[York New Amsterdam Theatre 2003.jpg|250px|thumb|[[The Lion King (musical)|The Lion King] at the New Amsterdam Theatre]], 2003

Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 39 large professional theaters with 500 seats or more located in the Theatre District, New York (plus one theatre in Lincoln Center) in Manhattan, New York City.Although theater is the preferred spelling in the U.S.A. (see further at American and British English Spelling Differences), the majority of venues, performers, and trade groups for live dramatic presentations use the spelling theatre.playbill.com article, Feb. 7, 2008, "ASK PLAYBILL.COM: Broadway or Off-Broadway—Part I", retrieved Feb. 8, 2008 Along with London's West End theatre, Broadway theatre is usually considered to represent the highest level of commercial theatre in the English-speaking world.

The Broadway theatre district is a popular tourist attraction in New York City. According to The Broadway League, Broadway shows sold approximately $937 million worth of tickets in the 2007-08 season."The Broadway League Announces 2007-2008 Broadway Theatre Season Results", livebroadway.com Press Release, May 28, 2008