Broadway Plays and Shows
When you think of theater and stage plays you think of Broadway shows in New York City.
Broadway requires no introduction. It is undisputedly the theater capital of the world.
People come to New York City expressly for enjoying Broadway plays and musicals.
Broadway plays are performed in a number of theaters designated as Broadway, Off-Broadway,
and Off-Off-Broadway. The designation is not based on the location of the theater, but on
its seating capacity. Theaters designated as Broadway theaters have a seating capacity of 500
and above, and can accommodate as many as 2000 people. The Off-Broadway theaters have a
seating capacity of between 100 and 499, and the Off-Off-Broadway theaters can seat 99
persons, or less.
Geographically speaking, the Broadway theater district is in Manhattan, with theaters located
between 41st Street and 52nd Street, and between Sixth Avenue (Avenue of the Americas) and
Eighth Avenue.
Most Broadway plays are enormous in scale, with intricately designed sets, brilliant costumes,
and original music. Some would say that the best Broadway plays are of epic proportion,
normally costing millions to produce. Performing in a Broadway play is the ultimate for most
theater actors, and many famous actors, including those from Hollywood, have performed on
Broadway as well.
Even though New York is the place you think of seeing a live show, many other cities around
the world have live theater. There are theater districts in Paris, San Francisco, Chicago,
and even Houston. Many live Broadway type shows travel to smaller cities such as
Sacramento, Cleveland, and Denver.
Current New York Broadway Plays
There are a variety of Broadway plays currently performing in New York. Some are family
oriented and some are for exclusively for adults. Here is a look at three of the family
oriented Broadway plays, currently showing:
Beauty and the Beast
This Broadway play is a stage production of the classic
movie of the same name by Disney. This lavish production offers an enjoyable entertainment
to families. The play has great music - highly stirring, with costumes that are
brilliantly colored. Ticket prices vary between $35 and $110, and the play is presently
performing at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre.
Tarzan
This Broadway play brings to life the character created by Edgar Rice
Burroughs nearly a century ago. Who has not heard of an infant found shipwrecked on the
shores of Africa, and brought up by apes. Adults, who have grown up along with Tarzan
comic strips, and have seen countless numbers of Tarzan movies, are still enthralled by
this great Broadway play. Ticket prices vary between $50 and $110, and the play is
presently performing at the Richard Rodgers Theatre.
Mamma Mia!
This entertaining Broadway play features 22 of the famous Swedish pop
group, ABBA’s, greatest hits of more than 20 years ago. People who grew up along with the
music from ABBA form the bulk of the audiences along with today’s youngsters, and they
sing and dance in the aisles in accompaniment to ABBA’s music. Ticket prices vary between
$55 and $110, and the play is presently performing at the Winter Garden Theatre.
Buying Broadway Tickets
Tickets for the Broadway plays can be procured from the box office of the theaters performing
the shows. Generally, tickets for the popular Broadway plays are mostly sold out, and are not
easy to buy, especially at a short notice. At such times, show enthusiasts resort to other means
for buying tickets. There are some avenues for procuring the tickets for Broadway plays may not be
risk free, such as re-sale forums, eBay, and the scalpers. If you are planning ahead your
best option to buy broadway tickets
in advance is through licensed ticket brokers such as WhenWeTravel's
New York Broadway Shows
.
If you aren’t too picky about the date, which play you see, or your seat assignment you can
buy discount Broadway tickets at one of the booths in Duffy Square. These booths sell
cheap Broadway tickets for the current evening’s shows and the next day’s matinee often for
half price. The risk here is that you’ll stand in line several days in a row and not get
tickets to the show you want to see.
