Broadway vs. Off-Broadway vs. Off-Off-Broadway

[JBroadway]

Posted: 11/9/14 at 10:55pm

My apologies if there has been a thread about this before. I did a search but couldn't find one.

I've been wondering lately about the factors that the classification of theatres into these 3 categories. This is what I could find from the internet:

Broadway=500+ seats
Off-Broadway= 100-500 seats
Off-Off-Broadway= less than 100 seats

However, this definition doesn't always seem to hold up. For example:

The Delacorte theatre has 1,800 but is considered Off-Broadway.
The Harvey Theatre at BAM has 834 seats, but is considered off-off (right?)
The mainstage at City Center as 2,257 seats but is considered Off-Broadway

There just doesn't seem to be a lot of consistency in defining it by seat capacity. Is there some other big factor besides seating capacity that I'm missing?

[AEA AGMA SM]

Posted: 11/9/14 at 11:29pm

Equity defines the "Broadway" region in Manhattan as "an area bounded by Fifth and Ninth Avenues from 34th Street to 56th Street and by Fifth Avenue and the Hudson River from 56th Street to 72nd Street." Any theatre in that geographical region that has more than 499 seat can not use the Off-Broadway contract. Some spaces, such as City Center, could qualify as a Broadway/Tony eligible house if the owners and/or producers wanted to mount a production there and petition for eligibility.

And not every show that the general public would consider as Off-Broadway is utilizing the Off-Broadway contract. You'll find shows operating under the LORT contract, ANTC, TYA, Mini, Transition, and LOA contracts. Of course, even though those shows are not under the actual Off-Broadway contract you'll find most people lump them all together.

Off-Off-Broadway is not a term that Equity officially recognizes. You'll find a large majority of people in the industry consider that term to be applied to Showcase productions, readings, festivals, etc (i.e. productions not under a full contract, where everyone involved is working for a stipend and not a salary).