I LOVE musical theatre. But what the heck is Broadway?

Question:I sound so dumb saying this but....
I am 14 years old. I have been in many school productions. I am a HUGE fan of Idina Menzel, Kristin Chenoweth, and others. I am familliar with over 20 musicals and have seen quite a few with a local (but proffessional) theatre company here in Canada. I have taken classes, courses and lessons. I am acting in many upcoming shows. As you can tell, I know my way around 'Broadway' but what is it?

I know Broadway is some sort of place, but what is it? like is it a street, a town, a city? and what the heck is West End?

I feel dumb asking this, but if I asked anyone else they'd be like 'YOU??! YOU do NOT know what Broadway is?!?!' and laugh at me. So yeah, you can laugh, it is pretty funny. But I still want an answer.

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: I sound so dumb saying this but....
I am 14 years old. I have been in many school productions. I am a HUGE fan of Idina Menzel, Kristin Chenoweth, and others. I am familliar with over 20 musicals and have seen quite a few with a local (but proffessional) theatre company here in Canada. I have taken classes, courses and lessons. I am acting in many upcoming shows. As you can tell, I know my way around 'Broadway' but what is it?

I know Broadway is some sort of place, but what is it? like is it a street, a town, a city? and what the heck is West End?

I feel dumb asking this, but if I asked anyone else they'd be like 'YOU??! YOU do NOT know what Broadway is?!?!' and laugh at me. So yeah, you can laugh, it is pretty funny. But I still want an answer.

Broadway is the street in Manhattan, New York which is home to strictly theatres and tourist-y restaurants. Being "on Broadway" really just means you're in a show in one of the theatres on or surrounding the Theatre District (Broadway the street is within the Theatre District). As most have said, Broadway is the highest you can go for musical theatre (and drama, though musicals are always more numerous than dramas) and almost every performer's dream is to be on Broadway at some point.

The West End is the London, England equivalent to the Theatre District in Manhattan (Broadway). Not as many people know about it, but a lot of new musicals are workshopped and performed in the West End before coming to America.

Ok musical theatre is very similer to broadway musical is broadway there the same thing

Broadway Theater in New York.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Broadwa...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Broadway_th...

Generally I think "Broadway" is thought of as being the BIG TIME professional theater stuff.

In a way it's probably similar in aspect as how Hollywood the area became a term for the film (and I guess music) industry as well.

Broadway is a street in New York, NY, USA that houses the city's much-lauded theatre district with lots of theaters and lots of shows playing all very near each other. All the huge hit musicals and plays eventually run on Broadway. To hit it there is to hit the big time. If you've heard of the play 42nd Street, that's another street in New York that intersects with Broadway. It is near that corner that many of the famous theatres are so the big "Broadway shows" of the season likely play there.

I'm not really familiar with New York, but I think West End is the area of the city this is in. Not sure about that though.

Broadway is a street in NY. However, it is the street where all the major musical theaters are located and to land a spot in a play that is showing on Broadway is the theater equivalent of "making the big time". The show "Cats" for example.....you can be in a production of it anywhere, but only if you get chosen to act in it in a Broadway production do you get any real acknowledgment or recognition as a really talented and serious stage actor.

The West End is an area of London where there are a large number of theatres. I haven't checked, but I think that most, if not all, have a W at the start of their post code (or zip code). North London codes start with N, East start with E etc.
I think all West End theatres are commercial ventures. There are loads of small theatres in the same area, but these are not classed as true West End Theatres.