First time visitors might be confused by the fact that some Off-Broadway theatres are found on Broadway while many Broadway shows are located on the side streets radiating out from the Great White Way.

That’s because the terms Broadway and Off Broadway aren’t geographical descriptions but definitions of size. In general, Broadway theaters have 500 or more seats, and are found between 41st Street and the upper 50s. Off-Broadway theaters are smaller, with 100 to 499 seats (which means “Off-Off Broadway” refers to black box theaters with 99 seats or less).

Another distinction is that while Broadway shows tend to be commercial enterprises, Off-Broadway and Off-Off Broadway are often non-profit enterprises. Off-Broadway venues tend toward edgier or more difficult work, and Off-Off Broadway to the experimental and avant-garde. One of the advantages of Off-Broadway theater is it often has the luxury of showcasing new talent and exploring a wider variety of subjects and styles from which the more mainstream realm of Broadway shies away.

But there are plenty of exceptions to these definitions: many Broadway shows got their start at Off-Broadway venues. In the Big Apple, size matters only when it comes these sorts of definitions. The quality of production and acting in Off-Broadway very often equals (and surpasses) what can be found in Broadway shows.

Off-Broadway theatres can thus be found all over the city, not just in the environs of the Theatre District. Below are some of the Off-Broadway venues that can be found in or around Times Square proper:

Acorn Theatre

410 West 42nd Street

American Theater of Actors

314 West 54th Street (between 8th/9th Avenues)

Dodger Stages

340 West 50th Street (between 8th/9th Avenues)

Douglas Fairbanks Theatre

43 W. 42nd Street (between 9th/10th Avenues)

Duffy Theatre

1553 Broadway (at 46th St.)

45th St. Theater

354 W. 45th Street (between 8th/9th Avenues)

47th Street Theatre

304 West 47th Street (between 8th/9th Avenues)

John Houseman Theater

450 W. 42nd Street (between 9th/10th Avenues)

Lamb’s Theater

130 West 44th Street

Laura Pels Theatre(Harold & Miriam Steinberg Center for Theatre)

111 West 46th Street

Manhattan Theatre Club (New York City Center Stage 1)

131 W. 55th Street (between 6th/7th Avenues)

Playwrights Horizons/Mainstage Theater

416 West 42nd Street

St. Luke’s Church

308 W. 46th Street (between 8th/9th Avenues)

Second Stage Theatre

307 West 43rd Street at 8th Avenue

Theatre at St. Clement's

423 West 46th Street (between 9th/10th Avenues)

The New Victory Theatre

209 West 42nd Street (between Broadway and 8th Avenue)

Westside Theatre

407 W. 43rd St. (between 9th/10th Avenues)

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