Learning Broadway Part 1

I titled this first of a series of postings, "Learning Broadway" because I have come to believe, Broadway is its' own language, culture, world, place, entity and then some.  Broadway IS the theatre.  Broadway IS the dream and the hope.  For two years now FBP has been writing and rewriting for our concept musical called...(you all should know this by now) In My Body.  In this time, I have become fascinated about everything theatre---everything Broadway.  People who write musicals secretly, or not so secretly, hope they will land on Broadway or get as close as they can to Broadway.  That's what Off Broadway and Off Off Broadway are all about---feeling close to Broadway.  That is what I feel and I am pretty sure my fellow collaborators feel the same way I do.  (I cannot even begin to cover everything we have learned about Broadway in this post.)

Before I talk more about Broadway, I want to explain the difference between "theatre" and "theater."
According to grammarist.com There is no difference in meaning between theater and theatre. Neither has any special definitions. Theater is the preferred spelling in American English, and theatre is preferred virtually everywhere else.  Some American writers do make distinctions—for instance, that theater is a venue while theatre is an art form, or that theater is a movie theater while theatre is a drama venue—but these are preferences, not rules, and they are not consistently borne out in real-world usage.

Now Some Basic Broadway:

1.  Broadway is literally a street in New York City which starts at #1 Broadway in Manhattan where the International Mercantile Marine Company Building stands and then all the way to north to West 225 Street in the Bronx.  It is a one way southbound street which is about 15 miles in length. 

2.  Broadway is the premier theater district in the United States, if not the entire world.  Some argue London's West End is equal to Broadway.  I've been to London's West End.  I've seen many shows there.  I loved it but there is nothing like Broadway.  The most famous part of Broadway is considered the Theater District which is between 42nd and 53rd Streets (including Times Square).   If you have never been to Times Square, it is worth the trip just to see it.  I am pretty sure the lights from Broadway billboards can be seen from space.  When I first experienced it, I was in high school and I just stood in awe of the flashing lights, billboards, stores and people.  The smells and sounds alone were unlike anything I had ever experienced.   It was so futuristic and saturated with every color in the rainbow.  It is total sensory overload, to say the least.  In the theater district there are around 40 large theaters.  The largest is the Gershwin Theatre which seats up to 1,933.   The smallest is the Helen Hayes Theatre which seats up to 597.  The oldest is the Lyceum Theatre which opened in 1903. 

The Flying Bulldog Three visited one such theater together when we went to see a "staged reading"of Marry Harry at Foxwoods Theatre.  I will explain what a staged reading is in a later posting.  IMB's Lyricist, Michael Biello and Composer, Dan Martin wrote the music for Marry Harry.  So maybe we viewed it in Foxwoods rehearsal studio but it still counts as Broadway! Now playing there is Spiderman, Turn off the Dark.

3.  Did you know the Broadway theater district is nicknamed The Great White Way?  This is because in the 1920s most theaters changed from using colored bulbs to white bulbs which lined their marquees because they didn't burn out as fast and lit the streets up even brighter.  What is a marquee you may ask?  The Dictionary defines it as "A rooflike structure, often bearing a signboard, projecting over an entrance, as to a theater or hotel."

Stay tuned to this blog for Learning Broadway Part 2. I  will try to decipher some theatre terms we've picked up!