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Broadway Theatre

Broadway theatre

::Note on spelling: While most Americans use "er" (as per American spelling conventions), the majority of venues, performers and trade groups for live theatre use "re." ---- Broadway theatre is often considered the highest professional form of theatre in the United States. Broadway theatre, or a Broadway show, refers to a performance (usually a play or musical) staged in one of the thirty-nine larger professional theatres located in New York City, with 500 seats or more, that appeal to the mass audience. Along with London's West End theatre, Broadway theatre is usually considered of the highest quality. West End theatre, 2003]] While the term "Broadway" comes from the street, Broadway, it is best described as a theatre district as not all Broadway theatres are located on this street. With roots in 1882, and expansions and new construction, by the turn of the century Broadway was the center of American theater and fast becoming the most important commercially in the world, enticing European stars such as Sarah Bernhardt. Some of the important early investors and developers of the Broadway theater district include Henry Abbey, A.L. Erlanger, Marcus Klaw, Florenz Ziegfeld, Rudolf Aronson, David Belasco, Charles Frohman, Daniel Frohman, Oscar Hammerstein, and the Shubert family. Today, the majority of Broadway theatres are located in the area called Midtown, in and around Times Square. Broadway theatres are usually run by a producing organization (e.g., Nederlander Organization, The Walt Disney Company, The Shubert Organization, etc.), or another theatre group (e.g., Manhattan Theatre Club, Lincoln Center Theater, et cetera). All Broadway shows are professionally produced and adhere to strict contracts for all artists involved (e.g., performers, directors, musicians, playwrights, stage managers, et cetera). Artistic trade unions such as Actors' Equity, commonly known simply as "Equity," and the Society of Stage Directors and Choreographers bargain for contracts guaranteeing minimum wages and other rights involved with the rehearsal and production process. On rare occasions, disputes over contracts can result in a group of artists' going on strike. In March 2003, musicians in the orchestra pit of Broadway musicals went on strike because producers wanted to reduce the minimum number of orchestra members required. More than a dozen Broadway musicals went dark for four days after the musicians' union walked out, and theaters lost millions of dollars in revenue. Broadway shows may run for a varying number of weeks, depending on ticket sales. Musicals tend to have longer runs than do stage plays. The longest running show in Broadway history was Andrew Lloyd Webber's Cats, which closed in 2000 after running for 7,485 performances at the Winter Garden Theater. In addition to long runs in Broadway theatres, producers often copy the production with a new cast and crew for the Broadway Tour, which travels to theatres across the country. Both musicals and stage plays on Broadway and in their respective tours often rely on casting well-known performers in leading roles to draw larger audiences or bring in new audience members to the theatre. Actors from movies and television are frequently cast for the premieres of Broadway shows or are used to replace actors leaving a cast. Many performers, however, are still primarily "stage" actors, who spend more time on the stages of New York and will appear in television and screen roles as a secondary venue. Broadway shows and artists are honored every June when the Antoinette Perry Awards (Tony Awards) are given by the American Theatre Wing. The Tony is Broadway's highest theatre award. The importance of these awards has increased since their annual broadcast on television began. Celebrities are often chosen to host the show, like Hugh Jackman and Rosie O'Donnell, in addition to celebrity presenters. While some critics have felt that the show should focus on celebrating the stage, many others recognize the positive impact that famous faces lend to selling more tickets and bringing more people to the theatre. The performances from Broadway musicals on the telecast have also been cited as vital to the survival of many Broadway shows. Many theatre people, notably critic Frank Rich, dismiss the Tony awards as little more than a commercial for the limited world of Broadway, which after all can only support a maximum of two dozen shows a season, and constantly call for the awards to embrace off-Broadway theatre as well. Seeing a Broadway show is a common tourist activity in New York and a business that generates billions of dollars annually. The Tkts booth in Duffy Square, at Broadway and 47th Street, sells same-day tickets for many Broadway and Off-Broadway shows at half price. This service helps sell empty seats and makes seeing a show in New York more affordable. Many Broadway theatres also offer special student rates, same-day "rush" tickets, or standing-room tickets to help ensure that more people have the opportunity to see Broadways shows. Some theatregoers prefer the more experimental, challenging, and intimate performances possible in smaller theatres, which are referred to as Off-Broadway and Off-Off-Broadway (though some may be physically located on or near Broadway). The classification of theatres is governed by language in Actors' Equity contracts. To be eligible for a Tony, a production must be in a house with 500 seats or more, which pretty much defines the Broadway Theatre. Some theatres (by adding or subtracting seats) can convert from Off-Broadway to Broadway and vice versa.

List of Broadway theaters

- If no show is currently running, the play listed is the next show planned (marked with a
- ).
- If the next show planned is not announced, the play listed is the last one that closed (marked with a #).

External links

- [http://broadwayworld.com/broadwaytheatermap.cfm Map of Broadway shows]
- [http://www.ibdb.com/default.asp Internet Broadway Database (IBDB)]
- [http://www.americantheatrewing.org/ American Theatre Wing]
- [http://www.broadway.org/ The League of American Theatres and Producers, Inc.]
- [http://www.tcg.org/ Theatre Communications Group]
- [http://www.actorsequity.org Actor's Equity Association]
- [http://www.dramatistsguild.com The Dramatists Guild of America]
- [http://ssdc.org Society of Stage Directors and Choreographers]
- [http://www.afm.org American Federation of Musicians]
- [http://www.costumedesignersguild.com/ Costume Designers Guild]
- [http://www.broadwayarchive.com/ Broadway Theatre Archive]
- [http://webcdi.com/theater/theatre.php Theater or Theatre?]
- [http://www.encoretickets.com/app/Theater_Tickets.asp Broadway Tickets] Category:Broadway

Theatre

:For other usages see Theatre (disambiguation) Theatre is that branch of the performing arts concerned with acting out stories in front of an audience using combinations of speech, gesture, music, dance, sound and spectacle — indeed any one or more elements of the other performing arts. In addition to the standard narrative dialogue style, theatre takes such forms as opera, ballet, mime, kabuki, classical Indian dance, Chinese opera, mummers' plays, and pantomime.
Overview of theatre
"Drama" (literally translated, is defined as: Action) is that branch of theatre in which speech, either from written text (plays), or improvised is paramount. "Musical theatre" is a form of theatre combining music, songs, dance routines, and spoken dialogue. However, theatre is more than just what one sees on stage. Theatre involves an entire world behind the scenes that creates the costumes, sets and lighting to make the overall effect interesting. There is a particularly long tradition of political theatre, intended to educate audiences on contemporary issues and encourage social change. Various creeds, Catholicism for instance, have built upon the entertainment value of theatre and created (for example) passion plays, mystery plays and morality plays. There is an enormous variety of philosophies, artistic processes, and theatrical approaches to creating plays and drama. Some are connected to political or spiritual ideologies, and some are based on purely "artistic" concerns. Some processes focus on a story, some on theatre as an event, some on theatre as a catalyst for social change. According to Aristotle's seminal theatrical critique Poetics, there are six elements necessary for theatre. They are Plot, Character, Idea, Language, Song, and Spectacle. The 17th-century Spanish writer Lope de Vega wrote that for theatre one needs "three boards, two actors, and one passion". Others notable for their contribution to theatrical philosophy are Konstantin Stanislavski, Antonin Artaud, Bertolt Brecht, Orson Welles, Peter Brook, Jerzy Grotowski. The most recognisable figures in theatre are the directors, playwrights and actors, but theatre is a highly collaborative endeavour. Plays are usually produced by a production team that commonly includes a scenic or set designer, lighting designer, costume designer, sound designer, dramaturg, stage manager, and production manager. The artistic staff are assisted by technical theatre personnel who handle the creation and execution of the production.
Styles of theatre
technical theatre (1909).]] There are a variety of genres that writers, producers and directors can employ in theatre to suit a variety of tastes:
- Musical theatre: A theatrical genre in which the primary means of performance is through singing and music.
- Rock opera: Same style as opera, except that the musical form is rock music.
- Comedy: Comes from the Greek word komos which means celebration, revel or merrymaking. It does not necessarily mean funny, but more focuses on a problem that leads to some form of catastrophe which in the end has a happy and joyful outcome.
- Farce: A comic dramatic piece that uses highly improbable situations, stereotyped characters, extravagant exaggeration, and violent horseplay.
- Pantomime: A form of musical drama in which elements of dance, puppetry, slapstick and melodrama are combined to produce an entertaining and comic theatrical experience, often designed for children.
- Romantic comedy: A medley of clever scheming, calculated coincidence, and wondrous discovery, all of which contribute ultimately to making the events answer precisely to the hero's or heroine's wishes, with the focus on love.
- Comedy of situation: A comedy that grows out of a character's attempt to solve a problem created by a situation. The attempt is often bumbling but ends up happily.
- Comedy of manners: Witty, cerebral form of dramatic comedy that depicts and often satirises the manners and affectations of a contemporary society. A comedy of manners is concerned with social usage and the question of whether or not characters meet certain social standards.
- Commedia dell'arte: Very physical form of comedy which was created and originally performed in Italy. Commedia uses a series of stock characters and a list of events to improvise an entire play.
- Musical comedy: Comedy enacted through music, singing and dance.
- Black comedy: Comedy that tests the boundaries of good taste and moral acceptability by juxtaposing morbid or ghastly elements with comical ones.
- Melodrama: Originally, a sentimental drama with musical underscoring. Often with an unlikely plot that concerns the suffering of the good at the hands of the villains but ends happily with good triumphant. Featuring stock characters such as the noble hero, the long-suffering heroine, and the cold-blooded villain.
- Tragedy: A drama that treats in a serious and dignified style the sorrowful or terrible events encountered or caused by a heroic individual.
- Tragicomedy: A drama that has a bitter/sweet quality, containing elements of tragedy and comedy.
- Domestic drama: Drama in which the focus is on the everyday domestic lives of people and their relationships in the community that they live in.
- Fantasy: The creation of a unique landscape on a which a hero goes on a quest to find something that will defeat the powers of evil. Along the way, this hero meets a variety of weird and fantastic characters.
- Morality play: A morality play is an allegory in which the characters are abstractions of moral ideas.
- Physical theatre: Theatrical performance in which the primary means of communication is the body, through dance, mime, puppetry and movement, rather than the spoken word.
- Theatre of the Absurd: Term coined by Martin Esslin, theatre in which characters are engaged in an absurd, that is meaningless, activity or life. Related to existentialism.
- Meta-Theater: A genre of theater made popular with mostly modern audiences, although it did start back in the Elizabethan Era. Meta-Theater is when a play often completely demolishes the so called "fourth wall" and completely engages the audience. Often times about a group of actors, a director, writer and so on. It usually blurs the line between what is scripted and what goes on by accident. This list is not only somewhat incomplete and eurocentric, but none of the genre listed are actually mutually exclusive. The richness of live theatre today is such that its practitioners can borrow from all of these elements and more, and present something that is a multi-disciplinary melange of pretty much everything.
Theatre or Theater?
The traditional spelling of this word in Commonwealth English is theatre. In the United States, the alternative spelling theater has become more common. The general consensus of most American style guides is to use this spelling unless the word is part of the proper name of a performing arts facility or company, as some venues are branded with "theatre" [http://www.newpaltz.edu/styleguide/editorial/t.html] [http://www.buffalostate.edu/collegerelations/x593.xml] [http://www.utexas.edu/visualguidelines/tricky.html]. However, both spellings are in widely accepted when referring to the branch of the arts. For some people in the U.S., the two spellings carry different meanings. In this case, "theatre" denotes a branch of the performing arts, whereas "theater" refers to the building in which performances or other entertainments are presented. However, among theatre professionals in the U.S., "theatre" is common for both the art and the building.
Theatre venues and styles

- Broadway and the West End
- Off-Broadway and the London fringe
- Off-Off-Broadway
- Regional theatre
- Repertory theatre
- Summer stock theatre
- Community theatre
- Improvisational theatre
- Fringe festival
- Postmodern theater
- Proletcult Theatre
- Street theatre
- Physical theatre
- Temple dance
Awards in theatre

- European Theatre Award
- Laurence Olivier Awards (United Kingdom)
- Tony Award (USA)
- Golden Mask Award (Russia)
- Molière Award (France)
- Hans-Reinhart-Ring (Switzerland)
- Lucille Lortel Award (USA)
- Drama Desk Award (USA)
See also

- List of theater terms
- Theater in the United States
- History of theatre
- Theatre technique
- Suspension of disbelief
- Stagecraft
- Epic Theater
- Irish theatre
- Movie theater
- Puppet theater
- Tableaux vivant
- Mask Sound & Dance Theater
- Digital theatre
- Theater in architecture
- Opera house
- Dramatist
- List of playwrights
- List of theatre directors
- List of Irish dramatists
- :Category:Stage terminology
External links

- [http://webcdi.com/theater/theatre.php Theatre or theater?]
- [http://www.mugss.org/useful/dictionary/ Theatre terms dictionary]
- [http://www.bris.ac.uk/theatrecollection/ University of Bristol Theatre Collection]
- [http://www.ibdb.com/ Internet Broadway Database] ko:연극 ja:演劇 simple:Theater

Play

A play is a form of literature, usually consisting chiefly of dialog between characters, and usually intended for performance rather than reading. However, many scholars study plays in this more academic manner, particularly classical plays such as those of Shakespeare (rare authors, notably George Bernard Shaw, have had little preference whether their plays were performed or read). The term play refers both to the written works of dramatists and to the complete theatrical performances of such. Plays are generally performed in a theatre by actors. To better communicate a unified interpretation of the text in question, productions are usually overseen by directors, who often put their own unique interpretation on the production. (See theatre and related topics for more detailed information on the process of producing plays for performance.) The interpretive nature of drama is what makes it so appealing to so many performers and audience members alike — because a playwright is incapable of presenting the play in its intended format (a performance) without the aid of the actors and a director (though he may choose to take any of these roles himself — Molière, for example, often acted in his own plays), a play is by definition undergoing constant rebirth and renewal as new experiences and interpretations are brought by new contributors. One kind of play, the closet drama, is written in a dramatic form but is not intended for performance. It consists of dialogue between characters, but it is meant to be read, either silently to oneself or aloud to a group in a "closet" (a private domestic room). Plays are written in a variety of genres. There are six basic genres of plays: #Tragedy - a play in which a hero comes to a sad end due to fate, a fatal flaw or the work of the gods #Comedy - a play in which, despite hindrances and problems along the way, everything works out happily at the end. This usually includes funny material, even jokes. #Domestic drama - a play that reflects the world of the domestic, the family and the relationships that emerge out of the ordinary happenings of life. #Tragicomedy - a play that contains elements of both tragedy and comedy. #Melodrama - a play of heightened emotion in which a hero and often a heroine overcome a villain to right wrong. Usually has a happy ending. #Symbolic - a play in which the characters and the actions have symbolic function and the main concern is the development of ideas

External links

- [http://www.playwriting101.com/ Playwriting 101] - A playwriting tutorial written by playwright and screenwriter Jon Dorf.
- [http://www.empirecontact.com/plays/ Classic Plays] compiled by Michael J. Farrand. Category:Literature Category:Drama ja:戯曲 simple:Play

West End theatre

West End theatre is a popular term for mainstream professional theatre in London, or sometimes more specifically for shows staged in the large theatres of London's "Theatreland" . Along with New York's Broadway Theatre, West End theatre is usually considered to represent the highest level of theatre in the English speaking world. Seeing a West End show is a common tourist activity in London. Total attendances first surpassed 12 million in 2002, and in June 2005 The Times reported that this record might be beaten in 2005 [http://www.timesonline.co.uk/newspaper/0,,173-1637498,00.html]. Factors behind high ticket sales in the first half of 2005 included new hit musicals such as Billy Elliot, The Producers and Mary Poppins and the high number of film stars appearing. Since the late 1990s there has been an increase in the number of American actors on the London stage, and in 2005 these included Brooke Shields, Val Kilmer, Rob Lowe and David Schwimmer. Also in 2005, Ewan McGregor is made his first appearance in a stage musical in Guys and Dolls. Kevin Spacey has been artistic director of the Old Vic Theatre since 2004 and appears in some of his own productions.

Theatreland

London's main theatre district is located in the heart of the West End of the city centre, and is traditionally defined by The Strand to the south, Oxford Street to the north, Regent Street to the west, and Kingsway to the east although The South Bank Complex is now considered by some to be part of it. Prominent theatre streets include Drury Lane, Shaftesbury Avenue, and The Strand. This area contains approximately forty large theatres and is often referred to as Theatreland. The works staged are predominantly musicals, classic or middle brow plays, and comedy performances. Most of the theatres in "Theatreland" are late Victorian or Edwardian, and they are privately owned. Most of them have great character, and the largest and best maintained are splendid. On the other hand leg room is often cramped (people were smaller a hundred years ago) and audience facilities such as bars and restrooms are often much smaller than in modern theatres. The protected status of the buildings and their confined urban locations, combined with financial constraints, mean that it is very difficult to make substantial improvements to the level of comfort offered. In 2004, it was estimated that an investment of £250 million was required for modernisation, and the theatre owners unsuccessfully requested tax concessions to help them meet the costs.

Long-running shows

West End shows may run for a varying number of weeks, depending on ticket sales. Musicals tend to have longer runs than dramas. The longest running musical in West End history was Andrew Lloyd Webber's Cats, which closed in 2000 after running for 9,000 performances, whilst the longest running current musical is Les Misérables. However the non-musical Agatha Christie play The Mousetrap is the longest running show in the world, and has been showing since 1953.

London's non-commercial theatres

It should be noted that the term West End Theatre is sometimes used to refer specifically to commercial productions in "Theatreland". However the leading non-commercial (usually government subsidised) theatres in London, such as the National Theatre, the Royal Shakespeare Company, the Globe Theatre, the Old Vic, the Young Vic, the Royal Court Theatre, the Almeida Theatre, and the Open Air Theatre, most of which are not located in "Theatreland", arguably enjoy greater artistic prestige. These theatres stage a higher proportion of more demanding work, including premieres of new plays by leading high-brow playrights. Hit plays from the non-commercial theatres sometimes transfer to one of the commercial "Theatreland" houses for an extended second run.

Other London theatre

There is a great deal of theatre in London outside of the West End. Much of this is known as fringe theatre which is the equivalent of Off Broadway Theatre in New York. Fringe venues range from well-equipped small theatres to rooms above pubs, and the performances range from classic plays, to cabaret, to plays in the languages of London's ethnic minorities. The performers range from emerging young professionals to amateurs. Finally, there are also local theatres in the suburbs which stage a wide range of work, often including touring productions.

Drama schools

London has several prestigious drama schools, including the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA), which is by far the most famous drama school in the United Kingdom. Others include the Central School of Speech and Drama, the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art and The Poor School.

Awards

There are a number of annual awards for outstanding achievements in London theatre:
- Laurence Olivier Awards
- Evening Standard Awards
- London Critics' Circle Theatre Awards

External links

- [http://www.officiallondontheatre.co.uk Official London Theatre website]
- [http://www.londontheatredirect.com/ LondonTheatreDirect.com - Official London theatre ticket agent]
- [http://www.wayahead.com/useful//actualfront.asp Really Useful Theatres - major London theatre operator] Category:Visitor attractions in London

Broadway

Broadway may mean:
- Broadway (New York City), a major street in Manhattan, New York City: the world's most famous Broadway.
- Broadway theatre, theatrical productions produced in one of forty professional New York theatres
- Broadway, Norfolk
- Broadway, Suffolk
- Broadway, Worcestershire
- Broadway is a neighborhood in Newark, New Jersey
- Broadway (software), a programming tool
- Broadway, Seattle, Washington, a street and business district on Seattle's Capitol Hill
- Broadway, Sydney, a street south of the city of Sydney, Australia
- Broadway Shopping Centre, Sydney, a shopping centre in Sydney, Australia
- Broadway is the main shopping street of Newmarket, New Zealand
- Broadway, a character in the Walt Disney animated series Gargoyles named after the street
- Broadway is a street in Mei Foo Sun Chuen, New Kowloon, Hong Kong
- Broadway (cinema) is a chain of cinemas in Hong Kong
- Broadway (chip) is the code name of a chip to be manufactured by IBM for Nintendo's next generation "Revolution" gaming console.
- A station on the Detroit People Mover
- Broadway, a nickname for the poker hand consisting of a straight from ten to ace.
- Broadway is an alternative spelling of Broadwey, a suburb of Weymouth, England
- Broadway (song), is a song and released as a single by American rock band Goo Goo Dolls There are also streets named Broadway in other cities not listed above. There is, for example, a street called Broadway in San Francisco, and another one in Baltimore.

Europe

:This article is about the continent. For other meanings, see Europe (disambiguation). Europe is geologically and geographically a peninsula or subcontinent, forming the westernmost part of Eurasia. It is conventionally considered a continent, which, in this case, is more of a cultural distinction than a geographic one. It is bounded to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the west by the Atlantic Ocean and to the south by the Mediterranean and Black Seas and the Caucasus. Europe's boundary to the east is vague, but has traditionally been given as the Ural Mountains and Caspian Sea to the southeast: the Urals are considered by most to be a geographical and tectonic landmark separating Asia from Europe. :See also Continent, Bicontinental country, and Table of European territories and regions. Table of European territories and regions Table of European territories and regions Europe is the world's second-smallest continent in terms of area, covering around 10,790,000 km² (4,170,000 sq mi) or 2.1% of the Earth's surface, and is only larger than Australia. In terms of population, it is the third-largest continent (Asia and Africa are larger) with a population of more than 700,000,000, or about 11% of the world's population.

Etymology

Africa.]] In Greek mythology, Europa was a Phoenician princess who was abducted by Zeus in bull form and taken to the island of Crete, where she gave birth to Minos. For Homer, Europé (Greek: Ευρωπη; see also List of traditional Greek place names) was a mythological queen of Crete, not a geographical designation. Later Europa stood for mainland Greece, and by 500 BC its meaning had been extended to lands to the north. The Greek term Europe has been derived from Greek words meaning broad (eurys) and face (ops) -- broad having been an epitheton of Earth herself in the reconstructed Proto-Indo-European religion; see Prithvi (Plataia). A minority, however, suggest this Greek popular etymology is really based on a Semitic word such as the Akkadian erebu meaning "sunset" (see also Erebus). From the Middle Eastern vantagepoint, the sun does set over Europe, the lands to the west. Likewise, Asia is sometimes thought to have derived from the Akkadian word asu, meaning "sunrise", and is the land to the east from a Mesopotamian perspective.

History

Europe has a long history of cultural and economic achievement, starting as far back as the Palaeolithic, although this is true for the rest of the Old World as well. The recent discovery at Monte Poggiolo, Italy, of thousands of hand-shaped stones, tentatively carbon-dated to 800,000 years ago, may prove to be of particular importance. The origins of Western democratic and individualistic culture are often attributed to Ancient Greece, though numerous other distinct influences, in particular Christianity, can also be credited with the spread of concepts like egalitarianism and universality of law. The Roman Empire divided the continent along the Rhine and Danube for several centuries. Following the decline of the Roman Empire, Europe entered a long period of changes arising from what is known as the Age of Migrations. That period has been known as the "Dark Ages" to Renaissance thinkers. During this time, isolated monastic communities in Ireland and elsewhere carefully safeguarded and compiled written knowledge accumulated previously. The Renaissance and the New Monarchs marked the start of a period of discovery, exploration, and increase in scientific knowledge. In the 15th century Portugal opened the age of discoveries, soon followed by Spain. They were later joined by France, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom in building large colonial empires with vast holdings in Africa, the Americas, and Asia. After the age of discovery, the ideas of democracy took hold in Europe. Struggles for independence arose, most notably in France during the period known as the French Revolution. This led to vast upheaval in Europe as these revolutionary ideas propagated across the continent. The rise of democracy led to increased tensions within Europe on top of the tensions already existing due to competition within the New World. The most famous of these conflicts was when Napoleon Bonaparte rose to power and set out on a conquest, forming a new French empire that soon collapsed. After these conquests Europe stabilised, but the old foundations were already beginning to crumble. The Industrial Revolution started in the United Kingdom in the late 18th century, leading to a move away from agriculture, much greater general prosperity and a corresponding increase in population. Many of the states in Europe took their present form in the aftermath of World War I. From the end of World War II through the end of the Cold War, Europe was divided into two major political and economic blocks: Communist nations in Eastern Europe and capitalist countries in Western Europe. Around 1990, with the fall of the Berlin Wall, the Eastern bloc disintegrated.

Geography and extent

Eastern bloc Geographically Europe is a part of the larger landmass known as Eurasia. The continent begins at the Ural Mountains in Russia, which define Europe's eastern boundary with Asia. The southeast boundary with Asia isn't universally defined. Most commonly the Ural or, alternatively, the Emba river can serve as possible boundaries. The boundary continues with the Caspian Sea, and then the Araxes river in the Caucasus, and on to the Black Sea; the Bosporus, the Sea of Marmara, and the Dardanelles conclude the Asian boundary. The Mediterranean Sea to the south separates Europe from Africa. The western boundary is the Atlantic Ocean, but Iceland, much farther away than the nearest points of Africa and Asia, is also often included in Europe. There is ongoing debate on where the geographical centre of Europe is. At times "Europe" is defined with greater regard to political, economic, and other cultural considerations. This has led to there being several different Europes that are not always identical in size, including or excluding countries according to the definition of Europe used. Almost all European countries are members of the Council of Europe, the exceptions being Belarus, and the Holy See (Vatican City). The idea of the European continent is not held across all cultures. Some non-European geographical texts refer to the continent of Eurasia, or to the European peninsula, given that Europe is not surrounded by sea. In the past concepts such as Christendom were deemed more important. In another usage, Europe is increasingly being used as a short-form for the European Union (EU) and its members, currently consisting of 25 member states. A number of other European countries are negotiating for membership, and several more are expected to begin negotiations in the future (see Enlargement of the European Union).

Physical features

In terms of shape, Europe is a collection of connected peninsulas. The two largest of these are "mainland" Europe and Scandinavia to the north, divided from each other by the Baltic Sea. Three smaller peninsulas (Iberia, Italy and the Balkans) emerge from the southern margin of the mainland into the Mediterranean Sea, which separates Europe from Africa. Eastward, mainland Europe widens much like the mouth of a funnel, until the boundary with Asia is reached at the Ural Mountains. Land relief in Europe shows great variation within relatively small areas. The southern regions, however, are more mountainous, while moving north the terrain descends from the high Alps, Pyrenees and Carpathians, through hilly uplands, into broad, low northern plains, which are vast in the east. This extended lowland is known as the Great European Plain, and at its heart lies the North German Plain. An arc of uplands also exists along the northwestern seaboard, beginning in the western British Isles and continuing along the mountainous, fjord-cut spine of Norway. This description is simplified. Sub-regions such as Iberia and Italy contain their own complex features, as does mainland Europe itself, where the relief contains many plateaus, river valleys and basins that complicate the general trend. Iceland and the British Isles are special cases. The former is a land unto itself in the northern ocean which is counted as part of Europe, while the latter are upland areas that were once joined to the mainland until rising sea levels cut them off. Due to the few generalisations that can be made about the relief of Europe, it is less than surprising that its many separate regions provided homes for many separate nations throughout history.

Biodiversity

Having lived side-by-side with agricultural peoples for millennia, Europe's animals and plants have been profoundly affected by the presence and activities of man. With the exception of Scandinavia and northern Russia, few areas of untouched wilderness are today to be found in Europe, except for different natural parks. The main natural vegetation cover in Europe is forest. The conditions for growth are very favourable. In the north, the Gulf Stream and North Atlantic Drift warm the continent. Southern Europe could be described as having a warm, but mild climate. There are frequent summer droughts in this region. Mountain ridges also affect the conditions. Some of these (Alps, Pyrenees) are oriented east-west and allow the wind to carry large masses of water from the ocean in the interior. Others are oriented south-north (Scandinavian Mountains, Dinarides, Carpathians, Apennines) and because the rain falls primarily on the side of mountains that is oriented towards sea, forests grow well on this side, while on the other side, the conditions are much less favourable. Few corners of mainland Europe have not been grazed by livestock at some point in time, and the cutting down of the pre-agricultural forest habitat caused disruption to the original plant and animal ecosystems. Eighty to ninety per cent of Europe was once covered by forest. It stretched from the Mediterranean Sea to the Arctic Ocean. Though over half of Europe's original forests disappeared through the centuries of colonisation, Europe still has over one quarter of the world's forests - spruce forests of Scandinavia, vast pine forests in Russia, chestnut rainforests of the Caucasus and the cork oak forests in the Mediterranean. During recent times, deforestation has been stopped and many trees were planted. However, in many cases conifers have been preferred over original deciduous trees, because these grow quicker. The plantations and monocultures now cover vast areas of land and this offers very poor habitats for European forest dwelling species. The amount of original forests in Western Europe is just two to three per cent (in the European part of Russia five to ten per cent). The country with the smallest forest-covered area is Ireland (eight per cent), while the most forested country is Finland (72 per cent). In "mainland" Europe, deciduous forest prevails. The most important species are beech, birch and oak. In the north, where taiga grows, a very common tree species is the birch tree. In the Mediterranean, many olive trees have been planted, which are very well adapted to its arid climate. Another common species in Southern Europe is the cypress. Coniferous forests prevail at higher altitudes up to the forest boundary and as one moves north within Russia and Scandinavia, giving way to tundra as the Arctic is approached. The semi-arid Mediterranean region hosts much scrub forest. A narrow east-west tongue of Eurasian grassland—the steppe—extends eastwards from Ukraine and southern Russia and ends in Hungary and traverses into taiga to the north. Glaciation during the most recent ice age and the presence of man affected the distribution of European fauna. As for the animals, in many parts of Europe most large animals and top predator species have been hunted to extinction. The woolly mammoth and aurochs were extinct before the end of the Neolithic period. Today wolves (carnivores) and bears (omnivores) are endangered. Once they were found in most parts of Europe. However, deforestation caused these animals to withdraw further and further. By the Middle Ages the bears' habitats were limited to more or less inaccessible mountains with sufficient forest cover. Today, the brown bear lives primarily in the Balkan peninsula, in the North and in Russia; a small number also persist in other countries across Europe (Austria, Pyrenees etc.), but in these areas brown bear populations are fragmented and marginalised because of the destruction of their habitat. In the far North of Europe, polar bears can also be found. The wolf, the second largest predator in Europe after the brown bear, can be found primarily in Eastern Europe and in the Balkans. Other important European carnivores are Eurasian lynx, European wild cat, foxes (especially the red fox), jackal and different species of martens, hedgehogs, different species of snakes (vipers, grass snake...), different birds (owls, hawks and other birds of prey) Important European herbivores are snails, amphibians, fish, different birds, and mammals, like rodents, deers and roe deers, boars, and living in the mountains, marmots, steinbocks, chamoises among others. Sea creatures are also an important part of European flora and fauna. The sea flora is mainly phytoplankton. Important animals that live in European seas are zooplankton, molluscs, echinoderms, different crayfish, squids and octopuses, fish, dolphins, and whales. Some animals live in caves, for example proteus and bats.

Demographics

Almost all of Europe was possibly settled before or during the last ice age ca. 10,000 years ago. Neanderthal man and modern man coexisted during at least some of this time. Roman road building helped with the interbreeding of the native Europeans' genetics. In contemporary times Europe has one of the lowest inbreeding rates in the world because of an extensive transport network paired with open borders. Europe passed well over 600 million people before the turn of the 20th century, but now is entering a period of population decline, for a variety of social factors.

Territories and divisions

Political divisions

Independent states

interbreeding on this map.]] :See also: Table of European territories and regions The following independent states have territory in Europe: ² Azerbaijan and Georgia lie partly in Europe according to the usual definition which consider the crest of the Caucasus as the boundary with Asia.
³ Kazakhstan's European territory consists of a portion west of the Ural and Emba Rivers.
⁴ The name of this state is a matter of international dispute. See Republic of Macedonia for details.
⁵ Those territories of Russia lying west of the Ural Mountains are considered as part of Europe.
⁶ State union of Republic of Serbia and the Republic of Montenegro.
⁷ European Turkey comprises territory to the west and north of the Bosporus and the Dardanelles straits.
^{2, 3, 5, 7} See Countries in both Europe and Asia for details.

Dependent territories

The European territories listed below are recognised as being culturally and geographically defined. Most have a degree of autonomy. In the list below, each territory is followed by its legal status.
- Faroe Islands (autonomous region of Denmark)
- Gibraltar (UK overseas territory)
- Guernsey (British crown dependency)
- Jersey (British crown dependency)
- Man, Isle of (British crown dependency)
- Svalbard (autonomous region of Norway) Note that this is not a list of all dependencies of all European countries. Dependencies located on other continents are not listed.

Unilaterally seceded territories

Following are breakaway regions of independent states. These regions have declared and de facto achieved independence, but this is not recognised de jure by their home state or by the other independent states.
- Abkhazia (from Georgia)
- Nagorno-Karabakh (disputed by Armenia and Azerbaijan)
- South Ossetia (from Georgia)
- Transnistria (from Moldova)

Territories under United Nations administration

- Kosovo and Metohia (province of Serbia)

Table of European territories and regions

Notes:
¹ Continental regions as per UN categorisations/map. Depending on definitions, various territories cited below (notes 2-6, 8, 9) may be in one or both of Europe and Asia.
² Armenia is sometimes considered a transcontinental country in Eastern Europe and Western Asia (as per UN categorisations/map).
³ Azerbaijan is often considered a transcontinental country in Western Asia (UN region) and Eastern Europe; population and area figures are for European portion only.
⁴Cyprus is often considered a transcontinental country in Western Asia (UN region) and Southern Europe; population and area figures are for de jure Greek-administered portion only.
⁵Georgia is often considered a transcontinental country in Western Asia (UN region) and Eastern Europe; population and area figures are for European portion only.
⁶Kazakhstan is sometimes considered a transcontinental country in Central Asia (UN region) and Eastern Europe.
⁷Netherlands population for July 2004; Amsterdam is the de facto capital, while The Hague is the country's administrative seat.
⁸Russia is generally considered a transcontinental country in Eastern Europe (UN region) and Asia; population and area figures are for European portion only.
⁹Turkey is generally considered a transcontinental country in Western Asia (UN region) and Southern Europe; population and area figures are for European portion only, including all of Istanbul.

Linguistic and cultural regions

The sub-division in several linguistic and cultural regions is much less subjective than the geographical sub-division, since they correspond to people's cultural connections. There are three main groups:

Germanic Europe

Germanic Europe, where Germanic languages are spoken. This area corresponds more or less to north-western Europe and some parts of central Europe. The main religion of the region is Protestantism, even if there are also some countries with Catholic majority (particularly Austria). This region consists of: United Kingdom, Ireland, Iceland, Germany, Austria, Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Luxembourg, Liechtenstein, the Faroe Islands, German-speaking Switzerland, the Flemish part of Belgium, the Swedish-speaking municipalities of Finland, and the South Tyrol part of Italy.

Latin Europe

Latin Europe, where the Romance languages are spoken. This area corresponds more or less to south-western Europe, with the exception of Romania and Moldova which are situated in Eastern Europe. The major religion is Catholicism, except in Romania and Moldova. This area consists of: Italy, Spain, Portugal, France, Romania, Moldova, French-speaking Belgium and French speaking Switzerland, and Italian and Romansh speaking Switzerland as well.

Slavic Europe

Slavic Europe, where Slavic languages are spoken. This area corresponds, more or less, to Central and Eastern Europe. The main religions are Orthodox Christianity and Catholicism, with large Muslim populations in some parts formerly ruled by the Ottoman Empire. This area consists of: Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, the Republic of Macedonia, Poland, Russia, Serbia and Montenegro, Slovakia, Slovenia and Ukraine.

Others

Outside of these three main groups we can find:
- The Celtic nations: Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, Cornwall (within the United Kingdom); the Isle of Man (a British Crown dependency); the Republic of Ireland; Brittany (within France). These are all nations where a Celtic language is spoken, or was spoken into modern times, and there is a degree of shared culture (see Pan Celticism). Also considered Celtic nations, by some, are both Galicia (Spain) and Asturias, (within Spain), whose own Celtic language died out several hundred years ago.
- Greece, the only country of "Hellenic Europe".In Hellenic Europe we can consider also the Greek Cypriot community It is sometimes associated with the Latin countries, due to the geographical and cultural ties to the Mediterranean Sea, and sometimes to the Slavic-Orthodox part of Europe due to the importance or Orthodoxy in Greece.
- Armenia has a language that constitutes a separate branch of Indo-European family of languages. The Armenian language is spoken in Armenia and other European countries with Armenian communities (such as France, Greece, Belgium, Russia, Germany etc.).
- Ibero-Caucasian, a group that includes ethnic groups throughout the Caucasus region (both North and South). Ibero-Caucasian languages are not linked to the Indo-European languages. This group includes Georgians, Abkhaz, Chechens, Balkars, and a number of other smaller ethnic groups that reside in the Caucasus.
- Turkey, having an Altaic language not of Indo-European origin, and mainly a Muslim country, unlike the main regions' different versions of Christianity.
- Hungary, having a language related to Finnish and Estonian. Due to its location Hungary is normally grouped with Central or Eastern European countries.
- Finland and Estonia, whose languages are related to Hungarian. Despite this connection (not a close one), Finland and Estonia are normally associated with northern European countries (of an even farther connection).

External links

-
- [http://www.democracyineurope.com Democracy in Europe]
- [http://www.holidayhomeseuro.com European holiday homes]
- [http://phoenicia.org/europa.html Europa, the Phoenician Princess] - overwhelmed Zeus with love
- [http://www.europestartpage.com EUROPEstartpage.com, travel and city guide to Europe]
- [http://www.limitlesseurope.com LimitlessEurope.com : information guide to Europe]
- [http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=13266 Europe at Night] at NASA Earth Observatory
- [http://www.geog.tamu.edu/~prout/GVmidtermTwo.html Regions of Europe]
- [http://p086.ezboard.com/balbanau Evropa / Europa / Europe]
- [http://www.eufpc.org EUFPC European Foreign Policy Council]
- [http://www.itmaps.com/?modul=map Map of Europe]
- [http://www.freeworldmaps.net/europe/index.html Physical Map of Europe]
- [http://www.parks.it/europa/Eindex.html Parks in Europe] - National parks, nature parks, reserves and other protected areas. Category:Continents als:Europa roa-rup:Evropa zh-min-nan:Europa ko:유럽 ms:Eropah ja:ヨーロッパ simple:Europe th:ทวีปยุโรป

Marcus Klaw

Marcus Alonzo Klaw (May 29, 1858 – June 14, 1936) was an American lawyer, theatrical producer, theatre owner, and a leading figure of the Theatrical Syndicate. Referred to as both Mark and Marc, he was born in Paducah, Kentucky. He studied law and set up a practice in Louisville but after handing a case for theatre executive Gustave Frohman, Klaw was drawn to the business. He eventually formed a partnership with A. L. "Abe" Erlanger that started out as a theatrical booking agency in New York City in 1886. Operating as "Klaw & Erlanger" they expanded their business through the acquisition and construction of theaters to the point where they controlled most of the theaters in the U.S. South and several major locations in New York. Among their holdings were they owned "Klaw and Erlanger's Costume Company" and the "Klaw & Erlanger Opera Company." In 1896, Klaw & Erlanger joined with Al Hayman, Charles Frohman, Samuel F. Nixon, and Fred Zimmerman to form the "Theatrical Syndicate." Their organization established systemized booking networks throughout the United States and created a monopoly that controlled every aspect of contracts and bookings until the late 1910s when the Shubert brothers broke their stranglehold on the industry. Despite being near universally despised by most in the industry for their ruthless tactocs, Klaw and Erlanger produced dozens of Broadway plays and financed many others including the early editions of the Ziegfeld Follies. The partnership of Klaw & Erlanger was badly hurt as a result of the Actors' Equity strike of 1919, and they made their last Broadway production in September of 1924. After that, Mark Klaw focused mainly on producing dramas until his retirement in 1927. Klaw moved to England, where he died in 1936 at Bracken Fell, Hassocks, West Sussex, in the United Kingdom. He is buried there in the Clayton Church cemetery. Klaw, Mark Klaw, Mark Klaw, Mark Klaw, Mark Klaw, Mark

Florenz Ziegfeld

Florenz Ziegfeld (March 21, 1869–July 22, 1932) was a Jewish-American Broadway impresario who achieved fame by perfecting the United States revue. He is best known for his series of theatrical spectaculars, the Ziegfeld Follies, based on the Folies Bergères of Paris. His first foray into the world of entertainment was at the 1893 Chicago World's Columbian Exposition, where he managed the famous strongman, Sandow. His stage spectaculars, beginning with his Follies of 1907, were produced annually until 1931. These extravaganzas featured a bevy of beauties chosen personally by "Flo" Ziegfeld, prominent composers such as Irving Berlin and Jerome Kern, and elaborate costumes and sets. His promotion of the Polish-born Anna Held as a Parisian beauty, including press releases about her milk baths, brought her fame and set a pattern of star making through publicity. Ziegfeld never married Anna, but they maintained a common-law relationship, outrageously scandalous in that day and age, which ended in 1913, allegedly solely because he moved his mistress into an apartment one floor up from theirs. The Follies launched the careers of Fanny Brice, W. C. Fields, and Eddie Cantor. Ziegfeld married the eminently respectable stage and screen actress Billie Burke in 1914, and they had a daughter, Patricia. Ziegfeld produced other landmark productions as well, including Show Boat. Although he recognized its artistic value, he was terrified Show Boat would fail because of its unusually dramatic storyline. According to an eyewitness, the audience barely applauded on opening night, but it was not because they disliked the show, but because they were so taken aback by it. It was a great success, and in 1932, after Ziegfeld lost much of his money in the stock market crash, he decided to stage a revival of "Show Boat". It became the biggest grosser on Broadway, until the Great Depression affected its run. On his passing at the age of sixty-three, Ziegfeld was interred in Kensico Cemetery in Valhalla, Westchester Co., New York.

Broadway productions

- A Parlor Match - 1893
- The French Maid - 1897
- Papa's Wife - 1899
- The Little Duchess - 1901
- Red Feather - 1903
- Mam'selle Napoleon - 1903
- Higgledy-Piggledy - 1904
- Higgledy-Piggledy - 1905
- The Parisian Model - 1906
- Ziegfeld Follies of 1907 - 1907
- The Parisian Model - 1908
- The Soul Kiss - 1908
- Ziegfeld Follies of 1908 - 1908
- Miss Innocence - 1908
- Ziegfeld Follies of 1909 - 1909
- Ziegfeld Follies of 1910 - 1910
- Ziegfeld Follies of 1911 - 1911
- Over the River - 1912
- A Winsome Widow - 1912 A Winsome Widow
- Ziegfeld Follies of 1912 - 1912
- Ziegfeld Follies of 1913 - 1913
- Ziegfeld Follies of 1914 - 1914
- Ziegfeld Follies of 1915- 1915
- Ziegfeld Follies of 1916 - 1916
- The Century Girl - 1916
- Ziegfeld Follies of 1917 - 1917
- The Rescuing Angel - 1917
- Miss 1917 - 1917
- Night in Spain - 1917
- Ziegfeld Follies of 1918 - 1918
- By Pigeon Post - 1918
- Ziegfeld Midnight Frolic - 1919
- Caesar's Wife - 1919
- Ziegfeld Girls of 1920 - 1920
- Ziegfeld Follies of 1920 - 1920
- Sally - 1920
- Ziegfeld 9 O'clock Frolic - 1921
- Ziegfeld Follies of 1921 - 1921
- The Intimate Strangers - 1921
- Ziegfeld Midnight Frolic - 1921
- Ziegfeld Follies of 1922 - 1922
- Rose Briar - 1922
- Sally - 1923
- Ziegfeld Follies of 1923 - 1923
- Kid Boots - 1923
- Ziegfeld Follies of 1924 - 1924
- Annie Dear - 1924
- Louis the 14th - 1925
- Ziegfeld's Revue 'No Foolin' - 1926
- Betsy - 1926
- Rio Rita - 1927
- Ziegfeld Follies of 1927 - 1927
- Show Boat - 1927
- Rosalie - 1928
- The Three Musketeers - 1928
- Whoopee! - 1928
- Show Girl - 1929
- Bitter Sweet - 1930
- Simple Simon - 1930
- Smiles - 1930
- Ziegfeld Follies of 1931 - 1931
- Hot-Cha! - 1932
- Show Boat - 1932 Ziegfeld, Florenz Ziegfeld, Florenz Ziegfeld, Florenz Ziegfeld, Florenz Ziegfeld, Florenz Ziegfeld, Florenz Ziegfeld, Florenz

David Belasco

David Belasco (July 25, 1853 - May 14, 1931) was an important American playwright and theatrical producer. Born in San Francisco, California, to which his Sephardic Jewish parents had moved from London during the Gold Rush, he began working in a San Francisco theatre doing a variety of routine jobs such as call boy and script copier. He eventually was given the opportunity to act and serve as a stage manager, learning the business inside out. A gifted playwright, Belasco went to New York City in 1882 where he worked as stage manager for the Madison Square Theater while writing plays. By 1895, he was so successful that he set himself up as an independent producer. During his long career between 1884 and 1930, Belasco either wrote, directed, or produced more than 100 Broadway plays, making him the most powerful personality on the New York city theater scene. Although he is perhaps most famous for having penned Madama Butterfly and The Girl of the Golden West for the stage, more than forty motion pictures have been made from the many plays he authored. David Belasco died in 1931 at the age of 77 in New York City and was interred in the Linden Hills Cemetery in Queens, New York. The Belasco Theatre in New York [http://www.nytheatre.com/nytheatre/belasco.htm] is named after him.

External link

- Belasco, David Belasco, David Belasco, David Belasco, David Belasco, David Belasco, David Belasco, David

Charles Frohman

Charles Frohman (July 16, 1860 - May 7, 1915) was an American theatrical producer. Frohman was born in Sandusky, Ohio, the brother of Daniel and Gustave Frohman. His birth date is frequently recorded as June 17th but his tombstone shows July 16. He left home as a boy and went to New York City where he eventually worked successively for a newspaper. He developed a love of the theatre that led to him becoming a booking agent and then worked his way up to producer and a theatre owner/operator. He founded the Empire Theatre Stock Company in 1892 and the following year produced his first Broadway play Clyde Fitch's Masked Ball which would also be the first time that actress Maude Adams played opposite John Drew which led to many future successes. In 1896, Charles Frohman, Al Hayman, Abe Erlanger, Mark Klaw, Samuel F. Nixon, and Fred Zimmerman formed the Theatrical Syndicate. Their organization established systemized booking networks throughout the United States and created a monopoly that controlled every aspect of contracts and bookings until the late 1910s when the Shubert brothers broke their stranglehold on the industry. As a producer, among Frohman's most famous successes was James M. Barrie's Peter Pan with Maude Adams. Frohman died in the 1915 sinking of the RMS Lusitania by the German submarine, Unterseeboot 20. His body was recovered and brought back to the United States for burial in the Union Field Cemetery in Ridgewood, New York.

External link

- Frohman, Charles Frohman, Charles Frohman, Charles Frohman, Charles Frohman, Charles Frohman, Charles

Oscar Hammerstein

There were two notable Oscar Hammersteins:
- Oscar Hammerstein I, cigar manufacturer, opera impresario, and theatre builder
- Oscar Hammerstein II, Broadway lyricist, songwriting partner of Jerome Kern and Richard Rodgers

Midtown (Manhattan)

Midtown is a neighborhood in Manhattan, New York City that has such world-famous commercial buildings as Rockefeller Center, Radio City Music Hall, and the Empire State Building. The exact size of the Midtown area is disputed, as is the case to some extent with every neighborhood. Most agree that the core commercial area extends from 40th Street up to the southern edge of Central Park on 59th Street and from Third Avenue in the east to Ninth Avenue in the west, but some take a broader view and classify Midtown as the whole area of Manhattan in the 30s, 40s, and 50s between the Hudson and East Rivers. Midtown is sometimes broken into "Midtown East" and "Midtown West" or into more traditional neighborhood distinctions like Turtle Bay, Murray Hill-Kips Bay, Hell's Kitchen-Clinton, and others. Whatever its boundaries, Midtown Manhattan is undisputably the busiest single commercial district in the United States. The great majority of the city's skyscrapers, including most of its hotels and many apartment towers, lie within Midtown. More than 3 million commuters work in its offices, hotels, and retail establishments; the area also hosts many tourists, visiting residents, and students. Some areas, especially Times Square and Fifth Avenue, have massive clusters of retail establishments. Fifth Avenue Other important sights in Midtown:
- Museum of Modern Art
- St. Patrick's Cathedral
- Grand Central Terminal
- New York Public Library
- Chrysler Building
- United Nations Headquarters
- Carnegie Hall
- Times Square
- Shops like F.A.O. Schwarz on Fifth Avenue Important streets and thoroughfares in Midtown:
- Madison Avenue
- Fifth Avenue
- Broadway
- Park Avenue
- 34th Street
- 42nd Street Category:Manhattan neighborhoods Category:Central business districts

Times Square

:Times Square is also the name of a station on the Detroit People Mover, a shopping mall in Hong Kong, and a 1980 movie. Times Square, named after the one-time headquarters of The New York Times, is a neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan, New York City, which centers on 42nd Street and Broadway. It consists of the blocks between 6th and 9th Avenue from east to west and 39th and 52nd Streets from south to north. It makes up the western part of the commercial area of Midtown Manhattan.

History

New York Times publisher Adolph S. Ochs had moved the paper's operations to a new tower on 42nd Street in the middle of the area known as Longacre Square. Ochs persuaded Mayor George B. McClellan, Jr. to build a subway stop there and rename it Times Square. On April 8, 1904, officiated by Mayor McClellan, it was renamed Times Square. Just three weeks later, the first advertisement appeared on the side of a bank at the corner of 46th Street and Broadway. The Times moved out of the tower in 1913, although it remains in the neighborhood. Later known as the Allied Chemical Building and now known as One Times Square, the tower is the site of the annual New Year's Eve ball drop. On January 1, 1907, a ball signifying New Year's Day was first dropped at Times Square, and ever since the Square has been the site of the main New Year's celebration in New York City. On this night hundreds of thousands of people congregate to watch the Waterford crystal ball being lowered on a pole atop the building (though not to the street, as is a common misconception), marking the new year. It replaced a lavish fireworks display from the top of the building that had been held from 1904 to 1906, but was outlawed by city officials. During World War II, a minute of silence, followed by a recording of church bells pealing, replaced the ball drop because of wartime blackout restrictions. In 1972, entertainer Dick Clark began to host a live half-hour ABC special detailing the event entitled Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin Eve, which not only aired the descent of the ball, but also performances from popular bands and commentary from various hosts in other cities, notably Las Vegas, Hollywood, and Orlando. During the millennium celebrations in 1999, Peter Jennings based ABC's operations in Times Square, hosting ABC 2000 Today. Times Square quickly grew as a cultural hub full of theaters, music halls, and fancy hotels. "Times Square quickly became New York's agora, a place to gather both to await great tidings and to celebrate them, whether a World Series or a presidential election," writes James Traub in The Devil's Playground: A Century of Pleasure and Profit in Times Square. Names such as Irving Berlin, Fred Astaire, and Charlie Chaplin were closely associated with Times Square in the 1910s and 1920s. The atmosphere changed with the onset of the Great Depression during the 1930s. Times Square became a neighborhood full of "peep shows", erotic all-night movie houses, and stores selling cheap tourist merchandise. The change is captured in Damon Runyon's stories, including his collection Guys and Dolls. In the decades afterwards, it was considered a dangerous neighborhood by many. The seediness of Times Square was a famous symbol of New York City's danger and corruption during the period from the 1960s until the 1990s. Influential and dark films such as Midnight Cowboy and Taxi Driver had many scenes in Times Square, while its grindhouse cinemas routinely showed films of a sleazy nature. In the mid-1990s, Mayor Rudolph Giuliani (1994–2002) led the effort to clean up the area, including closing up sex shops, increasing security, and opening more tourist-friendly attractions. The cleaning process began when the local government issued an injunction against the tight clustering of the porn shops in the 42nd Street area. Many of the sex shops closed or moved to industrial areas in Brooklyn or Queens. More recently, such establishments have been shut down and more up-scale establishments have opened there.

Times Square today

Queens Queens The theaters of Broadway and the huge number of gaudy animated neon and television-style signage have long made it one of New York's iconic images, and a symbol of the intensely urban aspects of Manhattan. Times Square is the only neighborhood with a zoning ordinance requiring tenants to display bright signs. The density of illuminated signs in Times Square now rivals Las Vegas. In 1992 the Times Square Alliance (formerly the Times Square Business Improvement District, or "BID" for short), a coalition of businesses dedicated to improving the quality of commerce and cleanliness in the district, started operations in the area. Times Square now boasts attractions as a major TV studio for ABC, where Good Morning America is broadcast live, elaborate Toys "R" Us, Virgin Records and Hershey's stores, as well as restaurants such as Ruby Foo's (Chinese food), the Bubba Gump Shrimp Company (seafood) and Carmine's (Italian) along with a number of multiplex movie theaters. It has also attracted a number of large financial, publishing, and media firms to set up their headquarters in the area. A larger police presence in Times Square has improved the safety of the area. While the revitalized region is undoubtedly safer and more pleasant, some complain that the area has lost its spark and is now a thoroughly sanitized, "Disneyfied" version of its former self. A notable example of the signage is the NASDAQ sign at the NASDAQ MarketSite at 4 Times Square on 43rd Street. Unveiled in January 2000, it cost $37 million to build. The sign is 120 feet (36.6m) high. NASDAQ pays over $2 million a year to lease the space for this sign. This is actually considered a good deal in advertising as the number of "impressions" the sign makes far exceeds those generated by other ad forms. In 2002, NYC's outgoing mayor, Rudolph Giuliani, gave the oath of office to the city's next mayor, Michael Bloomberg, in Times Square after midnight on January 1 as part of the 2001–2002 New Year's celebration. Approximately 500,000 revelers attended the fete. Security was high following the September 11, 2001 attacks, with over 7,000 New York City police on duty in the Square (twice the number for an ordinary year). The following corporations are headquartered at Times Square with many others having corporate presences in the area:
- Condé Nast Publications
- Ernst and Young
- Instinet
- Lehman Brothers
- Morgan Stanley
- MTV Networks
- The New York Times Company
- Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP
- Reuters
- Elizabeth Taylor
- Viacom

Times Square in popular culture

The Times Square neighborhood, notably its busiest intersection, has been featured countless times in literature, on television, and in films. Among the instances: The first opening credit crawl of Saturday Night Live featured cast members' names and, later, photographs, superimposed over billboards in Times Square. In the 1990 film Quick Change, Bill Murray exits the subway in Times Square. In the 1992 film Home Alone 2: Lost in New York, Catherine O'Hara asks two New York City police officers for help in locating her lost son while in Times Square on Christmas Eve. The title character in the 2002 blockbuster Spider-Man does battle with the Green Goblin in

Broadway theatre

List of Broadway theaters

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Theatre

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Play

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Europe

Etymology

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Demographics

Territories and divisions

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Territories under United Nations administration

Table of European territories and regions

Linguistic and cultural regions

Germanic Europe

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Others

See also

Lists and tables

External links

Marcus Klaw

Florenz Ziegfeld

Broadway productions

David Belasco

External link

Charles Frohman

Further reading

External link

Oscar Hammerstein

Midtown (Manhattan)

Times Square

History

Times Square today

Times Square in popular culture