Editorial
Guides
Explainers on theatre terminology, casting, ticketing, and how a production works.
- Accessibility at Broadway theatresEvery Broadway theatre provides wheelchair-accessible and transfer seating and assistive listening devices on request. Open-captioned, audio-described, and sign-interpreted performances work differently: they are scheduled dates rather than services available at any performance, so you book the date. Theatre Access NYC lists them, and TDF administers most of them.
- Taking kids to a Broadway showMost Broadway theatres refuse admission to children under four, whatever the show, and every child needs their own ticket — there is no lap-child policy. Above that age the limit is the production's own age guidance, which is advice rather than a rule, unlike an age restriction, which the house enforces at the door.
- What to expect at your first Broadway showThere is no dress code at a Broadway theatre — jeans and sneakers are fine anywhere in the house. Arrive about thirty minutes before curtain, because latecomers are held at the back until a break in the action. Photography is prohibited until the curtain call, and the theatre will be colder than you expect.
- Limited engagement vs. open runA limited engagement announces its closing date when it opens and plays a fixed number of weeks. An open-ended run has no announced end and plays until it stops covering its weekly costs. A limited run can be extended if it sells; an open run closes on a few weeks' notice when it does not.
- Where to buy Broadway ticketsBuy from the show's own website, or from the authorized seller it links to — Telecharge or Ticketmaster for most Broadway houses. Everything else is the secondary market, where a reseller sets the price and the markup stays invisible until checkout. The official seller is the only place where the price you see is the production's own.
- Where to sit in a Broadway theatreBroadway houses have three main levels: the orchestra at stage level, the mezzanine above it, and in larger theatres a balcony above that. The center of the front mezzanine is usually the best seat in the house, ahead of most of the orchestra, because it sees the whole stage picture without the steep angle of a close seat.
- Why Broadway tickets cost what they doA Broadway ticket has no fixed price. Producers set a range and move prices within it daily based on how each performance is selling, so the same seat costs more on a Saturday than on a Tuesday. Underneath that sits a hard floor: a production must clear its weekly running cost every single week or close.
- Broadway rush, lottery, and standing roomRush tickets are discounted same-day seats sold at the box office when it opens, first come first served. A digital lottery is a free online entry, drawn a day or two ahead, that lets winners buy one or two cheap seats. Standing room is a numbered standing space at the back of the orchestra, sold only when the performance is otherwise sold out.
- How a Broadway cast change worksA replacement joining a running Broadway production rehearses separately for one to three weeks, usually with an associate director and stage management rather than with the company. They meet the full cast at a put-in rehearsal — a single run-through of the whole show on the set, often the only one — a day or two before their first performance.
- Previews, opening night, and press nightA preview is a paid public performance given before a show is finished, and material is still cut and rewritten between them. Opening night is the performance at which the production is frozen and the press embargo lifts, which is why every review appears at once. Press night is the same event under its British name.
- Broadway, Off-Broadway, and Off-Off-BroadwaySeat count, not location. A Broadway house has 500 or more seats, an Off-Broadway theatre has 100 to 499, and Off-Off-Broadway has 99 or fewer. Each tier carries a different Actors' Equity agreement setting pay and rehearsal terms. Only productions in an eligible Broadway house can be nominated for a Tony Award.
- Standby vs. alternate vs. understudyAn understudy is a cast member with their own role who also covers a lead. A standby covers a lead and only that lead, appearing onstage in no other capacity. An alternate is scheduled to play the lead at specific performances every week, whether or not the principal is available. The difference is what the performer does on a normal night.