Entertainment – Jahanara Nissar

Springsteen on Broadway Opening Revitalizes Theater Industry

Jahanara Nissar leverages her experience in technology investments to inform her role as managing partner at Lynx Equity Strategies. A theater enthusiast, Jahanara Nissar enjoys taking in Broadway performances in Manhattan when she has the opportunity.

As reported by the New York Times in June 2021, a 15-month hiatus in Broadway productions finally came to an end with the return of Bruce Springsteen’s popular one-person show “Springsteen on Broadway.” This had a major positive impact on the St. James Theater, with 75 employees finally returning to work and taking up positions ranging from bar staff and merchandise sellers to ushers, ticket-takers, and stagehands.

With the St. James Theater opening, several necessary changes have been implemented, including mandatory face masks and tickets stored on devices supplanting traditional paper ones. This first Broadway reopening was taken as a sign of things to come. Many of the 41 theaters centered around Manhattan’s traditional entertainment district planned to open their doors to the public in August and September. The economic impact of such a reopening trend will be sizable. Some 14.8 million theatergoers took in Broadway productions during the last full season before the pandemic.

Three Facts about Broadway Theater

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A managing partner at Lynx Equity Strategies in New York, Jahanara Nissar previously worked with AllianceBernstein. Frequently quoted in StreetInsider, Economic Times, and Bloomberg, Jahanara Nissar enjoys attending Broadway theater in her free time.

One of the most iconic sections in New York, the Broadway theater district takes its name from the longest street in the city at 16 miles. Not all of Broadway’s 41 theaters lie on that street, however – in fact, only four do. Here are three other interesting facts you may not know:

1. Qualification for being a Broadway theater means having a seating capacity of 500 or greater. Theaters with only 100-499 seats qualify as off-Broadway. Smaller theaters in the district are known as off-off-Broadway.

2. The longest running Broadway show, Phantom of the Opera, has had approximately 11,400 performances since its launch in 1988. Chicago takes second place with 7,700 performances and a 1996 opening.

3. Many believe that ghosts haunt Broadway theaters such as the Palace Theatre, which boasts nearly 100 reported spirits. These include acrobat Louis Bossalina and actress Judy Garland, both of whom performed at the theater.

The Difference Between Broadway and Off-Broadway

Jahanara Nissar is a managing partner at Lynx Equity Strategies. Residing in New York City, Jahanara Nissar is a fan of Broadway plays and theater in general.

While Broadway can refer to both the theater and a street in Manhattan, most Broadway theaters are not located on Broadway Boulevard. While it was more common before the 20th century for Broadway shows to be located on Broadway Boulevard, currently, only 3 out of 41 theaters can be found on the titular street. Broadway Theaters all have at least 500 seats. Any theater with less than 500 seats but more than 100 seats is considered Off-Broadway. A third category, Off-Off-Broadway theaters are any venue in Manhattan’s theater district that seat less than 100 people.

The different types of theaters also house different styles of shows. The Off-Broadway movement began as a rejection of more commercial shows and a push towards a more open and experimental style of production. Currently, there are a number of different types of shows offered on both Broadway and Off-Broadway including musicals, plays, performance works, and comedies.