Theater

The 41 Broadway theaters in and around Times Square collectively represent the world’s most prestigious commercial theater market. A Broadway run requires performing in a house of 500+ seats under an Equity contract. The season runs roughly September through August, with the Tonys awarded each June. Most productions are not available to stream during their runs.

One of Broadway’s major nonprofit producers, operating four venues including Studio 54 and the American Airlines Theatre. Known for landmark revivals and new plays. Multiple Tony wins every cycle. Their Education program is one of the most active in New York City theater.

The resident theater company of Lincoln Center, operating the Vivian Beaumont Theater (Broadway) and the Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater (Off-Broadway) plus the Claire Tow Theater. Home to landmark productions including South Pacific, The Light in the Piazza, and Oslo (Pulitzer Prize, Tony winner).

A leading nonprofit producing organization with a 50-year record of developing and presenting new American plays and musicals. Operates City Center Stage I & II (Off-Broadway) and frequently transfers productions to Broadway. Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winning track record. Co-streamed Punch (2025) with LOLST.

The largest dedicated theater streaming service — 300+ titles including Broadway, Off-Broadway, West End, opera, ballet, and touring productions. Available in 249 countries on all major devices including Roku, Apple TV, Fire TV, and iOS/Android. Also available as an Amazon Prime Video channel add-on.

The National Theatre’s own streaming platform — filmed productions from the NT stage, available on demand. Separate from NT Live (which screens in cinemas worldwide). Watch on browser, iOS, Android, Roku, Amazon Fire, or Apple TV. Individual 72-hour rentals also available.

Dozens of productions filmed at Shakespeare’s Globe and the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse, available on demand worldwide. Relaunched as a subscription service in 2021. Individual rentals available for a 72-hour window. The best single source for filmed Shakespeare in performance.

A premium streaming service specializing in classical performing arts — opera, ballet, theater, and dance. Catalog includes productions from the Royal Opera House, Glyndebourne, the Bolshoi, the Royal Ballet, and major European festivals. A step above BroadwayHD for opera and dance; different but complementary catalog.

The Metropolitan Opera’s own streaming service — hundreds of archival performances dating back to the 1970s plus current-season live and on-demand streams. An unmatched resource for opera on screen. HD Live in HD cinema broadcasts are a separate complementary program screened in partner theaters worldwide.

PBS’s flagship arts series — now in its 53rd season — covering Shakespeare, Broadway productions, opera, dance, and classical music. Episodes stream free on pbs.org and the PBS App on all major platforms. PBS Passport membership (~$5/month) unlocks the extended archive.

Decades of performances from Lincoln Center — the New York Philharmonic, New York City Ballet, Chamber Music Society, and more. No new episodes since 2019, but the PBS archive remains freely streamable. A cornerstone of American televised performing arts and a valuable historical record.

Home of Shakespeare in the Park at the Delacorte Theater in Central Park. Select productions are nationally broadcast on PBS as Great Performances specials — the 2024 Hamlet with Oscar Isaac streamed free on PBS through early 2025, and Twelfth Night (2025) is slated for broadcast. Follow their season to catch what’s coming to PBS.

A nonprofit dedicated to capturing and streaming live regional theater productions as they run. Offers both live-during-run and on-demand access after the run closes. Recent titles include Manhattan Theatre Club’s Punch (2025) and Fiasco Theater’s Comedy of Errors (2026). The best single source for streaming American regional theater as it happens.

The National Theatre’s cinema broadcast program — productions filmed live at the NT and screened simultaneously in partner theaters worldwide. Not a home streaming service, but a genuine live broadcast on a big screen with the energy of a shared audience. UK, US, Canada, Australia, and 70+ countries covered.

The Metropolitan Opera’s Saturday matinee cinema broadcast program — live from the Met stage to 2,000+ cinemas in 70 countries. Launched in 2006, it remains the most successful live performance cinema broadcast program in the world. Each season runs approximately October through May.

Andrew Lloyd Webber’s official channel streams one full musical per week free for a 48-hour window. Catalog includes Phantom of the Opera, Cats, Jesus Christ Superstar, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Evita, School of Rock, and more. Subscribe to catch weekly drops.

The RSC’s YouTube channel offers a rich library of full performances, highlights, rehearsal footage, and behind-the-scenes content from Stratford-upon-Avon. Some full productions are periodically made free. Even the clip library is one of the most substantive archives of professional Shakespeare performance available anywhere online.

54 Below, the supper club beneath Studio 54, maintains an extensive YouTube library of Broadway cabaret concerts — hundreds of full-length shows recorded in the club, featuring the casts of current and classic Broadway productions. An invaluable archive of Broadway talent in an intimate live setting.

Behind-the-scenes content, production footage, cast interviews, and educational material from one of America’s leading regional theaters. BardWired — Asolo Rep’s filmed Shakespeare program for Florida schools — is also available through the theater’s digital channels for educators and students.

The only major Broadway and Off-Broadway producer dedicated exclusively to living American playwrights. Operates the Tony Kiser Theater (Off-Broadway) and The Hayes Theater (Broadway). Multiple Pulitzer Prize-winning productions. Home of Dear Evan Hansen in its developmental life.

Founded by playwright David Mamet and director William H. Macy, Atlantic is one of New York’s leading Off-Broadway companies. Known for developing and premiering significant new work — productions including Spring Awakening, Hand to God, and The Band’s Visit all began or developed here.

The largest professional theater in the Southeast and one of the most distinctive in America — performing in a transplanted Italian jewel-box and a reassembled Scottish opera house. State Theatre of Florida. See full profile for complete history, venues, FSU Conservatory, and the 2025–26 season.

The leading professional theater in the American South, housed at the Woodruff Arts Center in Midtown Atlanta alongside the Atlanta Symphony and High Museum of Art. Tony Award for Outstanding Regional Theatre (2022). Known for world premieres and developing work that moves to Broadway, including Tuck Everlasting and The Prom.

One of the country’s oldest and most acclaimed resident theaters — founded 1947, Tony Award for Outstanding Regional Theatre (1996). Two stages in a landmark brutalist building in downtown Houston. A model for American regional theater that has shaped the industry for nearly 80 years.

America’s first major regional theater — founded 1950 — and home to the nation’s largest collection of new American plays. The Mead Center on the Southwest Waterfront houses three stages: the Fichandler (in the round), the Kreeger, and the Kogod Cradle. Pioneered the concept of theater outside New York as a legitimate artistic home.

Founded 1974 in a church basement in Highland Park, Steppenwolf is the country’s pre-eminent ensemble theater — launching the careers of Gary Sinise, John Malkovich, Joan Allen, Laurie Metcalf, and Tracy Letts. Currently in their landmark 50th season in a purpose-built home on the North Side of Chicago. Multiple Tony Awards for plays developed here.

Chicago’s oldest and largest not-for-profit theater, with a history of world premieres and socially conscious work. Tony Award for Outstanding Regional Theatre (1992). Home of iconic productions including August Wilson’s Gem of the Ocean world premiere. Artistic Director Robert Falls led the company for nearly 40 years.

Founded 1963 by Tyrone Guthrie, Peter Zeisler, and Oliver Rea as proof that world-class theater could exist outside New York. Three stages in Jean Nouvel’s landmark building cantilevered over the Mississippi riverfront. The most significant regional theater in the Upper Midwest and one of the most influential in America.

One of the largest nonprofit theaters in the country — running continuous seasons in Ashland since 1935, presenting eleven or more plays per season in three venues including an outdoor Elizabethan stage. Tony Award for Outstanding Regional Theatre (1983). A pilgrimage destination for serious theater audiences from across America.

Los Angeles’s leading nonprofit theater organization, operating three venues: the Ahmanson Theatre (Broadway-scale productions), the Mark Taper Forum (new and challenging work), and the Kirk Douglas Theatre (emerging artists). A frequent originator of productions that transfer to Broadway. Tony Award for Outstanding Regional Theatre (1996).

Co-founded by Gregory Peck in 1947 and relaunched in 1983 by Des McAnuff, La Jolla Playhouse has originated some of the most important Broadway musicals of the past forty years: Jersey Boys, Memphis, The Who’s Tommy, I Am Harvey Milk. Tony Award for Outstanding Regional Theatre (1993).

San Francisco’s flagship nonprofit theater, with productions at the historic Geary Theater and The Strand. Has streamed select productions on a per-show basis. Operates a major conservatory training program alongside its professional mainstage. Tony Award for Outstanding Regional Theatre (1979).

Harvard University’s professional theater, one of the most significant developmental theaters in America. Under Diane Paulus and now Diane Rodriguez, A.R.T. has originated Pippin (Tony revival), The Glass Menagerie (Cate Blanchett), 1776, Waitress, Jagged Little Pill, and Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812.

One of America’s most adventurous regional theaters — founded 1963 by Adrian Hall — and the State Theater of Rhode Island. An ensemble company with a strong tradition of bold, non-commercial choices. Tony Award for Outstanding Regional Theatre (1981). A genuine artistic alternative to mainstream regional programming.

The most important Off-Broadway company for new American plays and musicals, period. Over fifty years of world premieres including Falsettos, Sunday in the Park with George, The How and the Wherefore, Ugly Lies the Bone, and What the Constitution Means to Me. When serious American playwrights get their first major New York production, it often happens here.

NYTW has originated or developed some of the most culturally significant American theater of the past thirty years. Rent had its world premiere here. Hadestown developed here before its Broadway run and multiple Tony wins. Once began here. The East Village home is a working-class, anti-establishment space whose output has repeatedly changed the direction of American theater.

Signature devotes entire seasons to the work of a single playwright — August Wilson, Sam Shepard, Horton Foote, Edward Albee, Suzan-Lori Parks, Lynn Nottage, and dozens more have each been the company’s resident artist. The model is unique in American theater. Their three-stage Pershing Square Signature Center opened in 2012.

One of Off-Broadway’s most important developmental homes — world premieres include Avenue Q (which transferred to Broadway and won three Tonys) and Fun Home (which transferred to Broadway and won five Tonys including Best Musical). Two Tony wins for Best Musical from a 120-seat theater is an extraordinary record.

New York’s preeminent Off-Broadway home for classic drama — Greek tragedy, Shakespeare, Chekhov, Ibsen, and Brecht — in an intimate 178-seat house. Notable for star-driven productions in close quarters: The Seagull with Dianne Wiest, My Brilliant Friend, and a long string of reimagined classical texts.

The home of the American one-act play since 1968 — the Marathon of One-Act Plays is an annual institution. EST has developed the early careers of hundreds of American playwrights, directors, and actors. A working-class, grassroots alternative to the prestige development pipeline of larger Off-Broadway companies.

Sound design in live theater encompasses reinforcement, music playback, ambient soundscapes, and increasingly complex RF wireless microphone coordination for large casts. At its highest level it is interpretive art — the sound of a production shapes how audiences understand and feel the story just as lighting and scenic design do. Matthew Parker has been Asolo Repertory Theatre’s resident sound designer since 1993. His 2017 work on Evita — coordinating 28 simultaneous RF channels across 29 actors and 13 musicians in a challenging broadcast-frequency environment — was featured by Live Sound International, ProSoundWeb, and Lectrosonics as a case study in large-scale regional theater RF management. His 2024 work on Inherit the Wind drew a reviewer’s notice for a specifically “dreamy rather than realistic” treatment — sound used as an interpretive tool, not just an amplification system. Over thirty years, Parker’s ear has become part of what Asolo Rep is.

Scenic designers build the physical world every production inhabits — from bare-stage minimalism to immersive full-scale environments. The best scenic work is not decoration but argument: it tells you what the play is about before a word is spoken. Major American scenic designers including David Rockwell, Beowulf Boritt, and Santo Loquasto have shaped decades of Broadway and regional theater production.

Lighting designers control what audiences see, where they look, what time of day it feels like, whether a scene is real or remembered. The craft combines engineering, color theory, and dramatic instinct. The United States Institute for Theatre Technology (USITT) and the Tony Awards both recognize lighting as a primary authorial voice in theatrical production alongside the director and playwright.

Costume designers tell you who a character is before they open their mouth — status, era, psychology, aspiration. In regional theater, costume shops build most of what appears on stage; in Broadway houses, costumers may source, construct, and maintain hundreds of individual pieces across a long run. The Costume Designers Guild (Local 892) and United Scenic Artists (USA 829) both cover professional theater costumers.

Choreographers shape how bodies move through space — in musicals, in fights, in the physical life of non-musical plays. The distinction between “choreography” and “movement direction” reflects two different but related disciplines. Tony Award recognition now covers both Best Choreography (musicals) and distinguishes movement direction in straight plays through the Drama Desk and other bodies.

Stage managers run every rehearsal, call every cue in performance, and hold the entire production in their heads simultaneously. In regional theater with rotating repertory — like Asolo Rep — stage managers may manage multiple productions running in overlapping rotation, tracking hundreds of cues, props, costume pieces, and schedule changes per week. Represented by Actors’ Equity Association (AEA).

Founded 1955 by theater critics and journalists, the Drama Desk Awards cover Broadway, Off-Broadway, and Off-Off-Broadway in the same competition — the only major New York theater award to do so. A Drama Desk nomination or win for an Off-Broadway production often signals work of genuine importance that the Tonys (which cover only Broadway) cannot recognize. The Drama Desk Award is how All Is Calm got its national profile.

The Village Voice Obie Awards, now administered by the American Theatre Wing, have recognized Off and Off-Off-Broadway theater since 1955 — the same year as the Drama Desk. The Obies are the most prestigious award specifically for non-Broadway theater, and they have recognized the early work of nearly every major American playwright of the past seventy years: Albee, Shepard, Parks, Vogel, Cruz, and hundreds more.

South Florida’s most prestigious theater awards — the regional equivalent of the Tonys for the professional theater scene from Miami to Palm Beach, including Asolo Rep in Sarasota. Named after Manuel Carbonell, a Cuban sculptor whose work was placed in many South Florida performing arts buildings. Asolo Rep productions have won multiple Carbonell Awards across several categories and seasons.

The Tony Award for Outstanding Regional Theatre is the Broadway community’s acknowledgment that the American theater extends far beyond New York. Recipients include Oregon Shakespeare Festival (1983), Arena Stage (1976), Guthrie Theater (1982), Alley Theatre (1996), Alliance Theatre (2022), Goodman Theatre (1992), ACT San Francisco (1979), La Jolla Playhouse (1993), and Center Theatre Group (1996), among others.