Broadway was "born" in 1893?

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Broadway was "born" in 1893?

Posted: 1/20/08 at 3:49pm

Can anybody give me an assist in figuring out why 1893 is considered the birthyear of Broadway? I remember the 1993 Tony Awards making a big deal about the Centennial, and the PBS special a couple of years ago also picked 1893 as the "beginning", but I can't seem to find any explanation as to what happened in this year that signalled that it was the beginning, and who knows how long it will take Scott Siegel to explain it all when he gets around to doing his "Broadway By The Year: 1893" concert!

re: Broadway was 'born' in 1893?

Posted: 1/20/08 at 6:12pm

I only have two guesses:

1. Could be the year when the theatres started moving north to the current theatre district. In the mid-late 1800s most of the New York theatres were clustered further south, in the 14th St. - 30th St. area, but in the 1890s and 1900s many theatres were built in the Times Square area and the district moved uptown.

2. Could be the year the term "Broadway" started to be used.

Both of these are just guesses, though...there are people here with a better background in theatre history than I and I'm sure they'll add their knowledge here. :)

re: Broadway was 'born' in 1893?

Posted: 1/20/08 at 11:10pm

Some people suggest that 1893, the year Ziegfeld arrived in New York was the beginning of the Broadway as we know it. He was certainly the first of the big impresarios, although "The Black Crook" opened in 1866.

I'll do some more research after I post my "OLD BROADWAY PART TWO" thread.

http://www.broadwayworld.com/board/readmessage.cfm?thread=972787#3631451 http://www.broadwayworld.com/board/readmessage.cfm?thread=963561#3533883 http://www.broadwayworld.com/board/readmessage.cfm?thread=955158#3440952 http://www.broadwayworld.com/board/readmessage.cfm?thread=954269#3427915 http://www.broadwayworld.com/board/readmessage.cfm?thread=955012#3441622 http://www.broadwayworld.com/board/readmessage.cfm?thread=954344#3428699

re: Broadway was 'born' in 1893?

Posted: 1/20/08 at 11:58pm

Local 1 was around for 7 years by that time!

re: Broadway was 'born' in 1893?

Posted: 1/21/08 at 12:01am

The answer to both question is YES!

re: Broadway was 'born' in 1893?

Posted: 1/21/08 at 9:53am

The date of 1893 as the birth of Broadway stems from the opening of the American Theatre, the first theatre to be built in what would become Times Square. The American was at 260 West 42nd Street, which I believe is that empty site next to the Eltinge Theatre (aka the entrance to the AMC movie theatres), where a new skyscraper appears to be underway.

Begin at the beginning and go on till you come to the end: then stop.

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