Everything about Broadway Musical totally explained
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply
Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 39 large professional theatres with 500 seats or more located in the
Theatre District of the
New York City borough of
Manhattan. Broadway theatre is the best known form of professional
theatre to the general public in the
United States and the most lucrative for the performers, technicians and others involved in putting on the shows. Along with
London's West End theatre, Broadway theatre is usually considered to represent the highest level of commercial
theatre in the
English-speaking world.
The shows that reach Broadway and thrive there have historically been perceived as generally mainstream and less likely to be
cutting edge than some produced
Off- and
Off-Off-Broadway or in
regional non-profit theatres.
The Broadway theatre district is a key tourist attraction in New York City. According to the
The Broadway League, Broadway shows sell over one and a half billion dollars worth of tickets annually.
History
18th and 19th centuries
New York (and so, America) didn't have a significant theatre presence until about 1750, when actor-managers
Walter Murray and
Thomas Kean established a resident theatre company at the Theatre on Nassau Street, which held about 280 people. They presented Shakespeare plays and
ballad operas such as
The Beggar’s Opera. 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 the summer of 1753, performing
ballad operas and ballad-farces like
Damon and Phillida. The
Revolutionary War suspended theatre in New York, but thereafter theatre resumed, and in 1798, the 2,000-seat
Park Theatre was built on Chatham Street (now called
Park Row).
Theatre in New York moved from downtown gradually to midtown beginning around 1850, seeking less expensive real estate prices. In 1870, the heart of Broadway was in
Union Square, and by the end of the century, many theatres were near
Madison Square. Theatres didn't arrive in the
Times Square area until the early 1900s, and the Broadway theatres didn't consolidate there until a large number of theatres were built around the square in the 1920s and 1930s. Broadway's first "long-run" musical was a 50 performance hit called
The Elves in 1857. New York runs continued to lag far behind those in London, but
Laura Keene's "musical burletta"
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 first theatre piece that conforms to the modern conception of a musical, adding dance and original music that helped to tell the story, is generally considered to be
The Black Crook, which premiered in New York on
September 12 1866. The production was a staggering 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." However, smaller vaudeville and variety houses proliferated, and
Off-Broadway was well established by the end of the 19th century.
A Trip to Coontown (1898) was the first musical comedy entirely produced and performed by
African Americans in a Broadway theatre (largely inspired 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 comprised 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. A few very successful British musicals continued to achieve great success in New York, including
Florodora in 1900-01.
In the early years of the 20th century, translations of popular late-19th 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)). 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.
The motion picture mounted a challenge to the stage. At first, films were silent and presented only limited competition. But by the end of the 1920s, films like
The Jazz Singer could be presented with synchronized sound, and critics wondered if the cinema would replace live theatre altogether. The musicals of the
Roaring Twenties, borrowing from vaudeville,
music hall and other light entertainments, 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 like
Sally;
Lady Be Good;
Sunny;
No, No, Nanette;
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. Clearly, the live theatre survived the invention of cinema.
Leaving these comparatively frivolous entertainments behind, and taking the drama a giant step forward,
Show Boat, premiered on
December 27 1927 at the
Ziegfeld Theatre, representing 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 a total of 572 performances. After the lean years of the
Great Depression, Broadway theatre entered a golden age with the blockbuster hit
Oklahoma!, in 1943, which ran for 2,212 performances. Hit after hit followed on Broadway, and the Broadway theatre attained the highest level of international prestige in theatre.
The
Tony Awards were established in 1947 to recognize achievement in live American theatre, especially Broadway theatre.
Broadway today
Schedule
Although there are now more exceptions than there once were, generally shows with open-ended runs operate on the same schedule, with evening performances Tuesday through Saturday with an 8 p.m. "curtain" and afternoon "matinée" performances on Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday; typically at 2 p.m. on Wednesdays and Saturdays and 3 p.m. on Sundays, making a standard eight performance week. On this schedule, shows don't play on Monday, and the shows and theatres are said to be "dark" on that day. Actors and crew in these shows tend to regard Sunday evening through Tuesday evening as their "weekend". The
Tony Award presentation ceremony is usually held on a Sunday evening in June to fit into this schedule.
In recent years, many shows have moved their Tuesday show time an hour earlier to 7 p.m. The rationale for the move was that fewer tourists took in shows midweek, so the Tuesday crowd in particular depends on local audience members. The earlier curtain therefore allows suburban patrons time after a show to get home by a reasonable hour. Some shows, especially those produced by
Disney, change their performance schedules fairly frequently, depending on the season, in order to maximize access to their targeted audience.
Personnel
Both musicals and stage 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 movies 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 television and in screen roles only secondarily.
In the past, stage actors had a somewhat superior attitude towards other kinds of live performances, such as
vaudeville and
burlesque, which were felt to be tawdry, commercial and low-brow — they considered their own craft to be a higher and more artistic calling. This attitude is reflected in the term used to describe their form of stage performance: "
legitimate theatre". (The abbreviated form "
legit" is still used for live theatre by the entertainment industry newspaper
Variety as part of its unique "slanguage.") This rather condescending attitude also carried over to performers who worked in
radio,
film and
television instead of in "
the theatre", but this attitude is much less prevalent now, especially since film and television work pay so much better than almost all theatrical acting, even Broadway. The split between "legit" theatre and "variety" performances still exists, however, in the structure of the actors' unions:
Actors' Equity represents actors in the legitimate theatre, and the
American Guild of Variety Artists (AGVA) represents them in performances without a "
book" or through-storyline — although it's very rare for Broadway actors not to work under an Equity contract, since most plays and musicals come under that union's jurisdiction.
Almost all of the people involved with a Broadway show at every level are represented by unions or other protective, professional or trade organization. The actors, dancers, singers, chorus members and stage managers are members of
Actors' Equity Association (AEA), musicians are represented by the
American Federation of Musicians (AFM), and stagehands, dressers, hairdressers, designers, box office personnel and ushers all belong to various locals of the
International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employes, also known as "the IA" or "IATSE" (pronounced "eye-ot-zee"). Directors and choreographers belong to the
Society of Stage Directors and Choreographers (SSD&C), playwrights to the
Dramatists Guild, and house managers, company managers and press agents belong to the
Association of Theatrical Press Agents and Managers (ATPAM). Casting directors (who tried in 2002-2004 to become part of ATPAM) is the last major components of Broadway's human infrastructure who are not unionized. (General managers, who run the business affairs of a show, and are frequently producers as well, are management and not labor.)
Producers and theatre owners
Most Broadway producers and theatre owners are members of the
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.
The three non-profit theatre companies with Broadway theatres (
"houses") 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.) However, generally, shows that play in any of the Broadway houses are eligibile for Tony Awards (see below).
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 17 theatres (it recently retained full ownership of the Music Box from the Irving Berlin Estate); The
Nederlander Organization, which controls 9 theatres; and
Jujamcyn, which owns five Broadway houses.
Runs
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, meaning that the length of their presentation isn't set beforehand, but depends on critical response, word of mouth, and the effectiveness of the show's advertising, all of which determine ticket sales. Shows don't necessarily have to make a profit immediately. If they're making their
"nut" (weekly operating expenses), or are losing money at a rate which the producers consider acceptable, they may continue to run in the expectation that, eventually, that'll 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, in order 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 a show money in order to keep it running. (In one case, a theatre owner lent a floundering show money to stay open, even though the production had to move to another owner's theatre because of a previous booking at the original house.)
Some Broadway shows are produced by non-commercial organizations as part of a regular subscription season —
Lincoln Center Theater,
Roundabout Theatre Company, and
Manhattan Theatre Club are the three non-profit theatre companies that currently have permanent Broadway venues. Some other productions are produced on Broadway with "limited engagement runs" for a number of 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,
Historically, musicals on Broadway tend to have longer runs than do
"straight" (for example 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.
Touring
In addition to long runs in Broadway theatres, producers often remount their productions with a new cast and crew for the Broadway national tour, which travels to theatres in major cities across the country — the bigger and more successful shows may have several of these touring companies out at a time, some of them "sitting down" in other cities for their own long runs. Smaller cities are eventually serviced by "bus & truck" tours, so-called because the cast generally travels by bus (instead of by air) and the sets and equipment by truck. Tours of this type, which frequently feature a reduced physical production to accommodate smaller venues and tighter schedules, often play "split weeks" (half a week in one town and the second half in another) or "one-nighters", whereas the larger tours will generally play for one or two weeks per city at a minimum. The
Touring Broadway Awards, presented by The
Broadway League, honor excellence in touring Broadway.
Audience
Seeing a Broadway show is a common
tourist activity in New York, and Broadway theatre generates billions of dollars annually. The
TKTS booths — one in
Duffy Square (47th Street between Broadway and 7th Avenue) and one in Lower Manhattan (199 Water Street — Corner of Front & John Streets) — sell same-day tickets for many Broadway and
Off-Broadway shows at a discount of either 25%, 35% or 50%. This service helps sell seats that would otherwise go empty, and makes seeing a show in New York more affordable. 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.
Some theatregoers prefer the more experimental, challenging, and intimate performances possible in smaller theatres, which are referred to as
Off-Broadway and
Off-Off-Broadway (though some may be physically located on or near Broadway). An example of this would be the hit musical
Spring Awakening, which began its run
Off-Broadway in a small, intimate environment, and continued onto Broadway, where it still gives the similar, intimate experience. 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 Theatre District, which criteria defines Broadway theatre.
Total Broadway attendance in the 2006-2007 season was just over 12 million. This was approximately the same as London's
West End theatre (which reported total attendance of 12.357 for major commercial and grant-aided theatres in Central London for 2006). Attendance rose slightly from the previous season (2005-2006), when attendance first reached the 12 million mark.
Tony Awards
Broadway shows and artists are honored every June when the Antoinette Perry Awards (
Tony Awards) are given by the
American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League. The "Tony" is Broadway's most prestigious award, the importance of which has increased since the annual broadcast on
television began. In a strategy to improve the television ratings, celebrities are often chosen to host the show, like
Hugh Jackman and
Rosie O'Donnell, in addition to celebrity presenters, many with little or no connection to the theater.
While some critics have felt that the show should focus on celebrating the stage, others recognize the positive impact that famous faces lend to selling more tickets and bringing more people to the theatre. The performances from Broadway musicals on the telecast have also been cited as vital to the survival of many Broadway shows. Many theatre people, notably critic
Frank Rich, dismiss the Tony awards as little more than a commercial for the limited world of Broadway, which after all can only support a maximum of two dozen shows a season, and constantly call for the awards to embrace
off-Broadway theatre as well. (Other awards given to New York theatrical productions, such as the
Drama Desk Award and the
Outer Circle Critics Award, are not limited to Broadway productions, and honor shows that are presented throughout the city.)
List of Broadway theatres
- If no show is currently running, the play listed is the next show planned (dates marked with an *).
- If the next show planned isn't announced, the applicable columns are left blank.
| Theatre |
Current show |
Address |
Capacity |
Opening
date |
Closing
date |
| Ambassador Theatre |
Chicago |
219 West 49th Street |
1120 |
1996-11-14November 14, 1996 |
Open-ended |
| American Airlines Theatre |
Les Liaisons Dangereuses |
229 West 42nd Street |
740 |
2008-05-01May 1, 2008 |
2008-07-06July 6, 2008 |
| Brooks Atkinson Theatre |
Grease |
256 West 47th Street |
1109 |
2007-08-19August 19, 2007 |
Open-ended |
| Ethel Barrymore Theatre |
November |
243 West 47th Street |
1096 |
2008-01-17January 17, 2008 |
Open-ended |
| Belasco Theatre |
Passing Strange |
111 West 44th Street |
1040 |
2008-02-28February 28, 2008 |
Open-ended |
| Vivian Beaumont Theatre (at Lincoln Center) |
South Pacific |
150 West 65th Street |
1105 |
2008-04-03April 3, 2008 |
Open-ended |
| Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre |
The Country Girl |
242 West 45th Street |
1101 |
2008-04-27April 27, 2008 |
2008-07-20July 20, 2008 |
| Biltmore Theatre |
Top Girls |
261 West 47th Street |
650 |
2008-05-07May 7, 2008 |
2008-06-22June 22, 2008 |
| Booth Theatre |
Thurgood |
222 West 45th Street |
806 |
2008-04-30April 30, 2008 |
2008-08-03August 3, 2008 |
| Broadhurst Theatre |
Cat on a Hot Tin Roof |
235 West 44th Street |
1218 |
2008-03-06March 6, 2008 |
2008-06-15June 15, 2008 |
| The Broadway Theatre |
Cirque Dreams Jungle Fantasy |
1681 Broadway |
1761 |
2008-06-16June 16, 2008 * |
2008-08-24August 24, 2008 |
| Circle in the Square Theatre |
|
235 West 50th Street |
776 |
|
|
| Cort Theatre |
The 39 Steps |
138 West 48th Street |
1102 |
2008-01-15 January 15, 2008 |
Open-ended |
| George Gershwin Theatre |
Wicked |
222 West 51st Street |
1935 |
2003-10-30October 30, 2003 |
Open-ended |
| John Golden Theatre |
Avenue Q |
252 West 45th Street |
805 |
2003-07-31July 31, 2003 |
Open-ended |
| Helen Hayes Theatre |
Xanadu |
240 West 44th Street |
597 |
2007-07-10July 10, 2007 |
Open-ended |
| Hilton Theatre |
Young Frankenstein |
213 West 42nd Street |
1829 |
2007-11-08November 8, 2007 |
Open-ended |
| Al Hirschfeld Theatre |
Curtains |
302 West 45th Street |
1437 |
2007-03-22March 22, 2007 |
2008-06-29June 29, 2008 |
| Imperial Theatre |
Billy Elliot the Musical |
249 West 45th Street |
1435 |
2008-10-16November 13, 2008 * |
Open-ended |
| Walter Kerr Theatre |
A Catered Affair |
219 West 48th Street |
947 |
2008-04-17April 17, 2008 |
Open-ended |
| Longacre Theatre |
Boeing Boeing |
220 West 48th Street |
1095 |
2008-05-04May 4, 2008 |
Open-ended |
| Lunt-Fontanne Theatre |
The Little Mermaid |
205 West 46th Street |
1509 |
2008-01-10January 10, 2008 |
Open-ended |
| Lyceum Theatre |
title of show |
149 West 45th Street |
943 |
2008-07-05July 5, 2008 * |
Open-ended |
| Majestic Theatre |
The Phantom of the Opera |
247 West 44th Street |
1609 |
1988-01-26January 26, 1988 |
Open-ended |
| Marquis Theatre |
Cry-Baby |
1535 Broadway |
1615 |
2008-04-24April 24, 2008 |
Open-ended |
| Minskoff Theatre |
The Lion King |
200 West 45th Street |
1710 |
1997-11-13November 13, 1997 |
Open-ended |
| Music Box Theatre |
|
239 West 45th Street |
1025 |
2007-12-04December 4, 2007 |
Open-ended |
| Nederlander Theatre |
Rent |
208 West 41st Street |
1232 |
1996-04-29April 29, 1996 |
2008-09-07September 7, 2008 |
| New Amsterdam Theatre |
Mary Poppins |
214 West 42nd Street |
1801 |
2006-11-16November 16, 2006 |
Open-ended |
| Eugene O'Neill Theatre |
Spring Awakening |
230 West 49th Street |
1108 |
2006-12-10December 10, 2006 |
Open-ended |
| Palace Theatre |
Legally Blonde |
1564 Broadway |
1743 |
2007-04-29April 29, 2007 |
Open-ended |
| Richard Rodgers Theatre |
In the Heights |
226 West 46th Street |
1380 |
2008-03-09March 9, 2008 |
Open-ended |
| Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre |
A Chorus Line |
236 West 45th Street |
1093 |
2006-10-05October 5, 2006 |
Open-ended |
| Shubert Theatre |
Spamalot |
225 West 44th Street |
1468 |
2005-03-17March 17, 2005 |
Open-ended |
| Neil Simon Theatre |
Hairspray |
250 West 52nd Street |
1428 |
2002-08-15August 15, 2002 |
Open-ended |
| St. James Theatre |
|
246 West 44th Street |
1710 |
2008-03-27March 27, 2008 |
Open-ended |
| Studio 54 |
Sunday in the Park with George |
254 West 54th Street |
922 |
2008-02-21February 21, 2008 |
2008-06-15June 29, 2008 |
| August Wilson Theatre |
Jersey Boys |
245 West 52nd Street |
1222 |
2005-11-06November 6, 2005 |
Open-ended |
| Winter Garden Theatre |
Mamma Mia! |
1634 Broadway |
1498 |
2001-10-18October 18, 2001 |
Open-ended |
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