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Broadway may be the street in New York which has come to symbolize live theater entertainment and musicals around the world. Today the region, known to tourists and theater-goers, stretches from W.41st Street, in which the Netherlander Theater is situated, up to W. 53rd Street's Broadway Theater. Only four theaters are located physically on Broadway, the Marquis at 46th Street, the Palace at 47th Street, the Winter Garden at 50th Street and the Broadway at 53rd. The rest of the legitimate houses are located east or west of the twelve block stretch.
Broadway Stars.
Through the 1830's America was exporting stars to Europe. The first notable American actor to create a successful tour was Edwin Forrest, who at nineteen, had played Iago to Edmond Kean's Othello. Forrest's second tour of Great Britain, in the following decade didn't fare too. He was hissed off stage. Although the disruption of his tour would be a personal feud having a British actor, its results were well publicized within the American Press and his return to the American stage was received with populist fervor. This "personal feud" became a global incident and demonstration of class struggle in 1849, once the British actor in question was scheduled to perform at the Astor Place Opera House in Ny. A riot ensued on the nights May 10th that was pay with troops and cannon.
Broadways first marquis.
In 1891, the first electric marquis was lit on Broadway. The theater was on Madison Square at the intersection of Broadway and Fifth Avenue at W. 23rd Street. The Flatiron Building now occupies the website. By midway through the following decade, the street blazed with electric signs as each theater announced its shows and stars in white lights. By the turn of the 20th Century the road had a completely different look, with as much as sixteen theaters on Broadway itself and many others situated on the side streets or other avenues. Broadway was much more than the usual mere twelve blocks. It started at 13th Street and wound its way a mile and a half up the Avenue to 45th Street, ending in the middle of Long acre Square. This primary decade from the century also saw the making of many theaters, especially the brand new Amsterdam on 42nd Street in 1903, together with four others for the reason that same year, that are still standing today.
Our Broadway.
The very first decade of the 20th Century was both boring and transformational in the good reputation for our Broadway Musicals. The seeds of this transformation go back to 1882, and also the construction of The Madison Square Theater at 24th Street. The Mallory's, who had built the theater, had employed a actor-manager from Bay area together with two brothers from the lower Eastside to assist manage the theater. David Belasco, who had the excellence of appearing on stage with another unknown child, Maude Adams, in Bay area in 1877, was soon to become a playwright, theater owner and builder. The two brothers from the lower Eastside were, of course, Charles and Daniel Frohman. The very first sign of the transformation occurred when producer Rudolf Aronson decided to build a theatre of their own. At the time, theatres were concentrated between Union Square and 24th Street.
