Perelman Arts Q

[OuttaTowner]

Posted: 4/2/25 at 4:41pm

Would the physical location of the PAC classify its venues as off Broadway theaters, even though they can be configured to seat an audience of 1200?  

Am curious what awards/recognitions that theatrical productions playing there would be eligible for?

[TheatreFan4]

Posted: 4/2/25 at 6:24pm

Id imagine high capacity configuration would be reserved for things like concerts and speaking engagements with celebrities versus actual productions which would be considered Off Broadway.

[Bobster159]

Posted: 4/2/25 at 8:31pm

The Off-Broadway League defines Off-Broadway as venues with 99 to 499 seats affiliated with them; those are the ones eligible for the 'standard' Off-Broadway awards.

There are quite a few venues that some would call Off-Broadway that aren't by this definition. The two main BAM venues, The Apollo, and Delacorte, to name a few. Perelman falls into this same bucket.

Separately, there are union contracts that some might use to determine Off-Broadway, but these vary and are only partially dictated by venue size.

[OuttaTowner]

Posted: 4/3/25 at 5:01am

Thanks - I know that individually, the PAC venues would - in terms of size - classify them as OB.
Was curious if Jellicle Ball could have been Tony eligible when playing at PAC had they used the biggest venue configuration. 

[Bobster159]

Posted: 4/3/25 at 11:43am

Theoretically, they could apply to become a Broadway Theater like the Lincoln Center did for the Beaumont. That would be madness, restricting what they could do and massively increasing costs. PAC was not founded to produce Broadway shows or even Broadway tryouts; it's a multidisciplinary arts center with flexible spaces. They mostly don't do plays and musicals.

[chrishuyen]

Posted: 4/3/25 at 11:49am

Tony eligibility is also technically restricted by geography and the "official" Broadway houses (which I think are enumerated specifically in the rules).  So just because a theater is over 500 seats doesn't mean it would be Tony eligible (which is the case for the other theaters mentioned by Bobster).

[Bobster159]

Posted: 4/3/25 at 11:57am

chrishuyen said: "Tony eligibility is also technically restricted by geography and the "official" Broadway houses (which I think are enumerated specifically in the rules). So just because a theater is over 500 seats doesn't mean it would be Tony eligible (which is the case for the other theaters mentioned by Bobster)."

All true, but for whatever reason, the League ignored that restriction when they admitted the Beaumont as a Broadway house. I can't see any scenario where PAC will apply, so it's no more than hypothetical, but I've no idea what they'd say if they tried! The Apollo is the far more likely case, and they'd find it hard to say no to them, I'd guess.

[Kad]

Posted: 4/3/25 at 11:57am

The official definitions of Broadway v Off Broadway create an odd awards blindspot for these larger venues that are not Broadway. Something at PAC or the Delacorte would be ineligible for both Tonys or Lortel Awards (Lortels being the "official" Tony equivalent for off Bway)- the venues are too large for the latter and not within the geographical confines of the former. The productions are then really only eligible for awards like Drama Desks or the various other smaller awards that operate under their own categorization rules.

[HogansHero]

Posted: 4/4/25 at 11:12pm

Rule 2(f) states 3 eligibility requirements: 500 or more seats, primarily used for the presentation of legitimate theatrical productions, and deemed qualified by the Admin Committee. The Perelman is not used primarily for legitimate productions so it plainly does not qualify and it seems beyond unlikely to me that the Admin committee would entertain an argument that it is, short of a major overhaul of its mission and operation, something that seems antithetical to PAC's essence.