According to NYCTourist.com, Broadway is known as "The Great White Way," a moniker that has stuck since 1902 and was coined because of the plethora of lights from the marquees and billboards. The bright lights and atmosphere still are captivating theater-goers today.
Currently, the longest running Broadway play is Andrew Lloyd Webber's, "The Phantom of the Opera." NYCTourist.com states the play debuted on Broadway in 1988. The play was an adaption of the book, "Le Fantome de l'Opera," by Gaston Leroux.
Broadway's link to controversial literature was early and often. "Uncle Tom's Cabin," a socially divisive work, played in 1852 and was surprisingly well-received, according to Talkin' Broadway's Broadway 101. It further states that the controversial Alexandre Dumas' work, "Camille, or, the Fate of a Coquette," saw several adaptations performed on Broadway.
From Henrik Ibsen's classic "A Doll's House," to William Shakespeare's "Hamlet," Broadway has been host to some of the greatest classics and stage actors in theater history. Among its most recent offerings, Broadway boasts "West Side Story," "Wicked" and "The Lion King."
In a dynamic group of their own are the extravagant, high-energy Broadway musicals. Some of the most notable include "42nd Street," "Oklahoma," "Ain't Misbehavin'," Cole Porter's "Anything Goes," "Cabaret," "Cats" and "Les Miserables."