Information On Broadway

Broadway refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the forty large professional theatres with five hundred seats or more located in the Theatre District, New York plus one theatre in Lincoln Center in Manhattan, New York City. Along with London's West End theatre, Broadway theatre is usually considered to represent the highest level of commercial theatre in the English-speaking world. The Broadway Theatre district is a popular tourist attraction in New York City, New York. According to The Broadway League, Broadway shows sold approximately $943.3 million worth of tickets in the 2008-2009 season, compared to $937 million in the 2007-2008 season.

The first decade of the 20Th century was transformational in the history of our Broadway Performances. This dates back to 1882 and the construction of The Madison Square Theater at 24Th street. The Mallory's, who had built the theater, had employed a young actor-manager from San Francisco along with two brothers from the lower Eastside to help manage the theater. David Belasco, who had the distinction of appearing on stage with another unknown child, Maude Adams, in San Francisco in 1877, was soon to become a playwright theater owner and builder. The two brothers from the lower Eastside were, of course, Charles and Daniel Frohman. The first sign of the transformation occurred when producer Rudolf Aronson decided to build a theatre of his own. At the time, theatres were concentrated between Union Square and 24Th street.

Broadway's hit musicals quickly became popular all over the world. Many o the best Broadway musicals featured a man and a woman with great vocals and character, although some had only one or the other. Choral singing was often a part of the productions, but the soloists typically got the fame for the performance, if the musical became famous. Many Broadway musicals became so popular that they were also made into movies.

Today, the longest running show in Broadway history is still in production. The Phantom of the Opera debuted on Broadway in 1988.

As of right now the hottest Broadway shows are

• Jersey Boys


• Collected Stories


• Wicked


• American Idiot


• Mary Poppins


• The Addams Family


• The Phantom of the Opera


• Promises, Promises


• The Lion King


• La Cage aux Folles

I personally have never been to a Broadway performance before but I have been looking into seeing The Lion King. In The Lion King you will recognize the stage characters and songs from the Emmy award winning animated movie. The Lion King on Broadway has more than 40 actors playing the roles of the various characters. The Lion King won 6 Tony awards and was the best musical on Broadway in 1998 when it debuted and continues to entertain sold out audiences all over the country. In fact The Lion King is continuing to break box office ticket records at the Minskoff Theater, the theater The Lion King calls home during its run on Broadway in New York. As a kid, The Lion King was one of my favorite movies and I am in the process of getting tickets so I can go see the musical that I have read so much about.

If you are interested in going to see The Lion King musical, or any other musical that is being presented on Broadway it is very easy to get tickets. You can visit http://www.stubhub.com/ or you can simply do a google search. A ton of websites pop up that offer information about the numerous plays that are now being presented on Broadway and a link that will take you to a website to purchase tickets. I highly recommend seeing a Broadway performance if you haven't already seen one. I know I will be.