Biggest Showtowns Outside NY

[QueenAnne82]

Posted: 8/17/05 at 11:17am

Who's considered the big "players" besides NY?

[millie_dillmount]

Posted: 8/17/05 at 11:24am

Would big urban areas like L.A., Chicago, Boston, Philadelphia, and Washington, DC be considered showtowns?

[Fosse76]

Posted: 8/17/05 at 11:30am

Chicago is considered to be the best theatre town in the country, by MANY New York theatre professionals. If you want to get into theatre, that's the place to start.

[Bwaybaby109]

Posted: 8/17/05 at 11:31am

atlanta is a good place to find theatre work with the Alliance Theatre and Theatre of the Stars.

[South Fl Marc]

Posted: 8/17/05 at 11:35am

For sheer numbers, Chicago comes closest to New York City.
Personally I think DC has the finest theatres in the US, with The Shakespeare Theatre leading the pack.

[WOSQ]

Posted: 8/17/05 at 11:35am

Toronto

[apdarcey]

Posted: 8/17/05 at 11:36am

dc is not a theatre town by any means. outside of the us london is obviously the biggest theatre town.

[touchmeinthemorning]

Posted: 8/17/05 at 11:41am

The ranking usually looks something like this:

1. NYC
2. London
3. Toronto
4. Sydney
5. Chicago

Other big theatre cities in the US include Atlanta, Dallas, San Francisco, and Los Angeles. Florida has a ton of regional theatres as does Ohio...but none so concentrated in one city.

[QueenAnne82]

Posted: 8/17/05 at 11:42am

oh... we have an AWESOME shakespeare theater in Chi town! The theater is on Navy Pier... an amazing space, and they always do incredible productions. If you're ever in the windy city, you've got to check it out.

[Fosse76]

Posted: 8/17/05 at 12:21pm

Whose ranking is that? I was thinking stateside...but I think London is pretty close as New York. Does Toronto really have that much theatre? I'd never heard Sydney in connection with theatre before (not disputing you at all, just curious).

[Borstalboy]

Posted: 8/17/05 at 12:27pm

Definitely NOT Seattle!

[apdarcey]

Posted: 8/17/05 at 1:35pm

touch is definitely right with that ranking.

[colleen_lee]

Posted: 8/17/05 at 1:37pm

Minneapolis/St. Paul surprisingly has a huge theater scene. They're actually second to New York in theaters per capita and have some big hitters like Tony Award winners The Guthrie, The Children's Theater and Theatre de la Jeune Lune.

[touchmeinthemorning]

Posted: 8/17/05 at 1:42pm

Actually, last I read, St Paul had MORE theatres per person than NYC.

However, three theatres and 8 people living there makes for an odd ratio.

=)

[Kringas]

Posted: 8/17/05 at 1:42pm

Boise, Idaho has a thriving theatre scene, particulary scatological performance art.

[CodeName]

Posted: 8/17/05 at 1:48pm

DC may surprise some people. I am finding more things I want to see every day, not only in DC but also in Northern VA. It certainly cannot compete with NYC or London, but DC has a lot to offer.

[bjivie2]

Posted: 8/17/05 at 2:12pm

Borstal Boy, I think you'd be surprised. I've seen many times a ranking of US theatre cities that looks like this...

1. New York
2. Chicago
3. Seattle
4. Boston

From what I know, that ranking is based on the density of theatres within the city, i.e. they take the population of the city, and divide it by how many theatres are in the city and you get a number that the cities are ranked by. I love Seattle as a theatre city, and I think it's growing quickly.

[BobbyBubby]

Posted: 8/17/05 at 2:14pm

Seattle is hardly a "big player" anymore. Hosting 1 or 2 pre Broadway tryouts hardly makes it a big player.

[bjivie2]

Posted: 8/17/05 at 2:18pm

Anymore? When was it a "big player"?? Hosting Broadway tryouts isn't the only thing that can make you a reputable theatre city.

[WOSQ]

Posted: 8/17/05 at 2:26pm

You could do a nice theatre and beach vacation in Sydney. I have.

If you go 'in season' you can factor in music, opera and dance and then you'll be really pressed for time to hit the beaches where it could be a trifle chilly anyway.

As for the US, I look not just at the road houses, but the resident theatres as well. This would make Boston, DC, Chicago, Seattle, SF and LA pretty good. New Haven/Hartford has two road houses plus three major regional theatres and Goodspeed. That's a good standard for two small cities.

[BobbyBubby]

Posted: 8/17/05 at 2:29pm

It was a big player for a while, when Daniel Sullivan ran the rep.

Yeah, no. Seattle sucks for everything other than tryouts.
I guess I might think otherwise if I were an actor trying to believe my town was bigger than it is.


Updated On: 8/17/05 at 02:29 PM

[Justice]

Posted: 8/17/05 at 2:32pm

Thank you Colleen...

St. Paul, Minnesota is actually second to NYC in terms of theatres. Shows like The Lion King and Mamma Mia debuted there, as well as many other Broadway shows before heading that way. Also, a few years ago Mercedes rhuel and Patrick Stewart starred in Virgina Woolf at the Guthrie - a VERY well known theatre.

[BrookArtsCenter]

Posted: 8/17/05 at 2:47pm

Bound Brook, New Jersey

Hey, I can dream, can't I? :)

[Fosse76]

Posted: 8/17/05 at 3:20pm

"As for the US, I look not just at the road houses, but the resident theatres as well. This would make Boston, DC, Chicago, Seattle, SF and LA pretty good. New Haven/Hartford has two road houses plus three major regional theatres and Goodspeed. That's a good standard for two small cities. "

I wasn't even thinking about the road houses for Chicago, since Clear Channel hardly books anything anymore. :o) I think, generally speaking, Chicago sends more works to New York than any other American city. Most of the theatre scene in Chicago is not-for-profit and there are a lot of fringe groups. If you count the number of theatre company's (or groups), then Chicago is the top market, higher than New York. There is a lot of sharing when it comes to stages (they don't all perform works simultaneously...though it would be interesting).

[GovernorSlaton]

Posted: 8/17/05 at 3:25pm

Odessa, Texas...almost...