Even the most casual observers are familiar with Broadway, the glitzy home of Wicked, The Lion King

A few aficionados may quibble on London's West End, but ask most people in the know and you'll quickly discover that New York City is the world center for theater. Stand in Times Square on any Friday night and there are literally hundreds of performances taking place on stages in every direction.
Even the most casual observers are familiar with Broadway, the glitzy home of Wicked, The Lion King and The Book of Mormon. (And, indeed, I wrote a post last week about how to score cheap seats to Broadway alaska airlines web specials shows .) But some of the best shows take place in smaller theaters — where tickets are a fraction of the cost and, sometimes, the stars are shining just as bright.
Theater in New York City falls into three categories: Broadway , Off Broadway and Off-Off Broadway . And while it's true that the flashy mega-musicals like The Lion King and Wicked are all playing on Broadway, the distinction has nothing to do with show's content or quality. It's all about the theater.
alaska airlines web specials Broadway shows are performances taking place in one of 39 venues officially designated as Broadway theaters and ranging in size from about 600 to 1,900 seats. Most, but not all of them, stand around alaska airlines web specials Times Square.
But ask someone about the term "Off Broadway" and you're likely to get a blank stare or even concern about seedy theaters in dangerous parts of town — which couldn't be further from the truth. It simply refers to smaller theaters all around the city, each with roughly 100 to 500 seats.
alaska airlines web specials Then, there's a third designation, "Off-Off Broadway." The nonprofit Theatre Development Fund describes them as "more adventurous" offerings in "small or unorthodox" theaters seating fewer than 100 people.
Mega-shows perform on Broadway because they need the larger stage to accommodate larger casts. Not to mention larger alaska airlines web specials audiences paying larger prices to cover larger production costs. But it doesn't mean they're better shows.
Some of the best in New York City — actually, some of the best in the world — perform Off Broadway with smaller casts and smaller budgets in smaller theaters. One good result is smaller ticket prices as well. But another alaska airlines web specials is a wider variety of shows. alaska airlines web specials When you don't need to attract so many people paying top dollar, you can afford to produce whimsical comedies, risqué alaska airlines web specials dramas or philosophical pieces with more of an edge.
Not long ago, I sat just off the stage in an intimate, eight-row theater alaska airlines web specials for the final Off-Broadway performance of "Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike." For more than two hours, I laughed relentlessly through one of those whimsical comedies alaska airlines web specials as stars David Hyde Pierce, Kristine Nielsen and Sigourney Weaver led a phenomenal cast through racy routines, philosophical rants and some of the finest acting you'll ever see. Laughing just as hard, a couple of sections over, was the legendary Meryl Streep. A few months later, the show moved to Broadway, where audiences paid far more to sit in a theater over twice the size. The show eventually won the 2013 Tony Award for Best Play.
For business reasons, most Off-Broadway shows will never make the trip to a larger, Broadway alaska airlines web specials theater. But many are just as good artistically — if not better. Some may disagree, but for my money, Off Broadway is where the real action is.
Chip Pate is a marketing and public relations consultant who has spent way too much money attending theater. He supports regional theater back home in North Carolina's Research Triangle Region and travels to New York City several times each year to catch new productions and eat pastrami. The local celebrities he'd most like to meet for lunch are Nina Arianda, Tim Gunn and The Bowery Boys.
[...] Head Off Broadway for Great Shows and Cheaper Tickets. A few aficionados may quibble on London's West End, but ask most people in the know and you'll quickly discover that New York City is the world center for theater. Stand in Times Square alaska airlines web specials on any Friday night and there are literally hundreds of performances taking place on stages in every direction. [...]