Playbill: What is the difference between Broadway, Off-Broadway, and Off-Off-Broadway? This question is one that echoes among casual theatregoers theatre fanatics alike. Misconceptions abound about the difference between the three categories of theatre. There are quality productions at every level; the tiered system is not a ranking of quality or talent. Yes, budgets vary—with Broadway typically having the largest investments.
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I've known the difference about seat number regarding what is and isn't a Broadway theater for a while, but I didn't know about Off-Off Broadway classifications or the bit about geography and being declared an official Broadway theater. What's most interesting is that exclusivity not of location but of an actual Broadway League that gets to say who is and isn't the holder of that coveted title, as if only four square blocks wasn't enough to limit the number. It seems silly to still have that, but I also understand them wanting to preserved theatrical integrity. The number of seats is also a funny designation, because of how many theaters have that number of seats. My high school, for example, had enough seats for about 600 or so, which means that our performance space for teens is actually larger than the places some of those teens may work or see later in life. The arbitrary separation of theaters has spawned a big industry and an idolization of Broadway, but it's also extremely interesting to see the quirks in these classifications, too.
So I did know that the number of seats in a theatre determined the statues of broadway or off broadway but it is nice to have a chart the list it out. I did know know the theatre had to be deemed by the Broadway league, the National trade association for the broadway industry in NYC and across North America. But that is interesting to know. Its also interesting that out of the 40 some odd broadway houses, that 3 companies own almost 3/4ths of it. I’m sure they are not the ones putting on the production, but could you just imagine the money they must be making off the producers of all these shows just for owning the buildings. If I was smart I would have just worked hard to owning a broadway house and then sit back and let the good times roll in.
Seeing how many off-off broadway shows was really interesting. I have known the distinctions between the size theatre for some time now. I worke on two off-broadway shows one was the lowest level of off-broadway while the second one was the highest level of off-broadway for salaries. So many things go into picking the location and size of a theatre for off-broadway. One special thing about off-broadway is that if the theatre is in the braodway district they actors and stage managers will get a slight bump in salary. Another thing I find interesting is that there are such few broadway theatres but even fewer theatre owners. For a broadway show to happen you need to negotiate with a theatre owner so with such a small list you have to make sure not to make any enemies. Im really interested in learning about how they decided how many seats would create each section and what events happened to cause this.
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