Thoughts on Theatre: What IS Broadway?

A common question, actually. It is such a common word in the world of modern theatre, yet don’t assume that everybody actually knows what “Broadway” means, or even what it represents. Simply put, Broadway is a part of New York City in the Midtown Manhattan area that has over 40 professional theatres, each with seating for at least 500 people. It has the reputation of being the highest level of professional live theatre in the USA, perhaps the world. Broadway is particularly associated with the American Musical, and in recent years that has been the favorite genre. However, other plays are included. For example, The Broadway League reports that 39 productions opened during the 2015–2016 season which included 16 musicals (11 new, 5 revivals), 20 plays (9 new, 11 revivals), and 3 specials.

Given its prominence, Broadway theatre is also a thriving industry. The Broadway League provides statistics for each season. In 2015–2016, over 13 million tickets were sold. With the average amount paid per ticket being over $100. Broadway shows yielded over $1.3 billion in grosses. (More here: https://www.broadwayleague.com/press/press-releases/2015-2016-broadway-end-of-season-statistics/). By union rates, pay for an ensemble member to a musical begins at around $1800 per week, and goes up from there. For example, Bloomberg.com did a financial breakdown of Wicked that showed the writers have earned over $90 million, the producers earned over $40 million, and in the the show’s first year (2004) the budget line for “stars” was 2.4 million. (More details here: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2012-04-11/-wicked-team-got-95-million-of-show-s-300-million-pie).

Finally, we should mention that with the rise of Broadway led to other classifications, most famously Off-Broadway and Off-Off Broadway. These shows tend to be smaller, by comparison, and also more experimental. Some hits Off-Broadway will be moved to Broadway to broaden their appeal.