# They're on Broadway but not in musicals

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theyre-on-broadway-but-not-in-musicals/386739>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [January 4, 2007, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theyre-on-broadway-but-not-in-musicals/386739 "2007-01-04T22:00:23Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 6\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\
**Post date:** [January 4, 2007, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theyre-on-broadway-but-not-in-musicals/386739/1 "2007-01-04T22:00:23Z")

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Theatre buffs, is there a commonly-accepted term for actors who appear on Broadway in straight plays as opposed to musicals? I ask because there’s a discussion on Wikipedia about two categories, “Broadway actors” and “Broadway musical actors” and whether they should be merged together. If there is a separate term, if you were looking for people who had appeared on Broadway would you find it a useful categorization to divide the two?

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**Author:** ![42Geek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/4/6bbea6/32.png) [@42Geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/42Geek)\
**Post date:** [January 5, 2007, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theyre-on-broadway-but-not-in-musicals/386739/2 "2007-01-05T02:38:16Z")

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Hetrosexuals? 😛  
_ducks and runs_

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**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\
**Post date:** [January 5, 2007, 6:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theyre-on-broadway-but-not-in-musicals/386739/3 "2007-01-05T06:45:35Z")

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Does “Broadway musical actors” include both singing actors and dancing actors? I guess the non-musical ones are simply “actors.”

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**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\
**Post date:** [January 5, 2007, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theyre-on-broadway-but-not-in-musicals/386739/4 "2007-01-05T13:35:25Z")

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I have seen “straight actors” used to refer to those who appear in straight plays on Broadway, but not in a very long time. Certainly “straight actor” was the term up until the 70s or so.

I think that “Broadway actors” is the best term anyway. If you have to designate, you could say “Broadway musical comedy actors.”

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**Author:** ![Cheesesteak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cheesesteak/32/3694_2.png) [@Cheesesteak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheesesteak)\
**Post date:** [January 5, 2007, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theyre-on-broadway-but-not-in-musicals/386739/5 "2007-01-05T14:32:34Z")

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There is no clear division between actors in plays and actors in musicals. For instance, Nathan Lane has done 15 broadway shows, 9 plays and 6 musicals, according to the[Internet Broadway Database](http://www.ibdb.com/person.asp?id=48878). Split them up, and he’ll need an entry in both. Let’s say you’re searching for someone who worked with Nathan, now you have to do two searches, one for musicals, one for plays.

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**Author:** ![42Geek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/4/6bbea6/32.png) [@42Geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/42Geek)\
**Post date:** [January 6, 2007, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theyre-on-broadway-but-not-in-musicals/386739/6 "2007-01-06T05:02:52Z")

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> [@](#):
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> I have seen “straight actors” used to refer to those who appear in straight plays on Broadway,

that was what my pun was about…LOL