Off-Broadway

The Concise Oxford Companion to the Theatre | 1996 | 700+ words | Copyright

Off-Broadway, term used collectively of theatres and plays outside the orbit of the New York mainstream theatre located on or near Broadway. Off-Broadway arose in the 1950s because of the high cost of Broadway productions, the lower overheads and sometimes nonprofit basis away from the centre enabling risks to be taken. Off-Broadway productions may transfer to Broadway, though as costs escalate there is a tendency for even the more popular ones to remain in their original locations, especially if a transfer would require the acquisition of star names. Off-Broadway theatres are generally smaller and less well equipped than Broadway ones, but even these became increasingly subject to commercial pressures. Since the early 1960s a further, largely non-professional, movement known as Off-Off-Broadway has arisen, which presents experimental drama in lofts and other unconventional locations.

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PHYLLIS HARTNOLL and PETER FOUND. "Off-Broadway." The Concise Oxford Companion to the Theatre. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. 30 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

PHYLLIS HARTNOLL and PETER FOUND. "Off-Broadway." The Concise Oxford Companion to the Theatre. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. (May 30, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O79-OffBroadway.html

PHYLLIS HARTNOLL and PETER FOUND. "Off-Broadway." The Concise Oxford Companion to the Theatre. 1996. Retrieved May 30, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O79-OffBroadway.html

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