The West End or Broadway; what's better?

I've only seen shows on Broadway, so I guess I can't decide either..

London's West End, definitely.

Broadway.

London theatre is great (as is British regional) but the commercial stuff in London (the literal west end) is largely pap, wheras i get the impression that on broadway a lot of the big shows are the best in town.

*You're not listening to me. There are other things that need to be taken into account here*

I've been to both and had a WONDEFUL time in each location. As far as actual productions, they were pretty on par with each other.

I thought that the New York theatres were a bit bigger than the ones in the West End, but other than that, they were very similar.

However, the Londoners were generally kinder/nicer than the New Yorkers-

Just my humble opinion...


Oh, I'm sorry. Habla "Smith and Wesson"?

I lived and worked in London for a year, teaching theatre and film. I also lived and worked in NYC. I would say that when you are discussing commercial theatre they are pretty much equal. If you are talking about acting, for the most part there is no comparison to British stage actors. They are superior in almost every way. And this holds true for the audiences as well in London: more discerning, demand more and far more appreciative. And more diverse which is one reason London West End Theatre and all of London theatre is overall much superior to NYC. I think where you see its equivalent in terms of the actual plays in America are our excellent regional theatres like The Berkeley Rep etc

West End

For musicals I would say Broadway. For plays and theatre in general; the West End.

In a world where funny quotes are at the end of every message. Coming Soon to a Theatre near you

just for the record, jofolino, would you care to nominate an English actor who could play Willy Loman better than Lee J. Cobb, who created the part, or an English actress who could surpass Julie Harris as Frankie Jasmine Adams in The Member Of The Wedding. I could go on but you get the idea; I'm sure you mean well and your heart is in the right place but it's usually a good idea to avoid emotive statements. In the main Broadway is unsurpassed at Musical Theatre just as England is unsurpassed at Shakespeare. Each country has produced playrights whose work is best interpreted by their countrymen - Tennessee Williams, Clifford Odets, Neil Simon on one hand, Terence Rattigan, Noel Coward, Alan Acykbourne on the other. In each case individual plays have crossed the Atlantic and been performed in - as it were - alien tongues but given the choice I'm sure most serious playgoers would prefer to see plays performed by actors who share the same country as the author.