The hub of New York’s theatrical life is the Broadway with musical performances for every taste. Broadway is the theater district of Times Square between 41st and 53rd Streets and between Sixth and Ninth Avenues. In this neighborhood there are about 40 major theaters and about 1,500 off-Broadway and off-Broadway performances per year in smaller theaters.

The first theater to move from the previous theater district on Herald Square to Times Square was the Empire Theater. The building was built by Charles Frohman in 1893 with 1000 seats. It was right across from the Opera House of the Metropolitan Opera, at its old location between 39th and 40th Streets, on the corner of Broadway. The Broadway experienced a large number of theater start-ups in the period from 1910 to 1930. The oldest theater from this period is the Lyceum, which opened in 1903. It was the first theater with electric light in the whole building. The lighting was built by Thomas Alva Edison.

In the 1980s, Broadway suffered a veritable theatrical death. But with a complete restructuring of the theater industry, this crisis is now a thing of the past. The biggest Broadway hits were Cats, 42nd Street, Les Miserables, Lion King and The Producers.

Not far from Central Park are the Metropolitan Opera House MET. Here is the Metropolitan Opera Company firmly established. In addition to the big well-known theaters, there are a lot of small houses, the off-off – Broadway houses, which enrich the scene.