Theater (building)

A theater, theatre or playhouse, is a structure where theatrical works or plays are performed or other performances such as musical concerts may be produced. While a theater is not required for performance (as in environmental theater or street theater), a theater serves to define the performance and audience spaces. The facility is traditionally organized to provide support areas for performers, the technical crew and the audience members.

There are as many types of theaters as there are types of performance. Theaters may be built specifically for a certain types of productions, they may serve for more general performance needs or they may be adapted or converted for use as a theater. They may range from open-air amphitheaters to ornate, cathedral-like structures to simple, undecorated rooms or black box theaters. Some theaters may have a fixed acting area (in most theaters this is known as the stage), while some theaters such as black box theaters, may not, allowing the director and designers to construct an acting area suitable for the production.

Theatre

Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of fine art that uses live performers to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The performers may communicate this experience to the audience through combinations of gesture, speech, song, music, and dance. Elements of art and stagecraft are used to enhance the physicality, presence and immediacy of the experience. The specific place of the performance is also named by the word "theatre" as derived from the Ancient Greek θέατρον (théatron, "a place for viewing"), itself from θεάομαι (theáomai, "to see", "to watch", "to observe").

Modern Western theatre comes, in large measure, from ancient Greek drama, from which it borrows technical terminology, classification into genres, and many of its themes, stock characters, and plot elements. Theatre artist Patrice Pavis defines theatricality, theatrical language, stage writing, and the specificity of theatre as synonymous expressions that differentiate theatre from the other performing arts, literature, and the arts in general.

Broadway theatre

Coordinates: 40°45′21″N 73°59′11″W / 40.75583°N 73.98639°W / 40.75583; -73.98639

Broadway theatre, commonly known as Broadway, refers to the theatrical performances presented in the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theater District and Lincoln Center along Broadway, in Manhattan, New York City. Along with London's West End theatres, Broadway theatres are widely considered to represent the highest level of commercial theatre in the English-speaking world.

The Theater District is a popular tourist attraction in New York City. According to The Broadway League, Broadway shows sold a record US$1.36 billion worth of tickets in 2014, an increase of 14% over the previous year. Attendance in 2014 stood at 13.13 million, a 13% increase over 2013.

The great majority of Broadway shows are musicals. Historian Martin Shefter argues, "'Broadway musicals,' culminating in the productions of Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein, became enormously influential forms of American popular culture" and helped make New York City the cultural capital of the nation.

Theatre (band)

Theatre was an experimental mathcore outfit formed in the lower suburbs of Somerset West, South Africa in 2008. They bring genre-smashing music to the foreground that is both unique in construction and chaotic in design, which is brought forth by means of a notably destructive yet emotive performance, with "live shows that truly defy the norm".

History

Theatre started out, as any new project would, as a simple concept which came about when brothers, Tarquin and Byron Jones of the late Eve Of My Collapse began collaborating with JJ van Rooyen, former frontman of Era Of The Hero. After welcoming members Schalk Venter and Duke Negus, the band was set to begin writing. The writing process was difficult and intricate, as the band was yet to find its true sound. In early 2009, Schalk stepped down from his position as bassist, but remained a part of the band as art director and occasional percussionist. Theatre, quickly filled the position with former-Era bassist, Jacques Jordaan. The band was complete and ready to hit the stage.