During the city's early Dutch settlement, Broadway was called Heere Straat (High Street) and was one of two major routes between the harbor at Battery Park to upstate New York that was used to transport goods from England and Europe.
The Playhouse on Broadway was the city's first theater. It opened its doors in the early 1730s. The first Broadway musical, "The Beggar's Opera," debuted almost 20 years later at the Nassau Street Theatre and ran for five performances.
In 1915, philanthropist siblings Irene and Alice Lewisohn opened an amateur theater in the Lower East Side's Jewish sector. The plays they produced celebrated ethnic and cultural diversity, explored gritty realism and paved the way for the development of expressive/interpretive dance programs.
In 1926, actress Eva LeGallienne opened New York's first non-profit repertory theater. This became the forerunner of touring theatrical troupes and civic playhouses that made it possible to charge lower prices and make plays accessible to middle and lower class patrons.
Sardi's has been associated with Broadway glamor since its 1921 opening. Celebrity caricatures line the walls, and anecdotes abound about legendary stage icons who'd flock to the restaurant to nervously wait for the first reviews to roll in at 11 p.m.
The first American school to offer acting instruction was the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in 1884.
In addition to the 39 major playhouses in the Broadway theater district, the volume of performing arts companies, street theater and black-box venues would make it impossible to catch every single show. The New York Theatre Experience website is a great resource for reading reviews and whittling down choices (see Resources).