#51
I'd have to agree that the most common misconception about Broadway -- i.e., the one most non-regular theatergoers hold -- is that "Broadway," "Off-Broadway," and "Off-Off-Broadway" are terms defined expressly by location, when in actuality the number of seats in a house is the primary determining factor.
Also, like many other people, as a kid, I imagined that Broadway theaters were the biggest and most state-of-the-art theaters in the country or the world. It was shocking to discover in high school that the Benedum Center (Pittsburgh's primary road-show house) has a capacity around 1,000 people higher than the largest Broadway house (the Gershwin, yeah?).
My mother, bless her soul, who has made such great strides in her theater knowledge over the years, still doesn't entirely understand some basic concepts. When we walk around Manhattan, she's constantly quizzing herself on which direction we're heading and what route she might hypothetically take to X, Y, or Z locations.
Anyway, as the lights came up on Barrow Street's OUR TOWN intermission this past spring, she turned to me and said earnestly -- and with great confidence -- "So, this is like New York's version of community theater, then?"
Posted: 11/25/10 at 11:39am
I'd have to agree that the most common misconception about Broadway -- i.e., the one most non-regular theatergoers hold -- is that "Broadway," "Off-Broadway," and "Off-Off-Broadway" are terms defined expressly by location, when in actuality the number of seats in a house is the primary determining factor.
Also, like many other people, as a kid, I imagined that Broadway theaters were the biggest and most state-of-the-art theaters in the country or the world. It was shocking to discover in high school that the Benedum Center (Pittsburgh's primary road-show house) has a capacity around 1,000 people higher than the largest Broadway house (the Gershwin, yeah?).
My mother, bless her soul, who has made such great strides in her theater knowledge over the years, still doesn't entirely understand some basic concepts. When we walk around Manhattan, she's constantly quizzing herself on which direction we're heading and what route she might hypothetically take to X, Y, or Z locations.
Anyway, as the lights came up on Barrow Street's OUR TOWN intermission this past spring, she turned to me and said earnestly -- and with great confidence -- "So, this is like New York's version of community theater, then?"
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