Broadway/Off-Broadway

[TheNPH]

Posted: 6/22/04 at 11:58am

This is probably a stupid question, but what determines if a show is on Broadway or off-Broadway? Is it only location, or does it also have to do with the actors being equity members?

[JohnPopa]

Posted: 6/22/04 at 12:18pm

Size of the house.

499 and under is off-Broadway.

500 and up is Broadway.

(I think off-Broadway has different union regulations but I don't think it's for actors. I *think* all off-Broadway actors are Union. I could be wrong.)

[TheNPH]

Posted: 6/22/04 at 12:37pm

Does that mean if a theatre opened up on 31th street, it could still be considered broadway, even though it is out of the area? Or does it have to be in the theatre district?

[chinkie azn jai]

Posted: 6/22/04 at 12:40pm

Im pretty sure that to be considered a broadway show, you have to be inside the theatre district and have 500+ seats.

[BlueWizard]

Posted: 6/22/04 at 12:41pm

Yeah, I'm pretty sure it doesn't have to be in the Broadway "area" either.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but Off-Broadway is actually 100-499 seats. There's also Off-Off-Broadway, which is 1-99 seats.

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 6/22/04 at 12:43pm

It's a real estate issue and has nothing whatsoever to do with Equity (all Broadway and Off-Broadway houses are Equity) or the quality of the show (much of the best theatre in town is off-Broadway). It really is not about location, though most of the eligible theatres are between 41st and 54th, between 6th and 8th Avenues (Lincoln Center's Vivian Beaumont is a Broadway eligible house and that's at 66th Street).

The League of American Theatres (a group of very rich theatre owners and producers) has designated certain theatres in New York to be Broadway theatres. While their rules state that Broadway theatres must have a minimum of 500 seats and be dedicated to the production of so-called legitimate theatre, not every theatre in New York City that meets those requirements (the 1900 seat Delacorte in Central Park, for one) have been designated "Broadway" theatres. It's really an exclusive club with very few members (roughly 40 theatres, half owned and operated by the Shubert Org., the rest by Jujamcyn, the Nederlanders, and a series of individual owners and not-for-profits -- MTC, Roundabout, Lincoln Center). And they make the rules so that so only certain major players can "play" and compete with them (and be eligible for the Tonys which they co-sponsor with the American Theatre Wing).

Each Broadway theatre has specific contracts with Actors Equity, the Stagehand union, the musicians union et al, to only use their members for any show that plays there.

Off-Broadway theatres aren't an exclusive club (there's no off-Broadway equivalent to the League) but more of a loose amalgam of commercial and not-for profit theatres located literally all over the city, all having between 100 and 499 seats (for union purposes). These theatres have a different set of contracts with the unions (with lower minimums than Broadway), with costs being designated by the size of the theatre (i.e. a 101 seat theatre can pay a union stage hand a lower rate than a 499 seat theatre). Some of the major not-for-profits are The Public (several stages), Manhattan Theatre Club (two off Broadway stages, one Broadway one -- the Biltmore), Playwrights Horizons, Atlantic Theatre Company, The Vineyard, Signature Theatre, Lincoln Center's Mitzi Newhouse Theatre, Second Stage, New York Theatre Workshop and many others.

Theatres with fewer than 100 seats (often called "black box" theatres) are automatically Off-Off-Broadway and don't typically have any standing contracts with the unions. Lots of very interesting, sometimes experimental work happens in these theatres, and you might be surprised at the quality of the some of the acting, writing, directing etc..... And major artists use these spaces (PS122, La Mama, etc...) to work on their new shows before they go into the larger venues.

Updated On: 6/22/04 at 12:43 PM

[magruder]

Posted: 6/22/04 at 12:45pm

The vast majority of Broadway theatres are between 41st Street and 54th Street, with the exception of the Vivian Beaumont, which is located at Lincoln Center, near 65th Street. I suppose a theatre with more than 500 seats could open elsewhere and be considered to qualify as a Broadway house. However, the theatres on the periphery of the theatre district, like the Venice/New Century, the Ziegfeld, Jolson's 59th Street, the Harkness and the Empire, often had difficulty attracting tenants because of their offbeat location and ended up either demolished or converted to other use. So the chances of a new Broadway theatre located outside of the current district seem slight.

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 6/22/04 at 4:41pm

I've often wondered why Madison Square Garden diesn't qualify. Menken's A Christmas Carol was ineligible the first time it ran.

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 6/22/04 at 6:08pm

To be Broadway-eligible, the theatre must be solely (or at least predominately) dedicated to "legitimate" theatrical productions (the occasional concert is fine). The Theatre at Madison Square Garden is primarily a concert venue that will book things like "A Christmas Carol" perhaps once a year, so the League won't rule it to be an eligible venue. Of course, those jokers on the nominating committee can do whatever they want year to year in terms of eligiblity rules and requirements. I saw a revival of "Porgy and Bess" at Radio City Music Hall back in '83 that somehow was ruled Tony eligible -- a brilliant production, by the way, but never before or since has Radio City been considered a Broadway eligible house (I guess it was the prestige factor of "Porgy and Bess" that made the committee make an exception -- those guys can really do whatever they want to).

Updated On: 6/22/04 at 06:08 PM