BroadwayHD Gives Fans Home Access to the Great White Way

Founded by Tony-award winning Broadway producers Stewart F. Lane and Bonnie Comley, the duo said they aren’t concerned about this service hurting box office sales of the actual productions they will stream. “A Gentleman’s Guide to Love & Murder” and “Legally Blonde”.

“BroadwayHD is capturing and then transporting the magic of performance from the stage to your screen – so if you can’t get to Broadway, get to BroadwayHD”. “Hopefully it will whet your appetite to go see it live”.

BroadwayHD’s yearly subscription rate of $169.99 costs less than an orchestra seat to see “Jersey Boys” these days – and it’s a lot easier to subscribe than to snag a ticket to a hot new show like “Hamilton”.

BroadwayHD is available to anyone with a connected device, from mobile phones and tablets to desktops and laptops, as well as accessible through TVs with Apple TV and Google Chromecast.

A new online streaming service launches on Monday that hopes to one day become the Netflix of Broadway, offering high-definition broadcasts of top theatrical events to computers and phones. Upon launch the BroadwayHD library boasts original content from Broadway Worldwide’s Direct From Broadway catalog, BBC Worldwide North America, WNET/New York, and more. They’ve also added commentaries, introductions and documentaries. The musical section has only five titles at present, all from the Direct From Broadway catalog: “Memphis”, “Putting It Together”, “Duke Ellington’s Sophisticated Ladies”, “Tintypes”, “Jekyll & Hyde: The Musical”, starring David Hasselhoff of “Baywactch” fame. “We’re looking for this to be the landing place”, Comley says.

Other theatre professionals have long recognized the timely and valuable contribution of stage-to-screen productions in heightening the appeal and reach of live theatre, as well as creating a lasting record of performances so that future generations can enjoy the art for years to come.

Such programs have become more common to organizations in the United Kingdom than they have at home on Broadway, in part because each commercial Broadway production tends to be steered by a unique team of producers with its own vision for a show’s business model, marketing plan and dissemination. “We’re never going to replace the communal experience of seeing actors live. If they can’t get here in time, we can share that with the world in the best way we can”.