designating the kind of experimental, low-budget, or noncommercial productions associated with theatre outside the Broadway area in New York
(of theatres) not located on Broadway
An Americanism dating back to 1950–55
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
And he transmits the inanity to his characters, who speak, move and act as if they are all part of a stage play that would get laughed off Broadway before previews have even ended.
From Salon • Apr. 19, 2025
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
He’s doing a play off Broadway, “Two Jews, Talking.”
From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 4, 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
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.
