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Off Broadway theater is an umbrella term for a defined set of plays, musicals or revues performed in New York City
New York City

The City of New York is the List of United States cities by population in the United States, while the New York metropolitan area ranks among the List of urban areas by population....
. Originally referring to the location of a venue and its productions on a street intersecting Broadway
Broadway (New York City)

Broadway, as the name implies, is a wide avenue in New York City. While New York has several other Broadways, in the context of the city it usually refers to the Manhattan street....
 in Manhattan
Manhattan

Manhattan is one of the five borough of New York City, located primarily on Manhattan Island at the mouth of the Hudson River.With a United States Census of 1,620,867 living in a land area of 22.96 square miles , Manhattan, coextensive with New York County, is the most population density county in the United States, w...
's Theatre District
Theatre District, New York

The Theatre District is an area in Midtown Manhattan in which are located most Broadway theatres as well as many other theatres, movie theatres, restaurants, hotels and other places of entertainment....
, the hub of the theater industry in the United States
United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
, the term later became defined by the League of Off-Broadway Theatres and Producers as a professional venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 99 and 500, or a specific production that appears in such a venue, and which adheres to related trade union
Trade union

A trade union or labor union is an organization run by and for workers who have banded together to achieve common goals in key areas such as wages, hours, and working conditions....
 and other contracts.

Previously, regardless of the size of the venue, a theatre could not be considered Off Broadway if it were within the "Broadway Box" (the traditional Broadway Theater District).






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Off Broadway theater is an umbrella term for a defined set of plays, musicals or revues performed in New York City
New York City

The City of New York is the List of United States cities by population in the United States, while the New York metropolitan area ranks among the List of urban areas by population....
. Originally referring to the location of a venue and its productions on a street intersecting Broadway
Broadway (New York City)

Broadway, as the name implies, is a wide avenue in New York City. While New York has several other Broadways, in the context of the city it usually refers to the Manhattan street....
 in Manhattan
Manhattan

Manhattan is one of the five borough of New York City, located primarily on Manhattan Island at the mouth of the Hudson River.With a United States Census of 1,620,867 living in a land area of 22.96 square miles , Manhattan, coextensive with New York County, is the most population density county in the United States, w...
's Theatre District
Theatre District, New York

The Theatre District is an area in Midtown Manhattan in which are located most Broadway theatres as well as many other theatres, movie theatres, restaurants, hotels and other places of entertainment....
, the hub of the theater industry in the United States
United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
, the term later became defined by the League of Off-Broadway Theatres and Producers as a professional venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 99 and 500, or a specific production that appears in such a venue, and which adheres to related trade union
Trade union

A trade union or labor union is an organization run by and for workers who have banded together to achieve common goals in key areas such as wages, hours, and working conditions....
 and other contracts.

Previously, regardless of the size of the venue, a theatre could not be considered Off Broadway if it were within the "Broadway Box" (the traditional Broadway Theater District). The contractual definition changed this to encompass theaters meeting the standard, with a higher minimum salary requirement for Actors' Equity
Actors' Equity Association

Actors' Equity Association , founded in 1913, is the labor union that represents more than 48,000 Actors and Stage Managers in the United States. Equity seeks to advance, promote and foster the art of live theatre as an essential component of our society....
 performers than for Off Broadway theaters outside the box.

A number of Off Broadway shows have had subsequent runs on Broadway. These have included the musicals A Chorus Line
A Chorus Line

A Chorus Line is a Musical theater about seventeen Broadway theatre dancers auditioning for spots on a chorus line. The book was authored by James Kirkwood, Jr....
, Godspell
Godspell

Godspell is a 1970 musical by Stephen Schwartz and John-Michael Tebelak. It opened off Broadway on May 17, 1971, and has played in various touring companies and revivals many times since....
, Avenue Q
Avenue Q

Avenue Q is a Musical theatre conceived by Robert Lopez and Jeff Marx, who wrote the music and lyrics, and directed by Jason Moore . The book is by Jeff Whitty....
, Rent
Rent (musical)

Rent is a rock opera, with music and lyrics by Jonathan Larson based on Giacomo Puccini's opera La Boh?me. It tells the story of a group of impoverished young artists and musicians struggling to survive and create in New York's Lower East Side in the thriving days of Bohemianism Alphabet City, Manhattan, under the shadow of AIDS....
, In The Heights
In the Heights

In the Heights is a musical theatre with music and lyrics by Lin-Manuel Miranda and a book by Quiara Alegr?a Hudes. The story explores three days in the characters' lives in the New York City Dominican-American neighborhood of Washington Heights, Manhattan....
, Spring Awakening
Spring Awakening

Spring Awakening is a Tony Award-winning rock musical with music by Duncan Sheik and book and lyrics by Steven Sater. The musical is based on the controversial 1891 German Spring Awakening by Frank Wedekind....
, Hair
Hair (musical)

Hair: The American Tribal Love-Rock Musical is a rock musical with a book and lyrics by James Rado and Gerome Ragni and music by Galt MacDermot....
, Grey Gardens
Grey Gardens (musical)

Grey Gardens is a musical with book by Doug Wright, music by Scott Frankel, and lyrics by Michael Korie, based on the 1975 Grey Gardens about the lives of Edith Ewing Bouvier Beale and her daughter Edith Bouvier Beale by Albert Maysles and David Maysles....
, Little Shop of Horrors
Little Shop of Horrors (musical)

Little Shop of Horrors is a rock musical by composer Alan Menken and writer Howard Ashman, about a hapless florist shop worker who raises a plant that feeds on human blood....
, and Sunday in the Park with George
Sunday in the Park with George

Sunday in the Park with George is a Musical theatre with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by James Lapine. The musical was inspired by the painting "A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte" by Georges-Pierre Seurat....
, and the plays Doubt
Doubt (play)

Doubt: A Parable is a 2004 play by John Patrick Shanley originally staged off-Broadway at the Manhattan Theatre Club on November 23, 2004. The production transferred to the Walter Kerr Theatre on Broadway theatre in March 2005 and closed on July 2, 2006 after 525 performances and 25 previews....
, I Am My Own Wife
I Am My Own Wife

I Am My Own Wife is a play by Doug Wright based on his conversations with German transvestite, Charlotte von Mahlsdorf. The one-man play premiered Off-Broadway in 2003 at Playwrights Horizons....
, Bridge & Tunnel and Coastal Disturbances
Coastal Disturbances

Coastal Disturbances is a play by Tina Howe, which premiered Off-Broadway in 1986 and transferred to Broadway theatre. It received a Tony Award nomination as Best Play....
. Other productions, such as Stomp
Stomp (dance troupe)

Stomp is a non-traditional dance troupe that uses the body and ordinary objects to create a physical theatre performance.The term may also refer to a distinct sub-genre of physical theatre where the body is incorporated with other objects as a means of producing percussion and movement that has echoes of tribe dance....
, Blue Man Group
Blue Man Group

'Blue Man Group' is a creative organization founded by Phil Stanton, Chris Wink and Matt Goldman. The organization produces theatrical shows and concerts featuring music, comedy and multimedia; recorded music and scores for film and television; television appearances for shows such as The Tonight Show, Scrubs , and Arrested Developme...
, Altar Boyz
Altar Boyz

Altar Boyz is an Off-Broadway musical comedy about a fictitious Christian boy band from Ohio. It addresses and satire, among other things, the phenomenon of boy bands, the popularity of Christian-themed music and products in contemporary United States culture....
, Perfect Crime
Perfect Crime (play)

Perfect Crime is a 1987 Off Broadway play in the murder mystery/thriller genre written by Warren Manzi. It tells the story of Margaret Thorne Brent, an accomplished Connecticut psychiatrist and potential cold-blooded killer who may have committed "the perfect crime." When her wealthy husband, W....
 and Naked Boys Singing have run for several years Off Broadway. The Fantasticks
The Fantasticks

The Fantasticks is a 1960 musical theatre with music by Harvey Schmidt and lyrics by Tom Jones . It was produced by Lore Noto. It tells an allegorical story, loosely based on the play "The Romancers" by Edmond Rostand , concerning two fathers who put up a wall between their houses to ensure that their children fall in love, because they...
, the longest-running musical in theatre history, spent its original 42-year run Off Broadway.

Awards

Off Broadway shows, performers, and creative staff are eligible for nomination for the New York Drama Critics' Circle Award, the Outer Circle Critics Award, the Drama Desk Award
Drama Desk Award

The Drama Desk Award, created in 1955, is an award which recognizes theatres produced on Broadway theatre, off-Broadway, off-off-Broadway, and for legitimate not-for-profit theaters....
, the Obie Award
Obie Award

The Obie Awards or Off-Broadway Theater Awards are annual awards bestowed by The Village Voice newspaper to theater artists in New York City....
 (presented since 1956 by The Village Voice
The Village Voice

The Village Voice is a free weekly newspaper in New York City, United States featuring investigative articles, analysis of current affairs and culture, arts reviews and events listings for New York City....
), and the Lucille Lortel Award (created in 1985 by the League of Off Broadway Theatres & Producers). Although Off Broadway shows are not eligible for Tony Awards, an exception was made in 1956 (before the rules were changed), when Lotte Lenya
Lotte Lenya

Lotte Lenya was an Austrian singer and actress. In the German-speaking and classical music world she is best remembered for her performances of the songs of her husband, Kurt Weill....
 won for "Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical
Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical

This is a list of the winners and nominations of Tony Award for the Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical. The award, introduced in 1950, was previously presented as Best Performance by a Featured or Supporting Actress in a Musical until 1976....
," for the Off Broadway production of The Threepenny Opera
The Threepenny Opera

The Threepenny Opera is a Musical theatre by German dramatist Bertolt Brecht and composer Kurt Weill, in collaboration with translator Elisabeth Hauptmann and set designer Caspar Neher....
.

See also

  • Broadway theatre
    Broadway theatre

    Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 39 large professional theaters with 500 seats or more located in the Theatre District, New York in Manhattan, New York City....
  • Off-Off-Broadway
    Off-Off-Broadway

    Off-Off-Broadway refers to theatrical productions including Play , musical theater or performance art pieces performed in New York City in smaller theatres than Broadway theatre productions and Off-Broadway productions....


External links