Defining "Broadway"?

[kmap]

Posted: 10/2/20 at 12:08am

Today, a "broadway" theatre is defined by having a minimum of 500 seats and being located in the NYC theatre district (with the exception of the Beaumont, I know). 

I'm curious when and how this was codified and by whom and my research has turned up dry. Any insight appreciated! 

[JBroadway]

Posted: 10/2/20 at 12:46am

First of all, I believe the rule is that the theatre has to be in Manhattan, not that it has to be in the theatre district specifically - happy to be corrected if I'm wrong.

And with that in mind, secondly: 

Having 500+ seats and being in Manhattan are not the "definition" of a Broadway theatre - they are some of the required qualifications to become a Broadway theatre. It's a subtle but important distinction, because there are several theatres that meet these qualifications, but are not Broadway theatres. This is simply because the people who run those theatres (like City Center, Radio City, The Armory, The Apollo, New Victory etc.) have decided that they do not want to operate as Broadway theatres. 

The "definition" of a Broadway theatre is simply a theatre that operates under Broadway-specific contracts, in addition to meeting the physical requirement, and "registering" with the Broadway League to be included as a Broadway theatre (I'm not sure if "registering" is exactly the right word to describe the process, but I believe it conveys the basic concept of what happens when a theatre becomes a Broadway theatre) 

Hope that helps answer your question. And of course, to those reading, I'm happy to be corrected on any of this if anything I said is inaccurate - I'm certainly not the biggest expert on this board on topics likes this. 

Updated On: 10/2/20 at 12:46 AM

[itsjustmejonhotmailcom]

Posted: 10/2/20 at 1:01am

With one exception: the Hayes has 499 seats but is grandfathered in because it was "deemed “eligible Broadway theatres” prior to the amendment of the rule (effective for the 1989–90 Season) which increased the minimum seating requirement from 499 to 500 and thus each of these theatres is “grandfathered” and continues to be deemed eligible provided it does not reduce its seating capacity to below the number of seats such theatre made available to the public on June 1, 1989."

[JBroadway]

Posted: 10/2/20 at 1:20am

itsjustmejonhotmailcom said: "With one exception: the Hayes has 499 seats"

I don't believe that's accurate - at least not now. The Hayes is currently listed as having 597 seats. 

I wondered if maybe this was due to the recent renovation, so I went back and looked at the weekly seating capacity for The Humans (the final show to play the Hayes before the renovation), and it seems the capacity during that run was 576.

Is it possible that it used to have 499 and they added 70+ seats sometime between 1989 and 2016? That seems like a large increase for a theatre so small. 

[itsjustmejonhotmailcom]

Posted: 10/2/20 at 1:37am

@JBroadway you're correct! A quick search doesn't show when it changed from 499 to 597. Anyone know when that happened? The official Tony rules still list it at 499. I'm sure the Broadway League will have no problems with reopening even though they can't keep their official documents up to date :P