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Top 10 Unbelievable Facts about Broadway

Broadway- Image by emitea from

Commonly known as Broadway theatre or simply Broadway, Broadway is basically theatrical performances presented in the 41 professional theatres located in the theatre district and the Lincoln centre along Broadway in Midtown Manhattan, New York City.

Together with Lincoln’s West End, Broadway represents the highest commercial level of live theatre in the English speaking world. Each of these theatres has 500 or more seats.

1. Broadway was originally known as the wickquasgeck trail

The Wickquasgeck were a Munsee speaking band of Wappinger people who once lived along the East bank of the Hudson river of today’s Westchester County, New York and down into the Bronx.

It used to be their trade route and so it was originally carved into the brush of Manhattan by its Native American inhabitants.

Additionally, the trail snaked through swamps and rocks along the length of Manhattan island. Upon the arrival of the Dutch, however, the trail was widened and it soon became the main road through the island from New Amsterdam at the Southern tip.

2. It is the largest street in New York City

Broadway Street- Image by nextvoyage from

Broadway is considered the largest and longest street in New York, as it runs for 33 miles and 18 of these miles are not even within New York limits.

The street begins from lower Manhattan at a place called Bowling Green and runs all the way north to the Bronx then to Albany, which is out of New York.

3. Broadway was called a different name during the Dutch settlement

Broadway in 1859- Artist; Edward Anthony-

When the Dutch settled in America, what is now known as Broadway was called the Heeren Wegh which means ‘Gentlemen’s way’ to ‘Gentlemen’s street.’

It was adopted from the name of a similar street in Amsterdam. It was later renamed ‘Broadway’ after the British took over the city due to its unusual width.

Nevertheless, although its official name currently is just “Broadway,” in the 1776 map of New York City, the street is labelled as “Broadway Street.”

4. There are only 4 theatres on Broadway

As much as there are a total of 41 Broadway theatres, only 4 of them are actually located along Broadway Street.

This is because for a theatre to qualify as Broadway theatre, one, it must be located between 40th and 54th street between the 6th and 8th avenue and two, it must have at least 500 seats.

Therefore, any theatre with a capacity of less than 500 is considered off-Broadway.

5. It is a popular tourist attraction in New York City

Photo by Florian Wehde on

New York’s Broadway shows attract more than 13 million spectators annually. It has been estimated that 66% of the audience are actually female and 63% of the spectators are tourists.

For many, it is usually the main reason to travel to New York. In accordance to the Broadway League, a national trade association of the Broadway theatre industry, for the 2018-2019 season, which ended in May 2019, the total attendance was 14, 768, 254 and Broadway shows made a total of $1,829,312,140 in grosses

6. Most shows on Broadway are musicals

Theatre- Photo by Gwen King on

Most of the shows played on Broadway are musicals because as Martin Shefter who is a historian argues, Broadway musicals, inclusive of the productions of Rodgers and Hammerstein, became greatly influential forms of American popular culture.

They also contributed a great deal to making New York City the cultural capital of the world.

7. The highest-grossing production on Broadway is Lion King

The Lion King play performance- Author; Egghead06-

The Lion King leads the list of the highest-grossing productions on Broadway, with more than $1 million.

This is a show that explores the circles of life, the principles of courage and fear and the meaning of life from the perception of the inhabitants of the African kingdom.

In 2014, it was able to surpass the Phantom of the Opera which was the largest running Broadway show since 1988 and had grossed a total of $845 million.

8. Shakespeare’s plays were frequently performed on Broadway

William Shakespeare- Artist; John Taylor-

The plays of William Shakespeare were often performed on the Broadway stage, most notably by the American actor, Edwin Booth, who was known internationally for his performance as Hamlet.

He played the role for a famous 100 consecutive performances at Winter Garden Theatre, one of the Broadway theatres at 1634 Broadway in Midtown Manhattan.

This was in 1865. Other known Shakepearians who appeared on Broadway there’s during this period were Henry Irving, Tommaso Salvini, Fanny Davenport and Charles Fechter.

9. Oldest Operating theatre on Broadway is the Lyceum theatre

Lyceum theatre – Image by TheOtherKev from

One of the now oldest and still operating Broadway theatres is the Lyceum Theatre which was built in 1903.

It is located at 149 West 45th street between Seventh avenue and sixth avenue in the theatre district of Midtown Manhattan in New York City.

It was designed by Herts & Tallant and was built for Daniel Frohman, an American theatrical producer and manager and early film producer.

It has a total of 922 seats across three levels and is operated by the Shubert Organization (a theatrical producing organization and major owner of theatres based in Manhattan, New York).

10. The 60s and 70s were bad years for Broadway

A play at Broadway in the 1960s- Author; New York publicity agency-

Ken Bloom, a NewYork bases Grammy-winning theatre historian, playwright, director, record producer and author, observes that the 1960s and 1970s saw a drop in the number of legitimate shows that were being produced on Broadway.

By comparison, in the 1950- 1951 season, 94 productions opened on Broadway. Then in the 1969-1970 season, there were 59 productions, 15 of which were rivals.

In the 20s, there were 70-80 theatres but by 1969, only 36 were left. It is further noted that the decline was mostly due to the fact that the late 60s marked a time of cultural upheaval in America.

The decade was characterized by a lot of critics and audiences giving mixed signals.

Photo by Sudan Ouyang on

Broadway is still a spectacular attraction and remains to be one of the most visited places in New York City