American theater is changing — here's why
Say "theater" and many people think "Broadway."
The musical 1776, perhaps, in a freshly revolutionary, re-gendered mounting by Tony winner Diane Paulis and Emmy-nominated Jeffrey L. Page. Or Hamilton, Rent, A Chorus Line. Or maybe they think of some of the plays that have won Pulitzer Prizes in the last 30 years.
As it happens, every one of those shows was first applauded — before it went to Broadway or won the Pulitzer — at America's regional theaters, a nationwide network of more than 1,800 professional, not-for-profit resident stages.
Before 2020, those theaters were producing between 14,000 and 25,000 productions each year, attended annually by an average of more than 35 million people, according to the Theater Communications Group. That's more than twice as many as attend pro football games in the U.S., according to figures from the NFL.
Regional theaters were conceived as an alternative to Broadway, but they long ago became indispensable to their showbizzy commercial cousin. In the 2010s, they helped nurture and develop eight of the 10 shows that went on to win Broadway's Best, and the runaway international smash The movement's success was contagious.
