Facts

• "Broadway" is a term that is both tangible and intangible; it is badge of honor, a sign of prestige, and a measure of excellence. Broadway is a genre of musical theater that is traditional, mainstream, and that adheres to long-established standards. The term also refers to a geographic location, 'houses of drama' situated around the New York City theater district, found at the intersection of Broadway and 42nd Street (Times Square). An "Off-Broadway Musical" is one whose production occurs in an area elsewhere of Broadway; it is also a juxtaposed category of theatre whose attributes exist outside the conventions of New York 'show business.'
  
  

History

• The Off-Broadway's genesis harkens back to the early 20th century, an era dominated by Yiddish theater, Burlesque houses, and Vaudeville actors. These autonomous factions took turns in the public eye, gaining popularity, splintering into different groups, and eventually disbanding altogether; the remnants of these entertainment styles and the left over authors and performers, joined, overtime creating an entirely new, artistic form of theater; an alternative to 'the big stage.' Off-Broadway gained acceptance in independent circles during the 'free era' of the 1960's; these players saw themselves as protestors in a reactionary movement that questioned the authority of professional theater. Overtime this diehard zeal dissipated and settled into the milieu that the independent theater is today.
  
  

Types

• According to David Allison Crespy, author of Off-Off-Broadway Explosion, "An off-Broadway theater is a performance space...that seats under three-hundred audience members. Whether or not a production is professional is determined by the type of contract and pay given to its actors based on a scale determined by Actors' Equity Association, the stage-actors union (pg 12)."
  Stephen James Bottoms, in his book Playing Underground, describes off-off-Broadway as a term "(coined by the Village Voice in 1960) used...to designate any enterprise on the bottom rung of the New York theater world's national ladder of cultural and economic significance...(pg 2)."
  
  

Function

• The off-Broadway venue provides an outlet for semi-professional actors and playwrights to display their talents in hope of discovery by larger productions. Off-Broadway lends its stage to performances of controversial content like The Vagina Monologues, Naked Boys Singing and My First Time. The circuit also serves as a 'testing ground' for experimental theater; gauging the audience's reaction before moving to the Broadway stage. Smash-hits like A Chorus Line, Godspell, Rent, Avenue Q, Urinetown and Little Shop of Horrors had their beginnings in off-Broadway theater.
  
  

Cost

• A major characteristic that separates Broadway from off-Broadway is cost; off-Broadway musicals have fewer investors and therefore a lower production cost. This is why independent plays have somewhat of a 'rogue' or 'grotesque' quality to them; characterized by unknown actors, smaller cast and crew, little or no scenery, and a slightly less-epic storyline (as opposed to Les Miserable, Lion King, and Wicked).
  Ticket prices also separate Broadway from off-Broadway (some performances are free). The New York Theater Guide and Broadway.com sell tickets with prices ranging from $25.00 to $65.00 for off-Broadway shows, and $65.00 to $250.00 or more for mainstream Broadway shows.