A graduate of City University of New York’s Brooklyn College, Samantha Levine has been working in New York City for more than two decades. In her free time, Samantha Levine enjoys Broadway shows and has seen such productions as Beauty and the Beast, the Phantom of the Opera, and Chicago.
The history of Broadway theater dates back to 1750, when Walter Murray and Thomas Kean opened a theater company on Nassau Street that was capable of holding 280 patrons. This theater primarily showed ballad operas and Shakespearean plays until all theater productions stopped in New York because of the Revolutionary War.
After the war concluded in 1798, the 2,000-seat Park Theater was built and began hosting theater productions once again. The construction of this theater began a new era for the New York theater scene, and between 1800 and 1850, several additional theaters opened in the city, including the Bowery Theatre and the Astor Place Theatre. Throughout this time, the primary shows at New York theatres were still Shakespearean plays, but this changed in the middle of the century when musicals were first performed.
The first-ever long-run musical in New York was The Elves, which played for 50 performances. It was later followed by other long-run shows, such as The Seven Sisters and The Black Brook, the latter of which ran for 474 performances. Theatre in New York also began showing vaudeville productions in 1881.
By the 1900s, Broadway productions started becoming more expensive and ambitious. Many theaters placed electric lights and signage outside to draw attention, and despite competition from motion pictures, theater productions continued to grow in popularity. After the Great Depression, shows remained in theaters for more than 1,000 performances, and by the 1920s, many American playwrights rose to prominence. Since then, Broadway has remained a mainstay for theater-lovers from around the world.
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