off Broadway
noun
professional drama produced in New York City in small theaters often away from the Broadway area and characterized by experimental productions.
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off Broadway
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off-Broadway
off-Broadwayadjectivedesignating the kind of experimental, low-budget, or noncommercial productions associated with theatre outside the Broadway area in New York
off Broadway
American
Or
Off Broadway
noun
off-Broadway
British
adjective
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designating the kind of experimental, low-budget, or noncommercial productions associated with theatre outside the Broadway area in New York
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(of theatres) not located on Broadway
off-Broadway
Cultural
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of off Broadway
An Americanism dating back to 1950–55
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
He acted on and off Broadway for the next 30 years, occasionally scoring roles in television and film including in “Half Nelson” with Ryan Gosling and “Dolemite is My Name.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 19, 2023
He also appeared on and off Broadway in “Look Back in Anger and the revival of Lanford Wilson’s “Burn This.”
From Seattle Times ● May 23, 2023
Next spring, Jackson’s new musical, “White Girl in Danger,” set in the world of a fictional soap opera town called Allwhite, will open off Broadway.
From New York Times ● Oct. 14, 2022
In the past week, more than a dozen productions on and off Broadway canceled performances because of covid outbreaks detected within their casts or crew or, in some cases, mere fears of covid-19 exposure.
From Washington Post ● Dec. 20, 2021
He suggested to Quirin and Heinck to check in to the nearby Hotel Chesterfield, just off Broadway on Forty-Ninth Street.
From Nazi Saboteurs by Samantha Seiple
After college, I was cast as one of the leads in the 2006 off-Broadway production of “The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 29, 2026
She was also inspired an off-Broadway play, “Gloria: A Life,” which was adapted into a 2020 production for PBS’ “Great Performances” that starred Christine Lahti.
From Salon ● Sep. 3, 2026
My father transitioned into an acting career and was in off-Broadway plays and musicals.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 28, 2026
They also starred alongside each other in the off-Broadway production of “Danny and the Deep Blue Sea” in 2023.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 15, 2026
I’d seen it off-Broadway and loved it so much that I went to see it again when it hit the big stage.
From "Becoming" by Michelle Obama
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
