personality 46 The August Wilson Theatre owned by Jujamcyn had been renamed after Black playwright August Wilson in 2005 47 The Shuberts announced in March 2022 that the Cort Theatre which was under renovation at the time would be renamed after actor James Earl Jones 48 49 In June 2022 the Nederlanders announced that the Brooks Atkinson Theatre would be renamed after Lena Horne 50 51 47 The James Earl Jones Theatre was rededicated in September 2022 52 while the Lena Horne Theatre was rededicated that November 53 Description editSchedule edit Although there are some exceptions shows with open ended runs generally have evening performances Tuesday through Saturday with a 7 00 p m or 8 00 p m curtain The afternoon matinee performances are at 2 00 p m on Wednesdays and Saturdays and at 3 00 p m on Sundays This makes for an eight performance week On this schedule most shows do not play on Monday and the shows and theatres are said to be dark on that day 54 55 The actors and the crew in these shows tend to regard Sunday evening through Monday evening as their weekend The Tony award presentation ceremony is usually held on a Sunday evening in June to fit this schedule In recent years some shows have moved their Tuesday show time an hour earlier to 7 00 pm 54 The rationale for this move was that since fewer tourists take in shows midweek Tuesday attendance depends more on local patrons The earlier curtain makes it possible for suburban patrons to get home by a reasonable hour after the show Some shows especially those produced by Disney change their performance schedules fairly frequently depending on the season This is done in order to maximize access to their target audience Producers and theatre owners edit Most Broadway producers and theatre owners are members of The Broadway League formerly The League of American Theatres and Producers a trade organization that promotes Broadway theatre as a whole negotiates contracts with the various theatrical unions and agreements with the guilds and co administers the Tony Awards with the American Theatre Wing a service organization While the League and the theatrical unions are sometimes at loggerheads during those periods when new contracts are being negotiated they also cooperate on many projects and events designed to promote professional theatre in New York Of the four non profit theatre companies with Broadway theatres all four Lincoln Center Theater Manhattan Theatre Club Roundabout Theatre Company and Second Stage Theatre belong to the League of Resident Theatres and have contracts with the theatrical unions which are negotiated separately from the other Broadway theatre and producers Disney also negotiates apart from the League as did Livent before it closed down its operations The majority of Broadway theatres are owned or managed by three organizations the Shubert Organization a for profit arm of the non profit Shubert Foundation which owns seventeen theatres the Nederlander Organization which controls nine theatres and Jujamcyn which owns five Broadway houses Personnel edit Both musicals and straight plays on Broadway often rely on casting well known performers in leading roles to draw larger audiences or bring in new audience members to the theatre Actors from film and television are frequently cast for the revivals of Broadway shows or are used to replace actors leaving a cast There are still however performers who are primarily stage actors spending most of their time on the boards and appearing in screen roles only secondarily As Patrick Healy of The New York Times noted Broadway once had many homegrown stars who committed to working on a show for a year as Nathan Lane has for The Addams Family In 2010 some theater heavyweights like Mr Lane were not even nominated instead several Tony Awards were given for productions that were always intended to be short timers on Broadway given that many of their film star performers had to move on to other commitments 56 According to Mark Shenton One of the biggest changes to the commercial theatrical landscape on both sides of the Atlantic over the past decade or so is that sightings of big star names turning out to do plays has sic gone up but the runs they are prepared to commit to has gone down Time was that a producer would require a minimum commitment from his star of six months and perhaps a year now the 13 week run is the norm 57 The minimum size of the Broadway orchestra is governed by an agreement with the musicians union Local 802 American Federation of Musicians and The Broadway League For example the agreement specifies the minimum size of the orchestra at the Minskoff Theatre to be eighteen while at the Music Box Theatre it is nine 58 Runs edit See also List of the longest running Broadway shows Most Broadway shows are commercial productions intended to make a profit for the producers and investors backers or angels and therefore have open ended runs duration that the production plays meaning that the length of their presentation is not set beforehand but depends on critical response word of mouth and the effectiveness of the show s advertising all of which determine ticket sales Investing in a commercial production carries a varied degree of financial risk Shows need not make a profit immediately should they make their nut weekly operating expenses or lose money at a rate acceptable to the producers they may continue to run in the expectation that eventually they will pay back their initial costs and become profitable In some borderline situations producers may ask that royalties be temporarily reduced or waived or even that performers with the permission of their unions take reduced salaries to prevent a show from closing Theatre owners who are not generally profit participants in most productions may waive or reduce rents or even lend money to a show to keep it running Some Broadway shows are produced by non commercial organizations as part of a regular subscription season Lincoln Center Theatre Roundabout Theatre Company Manhattan Theatre Club and Second Stage Theater are the four non profit theatre companies that currently have permanent Broadway venues Some other productions are produced on Broadway with limited engagement runs for several reasons including financial issues prior engagements of the performers or temporary availability of a theatre between the end of one production and the beginning of another However some shows with planned limited engagement runs may after critical acclaim or box office success extend their engagements or convert to open ended runs This was the case with 2007 s August Osage County 2009 s God of Carnage 2012 s Newsies and 2022 s Take Me Out 59 Historically musicals on Broadway tend to have longer runs than straight i e non musical plays On January 9 2006 The Phantom of the Opera at the Majestic Theatre became the longest running Broadway musical with 7 486 performances overtaking Cats 60 The Phantom of the Opera closed on Broadway on April 16 2023 soon after celebrating its 35th anniversary after a total of 13 981 performances 61 62 Audience edit Attending a Broadway show is a common tourist activity in New York The TKTS booths sell same day tickets and in certain cases next day matinee tickets for many Broadway and Off Broadway shows at a discount of 20 to 50 63 The TKTS booths are located in Times Square in Lower Manhattan and at Lincoln Center This service is run by Theatre Development Fund Many Broadway theatres also offer special student rates same day rush or lottery tickets or standing room tickets to help ensure that their theatres are as full and their grosses as high as possible 64 According to The Broadway League total Broadway attendance was 14 77 million in 2018 2019 compared to 13 79 million in 2017 2018 5 The average age of the Broadway audience in the 2017 18 theater season was 40 the lowest it had been in nearly two decades 65 By 2018 about 20 of Broadway tickets were sold to international visitors although many visitors reported not being able to use their tickets 66 In 2022 2023 the first full season since the COVID 19 pandemic Broadway theaters sold 12 3 million tickets of which 35 were to local residents and 17 to international visitors At the time the average age of theatergoers was 40 4 nearly two thirds of the audience were women and 29 identified as a racial minority 67 Off Broadway and off off Broadway edit Main articles Off Broadway and Off off Broadway The classification of theatres is governed by language in Actors Equity Association contracts To be eligible for a Tony a production must be in a house with 500 seats or more and in the Theater District which are the criteria that define Broadway theatre Off Broadway and off off Broadway shows often provide a more experimental challenging and intimate performance than is possible in the larger Broadway theatres Some Broadway shows however such as the musicals Hair Little Shop of Horrors Spring Awakening Next to Normal Rent Avenue Q In the Heights Fun Home A Chorus Line Dear Evan Hansen and Hamilton began their runs Off Broadway and later transferred to Broadway seeking to replicate their intimate experience in a larger theatre Other productions are first developed through workshops and then out of town tryouts before transferring to Broadway Merrily We Roll Along famously skipped an out of town tryout and attempted to do an in town tryout actually preview performances on Broadway before its official opening with disastrous results 68 69 Broadway national tours edit After or even during successful runs in Broadway theatres producers often remount their productions with new casts and crew for the Broadway national tour which travels to theatres in major cities across the country Sometimes when a show closes on Broadway the entire production with most if not all of the original cast intact is relaunched as a touring company hence the name Broadway national tour Some shows may even have several touring companies out at a time whether the show is still running in New York or not with many companies sitting down in other major cities for their own extended runs For Broadway national tours of top tier cities the entire Broadway production is transplanted almost entirely intact and may run for many months or years at each stop For example the first U S tour of The Phantom of the Opera required 26 53 foot long 16 1 m semi trailers to transport all its sets equipment and costumes and it took almost 10 days to properly unload all those trucks and install everything into a theater 70 Second tier and smaller cities can also attract national tours but these are more likely to be bus and truck tours 70 These are scaled down versions of the larger national touring productions historically acquiring their name because the casts generally traveled by bus instead of by air while the sets and equipment traveled by truck Tours of this type often run for weeks rather than months and frequently feature a reduced physical production to accommodate smaller venues and tighter schedules and to fit into less trucks 70 A typical second tier city can usually sell only up to about eight shows one week of tickets 70 For cities smaller than that a touring production might move twice a week split weeks or every day one nighters 70 For bus and truck tours the production values are usually less lavish than the typical Broadway national tour or national touring production and the actors while still members of the actors union are compensated under a different less lucrative union contract The Touring Broadway Awards presented by The Broadway League honored excellence in touring Broadway Awards edit Broadway productions and artists are honored by the annual Antoinette Perry Awards commonly called the Tony Awards or Tonys given by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League and that were first presented in 1947 71 The Tony is Broadway s most prestigious award comparable to the Academy Awards for Hollywood film productions Their importance has increased since 1967 when the awards presentation show began to be broadcast on national television In a strategy to improve the television ratings celebrities are often chosen to host the show some with scant connection to the theatre 72 The most recent Tony Awards ceremony was held on June 11 2023 Other awards given to Broadway productions include the Drama Desk Award presented since 1955 the New York Drama Critics Circle Awards first given in 1936 and the Outer Critics Circle Award initially presented in 1950 Broadway theatres and current productions editMain article List of Broadway theaters An after the opening date indicates that the listed production has yet to open and is scheduled for the given date at that theatre An after the closing date indicates that there is another show scheduled for that theatre If the next show planned is not announced the applicable columns are left blank Capacity is based on the capacity given for the respective theatre at the Internet Broadway Database 73 Theatre Address Capacity Owner Operator Current production Type Opening Closing Al Hirschfeld Theatre W 45th St No 302 1424 Jujamcyn Theaters Moulin Rouge Musical 2019 07 25 July 25 2019 Open ended Ambassador Theatre W 49th St No 219 1125 Shubert Organization Chicago Musical 1996 11 14 November 14 1996 Open ended August Wilson Theatre W 52nd St No 245 1228 Jujamcyn Theaters Cabaret 74 Musical 2024 04 21 April 21 2024 Open ended Belasco Theatre W 44th St No 111 1018 Shubert Organization Appropriate 75 Play 2023 12 18 December 18 2023 2024 06 23 June 23 2024 Bernard B Jacobs Theatre W 45th St No 242 1078 Shubert Organization The Outsiders 76 Musical 2024 04 11 April 11 2024 Open ended Booth Theatre W 45th St No 222 766 Shubert Organization The Roommate 77 Play 2024 09 12 September 12 2024 2024 12 15 December 15 2024 Broadhurst Theatre W 44th St No 235 1186 Shubert Organization A Beautiful Noise Musical 2022 12 04 December 4 2022 2024 06 30 June 30 2024 Broadway Theatre W 53rd St amp Broadway No 1681 1761 Shubert Organization The Great Gatsby 78 Musical 2024 04 25 April 25 2024 Open ended Circle in the Square Theatre W 50th St No 235 840 Independent An Enemy of the People 79 Play 2024 03 18 March 18 2024 2024 06 23 June 23 2024 Ethel Barrymore Theatre W 47th St No 243 1096 Shubert Organization Patriots 80 Play 2024 04 22 April 22 2024 2024 06 23 June 23 2024 Eugene O Neill Theatre W 49th St No 230 1066 Jujamcyn Theaters The Book of Mormon Musical 2011 03 24 March 24 2011 Open ended Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre W 45th St No 236 1079 Shubert Organization The Notebook 81 Musical 2024 03 14 March 14 2024 Open ended Gershwin Theatre W 51st St No 222 1933 Nederlander Organization Wicked Musical 2003 10 30 October 30 2003 Open ended Hayes Theater W 44th St No 240 597 Second Stage Theater Mother Play 82 Play 2024 04 25 April 25 2024 2024 06 16 June 16 2024 Hudson Theatre W 44th St No 141 970 Ambassador Theatre Group Merrily We Roll Along 83 Musical 2023 10 10 October 10 2023 2024 07 07 July 7 2024 Imperial Theatre W 45th St No 249 1443 Shubert Organization Water for Elephants 84 Musical 2024 03 21 March 21 2024 Open ended James Earl Jones Theatre W 48th St No 138 1084 Shubert Organization The Heart of Rock and Roll 85 Musical 2024 04 22 April 22 2024 Open ended John Golden Theatre W 45th St No 252 805 Shubert Organization Stereophonic 86 Play 2024 04 19 April 19 2024 2024 08 18 August 18 2024 Lena Horne Theatre W 47th St No 256 1094 Nederlander Organization Six Musical 2021 10 03 October 3 2021 Open ended Longacre Theatre W 48th St No 220 1091 Shubert Organization Lempicka 87 Musical 2024 04 14 April 14 2024 2024 05 19 May 19 2024 Lunt Fontanne Theatre W 46th St No 205 1519 Nederlander Organization Sweeney Todd The Demon Barber of Fleet Street 88 Musical 2023 03 26 March 26 2023 2024 05 05 May 5 2024 Lyceum Theatre W 45th St No 149 922 Shubert Organization Oh Mary 89 Play 2024 07 11 July 11 2024 2024 09 15 September 15 2024 Lyric Theatre W 43rd St No 214 1622 Ambassador Theatre Group Harry Potter and the Cursed Child Play 2018 04 22 April 22 2018 Open ended Majestic Theatre W 44th St No 245 1645 Shubert Organization Marquis Theatre W 46th St No 210 1612 Nederlander Organization The Wiz 90 Musical 2024 04 17 April 17 2024 Open ended Minskoff Theatre W 45th St No 200 1710 Nederlander Organization The Lion King Musical 1997 11 13 November 13 1997 Open ended Music Box Theatre W 45th St No 239 1009 Shubert Organization Suffs 91 Musical 2024 04 18 April 18 2024 Open ended Nederlander Theatre W 41st St No 208 1235 Nederlander Organization The Who s Tommy 92 Musical 2024 03 28 March 28 2024 Open ended Neil Simon Theatre W 52nd St No 250 1467 Nederlander Organization MJ the Musical Musical 2022 02 01 February 1 2022 Open ended New Amsterdam Theatre W 42nd St No 214 1747 Disney Theatrical Group Aladdin Musical 2014 03 20 March 20 2014 Open ended Palace Theatre W 47th St amp Broadway No 1564 1743 Nederlander Organization Ben Platt Live at the Palace 93 Concert 2024 05 28 May 28 2024 2024 06 15 June 15 2024 Richard Rodgers Theatre W 46th St No 226 1400 Nederlander Organization Hamilton Musical 2015 08 06 August 6 2015 Open ended St James Theatre W 44th St No 246 1709 Jujamcyn Theaters Illinoise 94 Dance 2024 04 24 April 24 2024 2024 08 10 August 10 2024 Samuel J Friedman Theatre W 47th St No 261 650 Manhattan Theatre Club Mary Jane 95 Play 2024 04 23 April 23 2024 2024 06 16 June 16 2024 Shubert Theatre W 44th St No 225 1460 Shubert Organization Hell s Kitchen 96 Musical 2024 04 20 April 20 2024 Open ended Stephen Sondheim Theatre W 43rd St No 124 1055 Roundabout Theatre Company amp Juliet Musical 2022 11 17 November 17 2022 Open ended Studio 54 W 54th St No 254 1006 Roundabout Theatre Company A Wonderful World 97 Musical 2024 11 11 November 11 2024 Open ended Todd Haimes Theatre W 42nd St No 227 740 Roundabout Theatre Company Home 98 Play 2024 06 05 June 5 2024 2024 07 21 July 21 2024 Vivian Beaumont Theater W 65th St No 150 1080 Lincoln Center Theatre Uncle Vanya 99 Play 2024 04 24 April 24 2024 2024 06 16 June 16 2024 Walter Kerr Theatre W 48th St No 219 945 Jujamcyn Theaters Hadestown Musical 2019 04 17 April 17 2019 Open ended Winter Garden Theatre W 50th St amp Broadway No 1634 1526 Shubert Organization Back to the Future The Musical 100 Musical 2023 08 03 August 3 2023 Open ended Upcoming productions edit The following shows are confirmed as future Broadway productions The theatre in which they will run is either not yet known or currently occupied by another show Production Type Theatre Opening Ref Boop The Musical Musical TBA Spring 2025 101 English Play Todd Haimes Theatre 2025 01 23 January 23 2025 102 Eureka Day Play Samuel J Friedman Theatre Fall 2024 103 Left on Tenth Play TBA Fall 2024 104 Othello Play TBA Spring 2025 105 Our Town Play Ethel Barrymore Theatre 2024 10 10 October 10 2024 106 The Pirates of Penzance Musical Todd Haimes Theatre 2025 04 25 April 24 2025 102 Romeo and Juliet Play TBA Fall 2024 107 Smash Musical TBA 2024 25 season 108 Stephen Sondheim s Old Friends Revue Samuel J Friedman Theatre Spring 2025 109 Sunset Boulevard Musical St James Theatre 2024 10 20 October 20 2024 110 Tammy Faye Musical Palace Theatre 2024 11 14 November 14 2024 111 Yellow Face Play Todd Haimes Theatre 2024 10 01 October 1 2024 102 Notes edit Although theater is generally the spelling for this common noun in the United States see American and British English spelling differences many of the extant or closed Broadway venues use or used the spelling Theatre as the proper noun in their names Many performers and trade groups for live dramatic presentations also use the spelling theatre See also editOff Broadway Off Off BroadwayReferences edit Pincus Roth Zachary February 8 2008 Ask Playbill com Broadway or Off Broadway Part I Playbill Archived from the original on March 24 2020 Retrieved August 14 2022 Viagas Robert December 16 2015 Hudson Theatre Will Be Reopened as Broadway House Playbill Archived from the original on August 14 2022 Retrieved August 14 2022 Naden Corinne J 2011 The Golden Age of American Musical Theatre 1943 1965 Scarecrow Press p 1 ISBN 9780810877344 Archived from the original on April 25 2023 Retrieved November 9 2020 How to Tell Broadway from Off Broadway From Playbill Playbill Inc January 13 2019 Archived from the original on October 21 2019 Retrieved February 28 2020 a b 2018 2019 Broadway End of Season Statistics Archived December 6 2019 at the Wayback Machine Broadway League May 28 2019 Martin Shefter 1993 Capital of the American Century The National and International Influence of New York City Russell Sage Foundation p 10 ISBN 9781610444972 Archived from the original on April 25 2023 Retrieved November 20 2015 a b Kenrick John 2003 2005 Theatre in NYC A Brief History I Musicals101 com Archived from the original on October 5 2015 Retrieved January 24 2008 Bowery Theatre history Internet Broadway Database listing Archived October 28 2011 at the Wayback Machine Internet Broadway Database accessed August 26 2011 Snyder Robert W 1995 Jackson Kenneth T ed The Encyclopedia of New York City New Haven Yale University Press p 1226 a b Urban Development spotlightonbroadway com Archived from the original on June 7 2020 Retrieved November 3 2017 a b Longest Running Plays in London and New York Archived March 3 2016 at the Wayback Machine dgillan screaming net stagebeauty net copyright 2007 accessed August 26 2011 a b Sheridan Morley Spread A Little Happiness the First Hundred Years of the British Musical New York Thames and Hudson 1987 ISBN 0 500 01398 5 p 15 Kenrick John Kenrick s summary of New York theatre from 1865 1900 Archived November 13 2007 at the Wayback Machine Musicals101 com accessed August 26 2011 Midkoff Neil Discovering Dorothy home earthlink net Archived from the original on April 25 2009 Kenrick John 2003 Theatre in NYC History Part IV Musicals101 com Archived from the original on September 15 2007 Retrieved January 24 2008 Lubbock Mark 1962 The Complete Book of Light Opera New York Appleton Century Crofts pp 807 8 Atkinson Brooks April 2 1941 Lillian Hellman s Watch on the Rhine Acted With Paul Lukas in the Leading Part PDF The New York Times Archived from the original on January 21 2022 Retrieved October 18 2012 Kenrick John History of The Musical Stage 1950s I When Broadway Ruled Archived November 25 2012 at the Wayback Machine musicals101 com accessed December 2 2012 Kenrick John History of The Musical Stage 1960s II Long Running Hits Archived March 18 2013 at the Wayback Machine musicals101 com accessed December 2 2012 Kenrick John History of The Musical Stage 1970s Part V Change Archived March 18 2013 at the Wayback Machine musicals101 com accessed December 2 2012 Bloom Ken Introduction Archived April 5 2023 at the Wayback Machine Broadway Its History People and Places 2004 books google com Taylor amp Francis ISBN 0 415 93704 3 p xvi Productions Opening During the Season 1950 1951 InternetBroadwayDatabase Archived from the original on February 13 2020 Retrieved February 13 2020 Productions Opening During the Season 1969 1970 InternetBroadwayDatabase Archived from the original on October 29 2013 Broadway 1950 1970 Archived October 29 2013 at the Wayback Machine mapsites net December 2 2012 The name of the organization was Save the Theatres Inc as noted in court papers See Shubert Organization Inc v Landmarks Preservation Commission of the City of New York and Save the Theatres Inc Archived May 21 2013 at the Wayback Machine Supreme Court of New York Appellate Division First Department May 16 1991 accessed March 10 2013 Proposal to Save Morosco and Helen Hayes Theaters LHP Architects Archived from the original on May 20 2015 a b c Helen Epstein March 1 1996 Joe Papp An American Life Hachette Books ISBN 0 306 80676 2 Retrieved February 22 2013 permanent dead link City Panel Near Vote on Save The Theaters Proposals The New York Times New York City April 15 1984 Archived from the original on August 28 2020 Retrieved February 22 2013 Corwin Betty Theatre on film and tape archive Archived September 21 2013 at the Wayback Machine International Association of Libraries and Museums of the Performing Arts accessed May 10 2013 a b Bill Summary amp Status 97th Congress 1981 1982 H R 6885 Thomas loc gov Retrieved February 22 2013 permanent dead link Lynne B Sagalyn 2003 Times Square Roulette Remaking the City Icon MIT Press ISBN 978 0 262 69295 3 Archived from the original on April 25 2023 Retrieved February 26 2013 a b Peter Bosselmann August 28 1985 Representation of Places Imprime Reality and Realism in City Design University of California Press ISBN 978 0 520 91826 9 Archived from the original on April 25 2023 Retrieved February 26 2013 Paulson Michael October 9 2020 Broadway Will Remain Closed at Least Through May The New York Times Archived from the original on October 9 2020 Retrieved October 9 2020 Broadway League Extends Shutdown Until June 2021 Spectrum News October 9 2020 Archived from the original on October 12 2020 Retrieved October 9 2020 Evans Greg May 5 2021 Broadway To Reopen Sept 14 Says Gov Andrew Cuomo Broadway League Cautiously Optimistic Deadline Archived from the original on May 5 2021 Retrieved May 27 2021 Corasaniti Nick June 27 2021 Bruce Springsteen Reopens Broadway Ushering In Theater s Return The New York Times ISSN 0362 4331 Archived from the original on June 28 2021 Retrieved June 29 2021 Dilella Frank August 5 2021 Pass Over becomes first new play on Broadway since COVID shutdown NY1 Archived from the original on August 23 2021 Retrieved August 23 2021 Meyer Dan August 22 2021 Antoinette Chinonye Nwandu s Pass Over Opens on Broadway August 22 Playbill Archived from the original on August 23 2021 Retrieved August 23 2021 Paulson Michael September 3 2021 Musicals Return to Broadway With Waitress and Hadestown The New York Times ISSN 0362 4331 Archived from the original on December 28 2021 Retrieved October 13 2021 Moynihan Caitlin October 8 2020 2020 Tony Awards Nominations Will Be Announced on October 15 Broadway com Archived from the original on January 16 2021 Retrieved October 9 2020 McPhee Ryan May 26 2021 Tony Awards Sidelined by the Pandemic Sets September Date for 4 Hour Celebration Playbill Archived from the original on May 26 2021 Retrieved May 27 2021 Broadway Toughens Vaccine Rule for Kids Under 12 Extends Mask Policy Through April NBC News New York January 10 2022 Archived from the original on January 12 2023 Retrieved January 12 2023 Broadway Adjusts COVID Vaccine Requirements Extends Mask Policy NBC News New York April 15 2022 Archived from the original on January 12 2023 Retrieved January 12 2023 Paulson Michael April 15 2022 Most Broadway Theaters Will Drop Vaccine Checks but Not Mask Mandate The New York Times ISSN 0362 4331 Archived from the original on January 9 2023 Retrieved January 9 2023 Paulson Michael June 21 2022 Broadway Will Drop Mask Mandate Beginning July 1 The New York Times ISSN 0362 4331 Archived from the original on January 9 2023 Retrieved January 9 2023 Paulson Michael August 23 2021 Broadway Power Brokers Pledge Diversity Changes as Theaters Reopen The New York Times ISSN 0362 4331 Archived from the original on March 6 2022 Retrieved March 6 2022 a b Paulson Michael June 9 2022 In a First for Broadway a Theater Will Be Renamed for Lena Horne The New York Times ISSN 0362 4331 Archived from the original on June 10 2022 Retrieved June 10 2022 Paulson Michael March 2 2022 Broadway s Cort Theater Will Have a New Name James Earl Jones The New York Times ISSN 0362 4331 Archived from the original on February 3 2023 Retrieved March 2 2022 James Earl Jones honored in renaming of historic N Y Broadway theater NBC News March 2 2022 Archived from the original on February 3 2023 Retrieved March 3 2022 Evans Greg June 9 2022 Broadway Theater To Be Renamed For Icon Lena Horne In Historic First Deadline Archived from the original on June 9 2022 Retrieved June 10 2022 Broadway s Brooks Atkinson Theatre will be renamed in honor of stage and screen star Lena Horne CBS News June 9 2022 Archived from the original on June 10 2022 Retrieved June 10 2022 Broadway s Cort Theatre renamed to honor actor James Earl Jones CBS News September 12 2022 Archived from the original on September 12 2022 Retrieved September 12 2022 Carlin Dave November 1 2022 Lena Horne becomes first Black woman to have Broadway theater named after her CBS News Archived from the original on November 1 2022 Retrieved November 1 2022 a b Blank Matthew August 21 2011 Weekly Schedule of Current Broadway Shows Playbill Archived from the original on September 5 2011 Simonson Robert April 4 2011 Ask Playbill com When Did Broadway Shows Start Offering Sunday Performances Playbill Archived from the original on August 14 2022 Retrieved August 14 2022 Healy Patrick Time Is Short to See Tony Winners Archived June 25 2017 at the Wayback Machine The New York Times June 14 2010 Shenton Mark Rewarded today gone tomorrow Archived June 26 2010 at the Wayback Machine The Stage June 17 2010 Local 802 Agreement Archived July 28 2013 at the Wayback Machine local802afm org p 10 Retrieved August 10 2013 Take Me Out Extends Run Through June 11th BroadwayWorld com April 8 2022 Archived from the original on April 9 2022 Retrieved April 28 2022 Playbill Staff Long Runs on Broadway Archived October 6 2014 at the Wayback Machine Playbill com November 20 2011 Gans Andrew More Music of the Night The Phantom of the Opera Sets New Closing Date on Broadway PlayBill com Archived from the original on December 4 2022 Retrieved December 3 2022 Kennedy Mark April 17 2023 The Phantom of the Opera closes on Broadway after 35 years apnews com Archived from the original on April 24 2023 Retrieved April 28 2023 TKTS Discount Booths in NYC Theatre Development Fund www tdf org Archived from the original on May 10 2015 Retrieved April 27 2015 Blank Matthew Broadway Rush and Standing Room Only Policies Archived May 10 2008 at the Wayback Machine Playbill com March 1 2011 Bellafante Ginia December 27 2019 9 Ways New York Changed That We Didn t See Coming The New York Times Archived from the original on December 27 2019 Retrieved December 27 2019 Fierberg Ruthie May 20 2018 Why Broadway Is Working to Attract More International Visitors Playbill Retrieved April 22 2024 Tsioulcas Anastasia December 12 2023 Broadway audiences are getting a little bit younger and more diverse NPR Retrieved April 22 2024 Sondheim Stephen 2010 Finishing the Hat Collected Lyrics 1954 1981 with Attendant Comments Principles Heresies Grudges Whines and Anecdotes New York Alfred A Knopf p 382 ISBN 978 0679439073 Archived from the original on April 5 2023 Retrieved December 5 2021 Harrison Thomas 2011 Music in the 1980s Santa Barbara ABC CLIO p 136 ISBN 9780313366000 Archived from the original on April 5 2023 Retrieved December 5 2021 a b c d e Slaton Shannon 2012 Mixing a Musical Broadway Theatrical Sound Mixing Techniques Waltham Focal Press p 51 ISBN 9781136111815 Archived from the original on April 5 2023 Retrieved March 18 2023 Tony Awards History Archived May 7 2010 at the Wayback Machine tonyawards com accessed February 25 2011 McKinley Jesse Tony Awards Finish Up With a Fuzzy Surprise Puppet Musical Wins Big as Does My Own Wife Archived January 21 2022 at the Wayback Machine The New York Times June 7 2004 Venues at the Internet Broadway Database Archived November 24 2010 at the Wayback Machine InternetBroadwayDatabase com accessed August 26 2011 Culwell Block Logan Olivier Winning London Cabaret Revival is Officially Broadway Bound Playbill com July 11 2023 Higgins Molly Broadway s Appropriate Announces 2nd Extension Transfer to Belasco Theatre Playbill com February 13 2024 Gans Andrew The Outsiders Musical Will Arrive on Broadway in Spring 2024 Playbill com August 21 2023 Gans Andrew Mia Farrow and Patti LuPone Will Return to Broadway in The Roommate Playbill com May 2 2024 Gans Andrew Jeremy Jordan and Eva Noblezada to Return to Broadway in The Great Gatsby Musical Playbill com January 16 2024 Hall Margaret November 14 2023 Michael Imperioli to Join Jeremy Strong in Broadway s An Enemy of the People Playbill Retrieved November 14 2023 Higgins Molly Peter Morgan s Patriots Sets 2024 Broadway Bow Playbill com January 22 2024 Masseron Meg amp Gans Andrew The Notebook Musical Will Come to Broadway This Spring playbill com August 3 2023 Hall Margaret Jessica Lange Jim Parsons Celia Keenan Bolger Will Star in Paula Vogel s Mother Play on Broadway Playbill com September 6 2023 Culwell Block Logan Upcoming Broadway Merrily We Roll Along Revival Sets Opening Night Playbill com August 29 2023 Culwell Block Logan Water For Elephants Musical Sets 2024 Broadway Bow Playbill com September 12 2023 Hall Margaret Huey Lewis Jukebox Musical The Heart of Rock and Roll to Arrive on Broadway in Spring 2024 Playbill com November 1 2023 1 Culwell Block Logan Lempicka Is Coming to Broadway Starring Eden Espinosa Playbill com October 30 2023 Culwell Block Logan Josh Groban and Annaleigh Ashford to Lead Broadway Revival of Sweeney Todd Archived October 4 2022 at the Wayback Machine Playbill com September 6 2022 Culwell Block Logan Oh Mary Will Transfer to Broadway s Lyceum Playbill com April 24 2024 Culwell Block Logan The Wiz Sets 2024 Broadway Dates Theatre Get a 1st Look at the New Production Playbill com September 25 2023 Culwell Block Logan Shaina Taub s Suffs Sets 2024 Broadway Bow Hillary Clinton Malala Yousafzai Are Co Producing Playbill com October 18 2023 Higgins Molly and Culwell Block Logan Reimagined The Who s Tommy Sets 2024 Broadway Bow Playbill com October 26 2023 Higgins Molly Ben Platt Will Play Concert Residency at Broadway s Palace Theatre Get a 1st Look at the Refurbished Venue Playbill com March 18 2024 Culwell Block Logan Sufjan Stevens Dance Musical Illinoise Will Open on Broadway This Season Playbill com March 19 2024 Culwell Block Logan Rachel McAdams Will Make Broadway Debut in Amy Herzog s Mary Jane Playbill com September 11 2023 Culwell Block Logan Broadway State of Mind Alicia Keys Musical Hell s Kitchen Sets 2024 Broadway Bow Playbill com December 4 2023 Gans Andrew James Monroe Iglehart Will Star in A Wonderful World The Louis Armstrong Musical on Broadway Playbill com February 28 2024 Harms Talaura Roundabout Sets Dates and Creative Team for Kenny Leon Helmed Home s Broadway Revival Playbill com December 6 2023 Culwell Block Logan A New Translation of Uncle Vanya From Heidi Schreck Is Broadway Bound Playbill com September 14 2023 Culwell Block Logan Back to the Future The Musical Sets Broadway Bow Roger Bart and Hugh Coles to Lead the Cast Archived October 21 2022 at the Wayback Machine Playbill com October 21 2022 BOOP The Musical Will Open on Broadway in Spring 2025 Broadway com Retrieved January 27 2024 a b c Harms Tamara Sanaz Toossi s English David Henry Hwang s Yellow Face New Orleans Themed Pirates of Penzance Join Roundabout Season Playbill com January 9 2024 2 Paulson Michael March 22 2024 Julianna Margulies and Peter Gallagher to Star in Broadway Play The New York Times Paulson Michael March 6 2024 Denzel Washington and Jake Gyllenhaal to Lead Broadway Othello The New York Times ISSN 0362 4331 Retrieved March 6 2024 Paulson Michael October 27 2023 Thornton Wilder s Our Town to Return to Broadway Next Fall The New York Times ISSN 0362 4331 Retrieved October 30 2023 Wright Joshua Rachel Zegler amp Kit Connor Will Star in Sam Gold Directed ROMEO JULIET on Broadway BroadwayWorld com Retrieved April 16 2024 Paulson Michael March 22 2023 A Stage Adaptation of Smash Is Setting Its Sights on Broadway The New York Times ISSN 0362 4331 Archived from the original on March 22 2023 Retrieved March 22 2023 3 Higgins Molly Nicole Scherzinger Led Sunset Boulevard Revival Sets Dates at Broadway s St James Live London Album Due in April Playbill com March 25 2024 Higgins Molly Katie Brayben and Andrew Rannells to Star in Tammy Faye on Broadway Playbill com March 22 2024Further reading editAckerman Alan Liberalism Democracy and the Twentieth Century American Theater American Literary History 2005 17 4 pp 765 780 Bordman Gerald American Musical Comedy Oxford University Press 1982 Bordman Gerald American Operetta Oxford University Press 1981 Knapp Raymond The American Musical and the Formation of National Identity Princeton University Press 2005 Middeke Martin et al The Methuen Drama Guide to Contemporary American Playwrights 2013 Mordden Ethan Anything Goes A History of American Musical Theatre 2013 Roudane Matthew Charles American Drama Since 1960 A Critical History 1996 Shiach Don American Drama 1900 1990 2000 Stempel Larry Showtime A History of the Broadway Musical Theater WW Norton 2010 826 pp Weales Gerald Clifford American drama since World War II 1962 White Timothy R Blue Collar Broadway The Craft and Industry of American Theater 2014 Wolf Stacy Changed for Good A Feminist History of the Broadway Musical 2010 External links edit nbsp Wikimedia Commons has media related to Broadway theatre The Internet Broadway Database The Houses of Broadway The New York Times April 30 2010 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Broadway theatre amp oldid 1221943216, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

article

, read, download, free, free download, mp3, video, mp4, 3gp, jpg, jpeg, gif, png, picture, music, song, movie, book, game, games.