Lorem Ipsum Dolor March 4, 2019

TODAY’S NEWS
Broadway | History | Livia Edmunds

African Americans
In Theaters
‘A Trip To Coontown’ was the
first musical comedy that was
entirely performed and
produced by African
Americans.(History Things) This
show was from 1998, Not too
long ago. The producer
thought that he should make a
play to compete with
European Americans. They did
not want to copy their ways.
But they wanted to create their
Broadways History
own style of play. The first Broadway has been around for a very long time, It’s been around
collaboration was with the since 1750. The first theater was only big enough to hold 280
song "Louisiana Lize". This was people. As Broadway grew more popular over the years they
a love song that was used for created more and more theaters. The theaters got bigger as they
their play. Coon songs are a created more so theaters could hold more people up to 2000.
genre of music that
Today, their are many shows that have ran throughout the years.
stereotyped the image of
There are about 28 theaters all around New York City. Broadway
African American people.
( African- American Musical even has its own awards called the Tony Awards for plays and
Theater) The word “ Coon” is a actors. (Theater Seat Store) Broadway isn’t just exclusive for
term that African Americans people and families with money Broadway can be for everyone.
can take as a derogatory term There is so much to know about Broadway because there is so
and should only be used much that happened in its history.

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* Definitely worth
seeing
There is so much to know about
Broadway because there's so
much that happened in its
history. Broadway has so many
things that go into it before it
even can start. You need to
audition to start it all. There are
lots of theaters because grew so
much over the years. And, there
even became an award show for
the Broadway shows. This is
important because people got
recognized for all of the amazing
hard work they put in to these
amazing shows. Broadway has
options for everyone so it’s
definitely worth taking a trip to
see.
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March 4, 2019
Broadway Starts with an audition
The beginning of the Broadway play process is auditions. This is
where it all starts because without actors and actresses there
would be no play to put on. When actors have their first
auditions for Broadway they are probably going to be a prescreen.
Prescreen auditions are where actor typically prepare a song to
sing that will be similar to the ones that could be seen in the play
they are working towards. Then they also do a scene from the
show so that the producers can see what their skills are like.
Sometimes there could be a reader in the room so you can do
your scenes with someone else so it’s like you are actually
performing it with another actor or actress. Broadway now tends
to have many producers to a show and they have to all come to an
agreement on who they think can best play the part. Callbacks
can be stressful for actors because after they audition, if they
want to have them back they will be called back. This is so they
can see how their
potential candidates
would work together
in a scene. (Mercanti)
There is a long
process that happens
even before the show
starts rehearsing for
the big night.
When you hear Broadway you often think plays. But, Broadway
refers to a theater district in New York City. When a performance
is held on Broadway it is considered the highest and best level
attainable for theater performers. Going to a Broadway show is a
popular destination for tourists when they visit New York City.
However, Broadway history did not begin until 1750. When
Thomas Kean and Walter Murray opened a theater on Nassau
Street. The theater wasn’t very big and could only hold 280
people. This theater often held Shakespeare plays and ballad
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operas. More theaters were built when shows were becoming more and more popular. And, the theaters
were getting bigger so they could hold more people in them. There are currently 41 Broadway theaters
around Manhattan. The Astor place theater opened in
1849 and there was a riot because the lower class was
offended by how the upper class was treating them
with their snobbery. The riot ended up separating
because upper class started attending opera ps and
working class attended various shows. Musical shows
were first performed in the middle of the century ‘The
Elves’ was the first long run musical ever.( Theater Seat
Store) Broadway has been around for a long time and
the theaters have developed so much since then.
People today still enjoy going to see Broadway Theater
shows.

Tony awards
Broadway is so popular that it got its own award show, called the Tonys. They started in 1947 when people
wanted a program to celebrate theater. The awards ceremony in its earlier days was a lot smaller than it is
now.The first Tony dinner had about 1000 guests. Entertainment was provided by favorite broadway
actors and actresses.Years later the Tony awards took place in the ballroom of hotel such as the Plaza and
Waldorf Astoria. The ceremonies were cast on radio but in 1956 the were locally cast by Du Mont's
Channel 5 on TV for the first time. Later the Tonys moved from a hotel ballroom to a Broadway Theater,
The Shubert. The gala and dinner were broadcast

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by Cohen for the next 2 decades still. The awards ceremony began being carried by CBS in 1978. The
Tonys celebrated a milestone in 1997 when the ceremony moved away from the Broadway theater for 3
decades. Now the Tonys usually take place at Radio City Music Hall. (TonyAwards) The Tony awards have
gotten bigger and bigger through the years and now they are broadcast nationally because so many people
love broadway shows.

Works Cited:

Healy, Patrick. “How Broadway Actors Spend Time Backstage.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 4 June 2010,
www.nytimes.com/2010/06/05/theater/05offstage.html?
mtrref=www.google.com&gwh=7701F078D5FFCEEC07120BF2BEEC8390&gwt=pay.

“History from the Tony Awards.” TonyAwards.com, 200AD, www.tonyawards.com/en_US/history/index.html.

“History of Theater on Broadway | History of Broadway.” Octane Seating, 26 Nov. 2018, www.octaneseating.com/the-
history-of-theater-on-broadway.

Mercanti, JV. “What a Broadway Audition Is Really Like.” Backstage.com, 19 Mar. 2018, www.backstage.com/magazine/
article/broadway-audition-really-like-1735/.

“The History of Broadway Theater.” TheaterSeatStore.com, 1 Mar. 2019, www.theaterseatstore.com/blog/history-of-

broadway.

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