Biggest Showtowns Outside NY

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

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

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Toronto

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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.

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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).

touch is definitely right with that ranking.

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.

=)

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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.

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

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.

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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.

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"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).