Off Broadway theater is an umbrella term for a defined set of plays, musicals or revues performed in New York City but outside the definition of Broadway theatre.

History

Originally referring to the location of a venue and its productions on a street intersecting Broadway in Manhattan's Theatre District, the hub of the theater industry in the United States, the term later became defined by the League of Off-Broadway Theatres and Producers as a professional venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 99 and 500, or a specific production that appears in such a venue, and which adheres to related trade union and other contracts.

Previously, regardless of the size of the venue, a theatre could not be considered Off Broadway if it were within the "Broadway Box" (the traditional Broadway Theater District). The contractual definition changed this to encompass theaters meeting the standard, with a higher minimum salary requirement for Actors' Equity performers than for Off Broadway theaters outside the box.

Progression

A number of Off Broadway shows have had subsequent runs on Broadway. These have included the musicals A Chorus Line, Rock of Ages, Godspell, Avenue Q, Rent, In The Heights, Spring Awakening, Next to Normal, [title of show], Hair, Grey Gardens, , Little Shop of Horrors, and Sunday in the Park with George, and the plays Doubt, I Am My Own Wife, Bridge & Tunnel and Coastal Disturbances. Other productions, such as Stomp, Blue Man Group, Altar Boyz, Perfect Crime and Naked Boys Singing have run for several years Off Broadway. The Fantasticks, the longest-running musical in theatre history, spent its original 42-year run Off Broadway.

Awards

Off Broadway shows, performers, and creative staff are eligible for nomination for the New York Drama Critics' Circle Award, the Outer Circle Critics Award, the Drama Desk Award, the Obie Award (presented since 1956 by The Village Voice), and the Lucille Lortel Award (created in 1985 by the League of Off Broadway Theatres & Producers). Although Off Broadway shows are not eligible for Tony Awards, an exception was made in 1956 (before the rules were changed), when Lotte Lenya won for "Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical", for the Off Broadway production of The Threepenny Opera.

See also

Broadway theatre

Off-Off-Broadway

References

External links

Internet Off Broadway Database

Category:Broadway Category:Culture of New York City Category:Theatre in the United States Category:Theatre

Name	Lea Michele
Caption	Michele at the Time 100 Gala in Manhattan, May 4, 2010.
Birth name	Lea Michele Sarfati
Birth date	August 29, 1986
Birth place	The Bronx, New York, U.S.
Occupation	Actress, Singer, Dancer
Years active	1995–present

Lea Michele Sarfati (born August 29, 1986), Michele's mother is Italian American and Catholic, while her father is a Spanish Sephardic Jew. Michele grew up in Tenafly, New Jersey, where she attended Tenafly High School. She attended Stagedoor Manor in the Catskills, a performing arts training center. She was then later accepted to the CAP21 program at the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University, but opted to continue working on stage.

Career

At eight years old, Michele went with a friend to an open call for a musical. Michele decided on a whim she wanted to try out. She was offered the part and made her debut on Broadway in 1995 as a replacement in the role of Young Cosette in the original New York City production of Les Misérables. This was followed by her performance of the role of Tateh's daughter, the Little Girl, in the 1998 original Broadway cast of Ragtime. In 2004, Michele played Shprintze and Chava in the Broadway revival of the musical Fiddler on the Roof.

She played the role of Wendla in Steven Sater and Duncan Sheik's musical version of Spring Awakening, starring in early workshops to Off-Broadway and finally originating the role in the Broadway production at the age of 20. Around the same time that the show was set to go to Broadway, she was offered the role of Eponine in the Broadway revival of Les Misérables. She chose to remain with Spring Awakening, which debuted on Broadway in December 2006. Michele was nominated for a Drama Desk Award for her performance in Spring Awakening in the category of Outstanding Actress in a Musical.

On May 18, 2008, Michele left Spring Awakening with co-star Jonathan Groff. She performed in a reading of Sheik and Sater's new musical, Nero, in July 2008 at Vassar College. On August 8 through 10, 2008, Michele portrayed Eponine in the Hollywood Bowl's Les Misérables concert.

Michele is on the original Broadway cast recordings of Ragtime and Spring Awakening, as well as the 2003 Broadway revival cast recording of Fiddler on the Roof.

Michele stars in the Fox television series Glee, where she plays the star singer of a high school glee club, Rachel Berry. The pilot debuted on May 19, 2009. She has won a Screen Actors Guild Award for outstanding ensemble performance and the 2009 Satellite Award for best actress. She also received nominations for an Emmy Award, two nominations for an Golden Globe Award, and Teen Choice Award for her performance in the role. Her cover of The All-American Rejects' "Gives You Hell" reached number one on the Irish charts and the top 40 on the US Billboard 200. Michele is featured lead singer in 14 of the top 20 selling glee songs as of 2010.

Michele was included in Time magazine's 2010 list of the 100 Most Influential People In the World. FHM named her #7 on 2010 Sexiest Women List, which was the highest ranking for a new entry on the list that year. AfterEllen.com named her #16 in Hot 100 of 2010, stating that "Lea Michele is just a perfect storm of hotness". Michele was named to Victoria’s Secret Sexy List 2010 as having the "Sexiest Smile". Michele was named to People Magazine's Best Dressed List of 2010 as "The Newbie". She was voted "2010 Most Stylish Star" by E! Online. E! Online also named Michele to its Top 10 celebrities of 2010 list at #7.

In 2010, Michele joined the cast of the animated film Dorothy of Oz, voicing the lead role of Dorothy Gale. That same year, she also joined the ensemble cast of Garry Marshall's romantic comedy New Year's Eve.

Advocacy

Michele is active in participating in charities for gay rights and animal rights as well as numerous other charities. In October 2010 Michele performed at a benefit concert for the Painted Turtle a camp for children with illnesses. The concert celebrated the 35th anniversary of The Rocky Horror Picture Show, Michele played the role of Janet Weiss for the benefit. In April 2010 Michele appeared in a PSA for PETA speaking out against fur. In 2008, Michele was a part of the PETA ad campaign "Buck Cruelty! Say No to Horse-Drawn Carriage Rides". In September 2010 Michele was honored by PETA for her work for animals. Michele is vegan. In support of gay rights, Michele performed at the Human Rights Campaign Dinner in November 2009. Also in November 2009, Michele and Jonathan Groff performed for True Colors Cabaret, a fundraiser in support of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender equality. In 2008, Michele performed at a benefit concert, Alive in the World to aid the Twin Tower Orphan Fund. Michele has also been active with Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS. For Broadway Cares Michele has participated in Broadway Barks, Broadway Bears, Easter Bonnet Competition and The Flea Market and Grand Auction.

Credits

Broadway

Les Misérables as Young Cosette (1995–96)

Ragtime as the Little Girl (1998–99)

Fiddler on the Roof as Shprintze (2004–06)

Spring Awakening as Wendla (2006–08)

Readings/Workshops Burt Bacharach and Steven Satar collaboration (November 2009) Nero as Octavia (July 2008) Samson and Delilah as Delilah King as Anisette Spring Awakening as Wendla – Roundabout Theatre Company (2000 and June 2001)

Concerts/Events

Spring Awakening as Wendla – Lincoln Center (February 2005)

Unsung 2007: 'Tis The Season To Be Naughty – Lucille Lortel Theater, New York (December 2007) Alive in the World, benefit concert – as Phoebe (January 2008) Flopz n' cutz Concert with Landon Beard, Joe's Pub (April 2008) Les Misérables Concert as Eponine at the Hollywood Bowl (August 2008) Broadway Chance Style: Up Close & Personal (September 2008) Spring Awakening Holiday Benefit Concert – Joe's Pub (December 2008) True Colors Benefit with Jonathan Groff (November 2009)

Other projects

Ragtime as Little Girl, Toronto Centre for the Arts, Toronto, Ontario (1997)

The Diary of Anne Frank as Anne Frank, Washington D.C. (2006)

Spring Awakening as Wendla, Atlantic Theatre Company, off Broadway (May–August 2006)

Dove commercials as spokesperson (2010)

Film and television

Awards and nominations

Discography

Ragtime: Original Cast Recording (1998)

Fiddler on the Roof: Revival Cast Recording (2004)

Spring Awakening: Original Cast Recording Grammy Award winner – Best Cast Recording (2006)

References

External links

Official site of the Broadway production of Spring Awakening.

Michael Mayer (director) – Downstage Center interview at American Theatre Wing.org, July 2006

Category:1986 births Category:Actors from New York City Category:American musical theatre actors Category:American female singers Category:American television actors Category:American vegans Category:American voice actors Category:American people of Jewish descent Category:2000s singers Category:2010s singers Category:LGBT rights activists from the United States Category:American actors of Italian descent Category:American people of Spanish descent Category:Living people Category:Musicians from New York City Category:People from Bergen County, New Jersey Category:People from the Bronx Category:Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series Screen Actors Guild Award winners Category:Animal rights advocates

Caption	Groff outside the Delacorte Theater, August 19, 2009
Name	Jonathan Groff
Birth date	March 26, 1985
Birth place	Lancaster, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Occupation	Singer-songwriter, actor
Yearsactive	2006–present

Jonathan Drew Groff (born March 26, 1985) is an American singer-songwriter, stage, television and film actor. He originated the role of Melchior Gabor in Spring Awakening and appeared as Jesse St. James in the musical television series Glee.

Personal life

Groff was born in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, to a Methodist mother – Julie, a gym teacher – and Mennonite father – Jim, a harness horse trainer and driver. He has one older brother, David. Of his upbringing, he has said "My mother’s side of the family is Methodist, which is how I was raised. It was conservative in that I had strong values—sitting down and eating with the family every day, listening to authority and going to church every week and having perfect attendance at Sunday school. But at the same time, my parents always encouraged my brother and me to be happy with what we were doing. My parents were athletes in high school; my mom and my dad were the stars of the basketball team, but they never pushed my brother and me to be anything we didn’t want to be." Groff graduated from Conestoga Valley High School in 2003.

Groff told Broadway.com during the National Equality March in Washington, D.C., that he is "gay and proud". Groff guest starred in the back nine episodes of the first season of Glee along with Spring Awakening co-star Lea Michele. He introduced Michele to Glee creator Ryan Murphy prior to the show's start.

Career

Groff originated the role of Melchior Gabor in the Broadway production of Spring Awakening. He played the role from the musical's Broadway debut on December 10, 2006 through May 18, 2008. He also played the same role in the original Off Broadway production earlier during the summer of 2006. Other Broadway credits include the 2005 musical, In My Life. Groff also was in the National Tour of The Sound of Music as Rolf, and appeared in Fame at the North Shore Music Theater in Beverly, Massachusetts. In April 2007, he was nominated for a Drama Desk Award for his role in Spring Awakening. In May 2007, he was nominated for the Tony Award as Best Leading Actor in a Musical for his performance, with the award eventually going to David Hyde Pierce''.

He played the recurring role of Henry Mackler on the ABC soap opera One Life to Live. His storyline about a school shooting on the long-running soap opera was nixed due to the Virginia Tech shooting in April 2007, and he is no longer on the show.

Before performing on the Broadway stage, Jonathan was a performer at The Ephrata Performing Arts Center in Ephrata, Pennsylvania. There he portrayed such characters as Edgar in and Ugly in Honk!.

Groff played as Claude in the Shakespeare in the Park production of Hair, which ran July 22 through August 31 and as Michael Lang in Ang Lee's film, Taking Woodstock.

Groff has appeared in the Off-Broadway production of Prayer for My Enemy by Craig Lucas (Prelude to a Kiss, Light in the Piazza) about the consequences the Iraq war has had on an American family.

In August 2009, Groff performed The Bacchae as Dionysus as a part of the Public Theater's Shakespeare in the Park.

He was guest starring on Glee as Jesse St. James, the male lead of rival glee club, Vocal Adrenaline for eight of the back nine episodes. He also serves as a love interest for his former Spring Awakening co-star Lea Michele's character, Rachel Berry. Newsweek critic Ramin Satoodeh stated that Groff was unconvincing in the role of the straight Jesse ("he seems more like your average theater queen, a better romantic match for Kurt than Rachel"). Groff's performance was defended by Glee creator Ryan Murphy and guest star Kristin Chenoweth, both of whom described Satoodeh's essay as homophobic; it was also condemned by GLAAD president Jarrett Barrios.

In August 2010 he made his West End debut in Deathtrap, at the Noel Coward Theatre in a production directed by Matthew Warchus.

Filmography

Discography

Glee singles

Awards and nominations

Nominations

Drama League Awards: Distinguished Performance 2007

Drama Desk Awards:: Outstanding Actor in a Musical 2007

Tony Awards: Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical 2007

Awards

Theatre World Award, 2007

Obie Award, 2009 (for both "Prayer for the Enemy" and "Singing Forest")

References

External links

Category:1985 births Category:American stage actors Category:American television actors Category:American musical theatre actors Category:American film actors Category:American soap opera actors Category:American singers Category:Gay actors Category:LGBT musicians from the United States Category:Living people Category:People from Lancaster County, Pennsylvania