Broadway HD
Stream professionally captured Broadway and West End productions to study world-class theatrical performances.
Overview
Broadway HD was founded in 2015 by Stewart F. Lane and Bonnie Comley, a married couple who are both Tony Award-winning Broadway producers with decades of experience in commercial theatre production. The platform was created with the mission of promoting and preserving live theatre by extending the reach of Broadway and Broadway-caliber shows to anyone, anywhere — addressing the fundamental accessibility challenge of live theatre, which requires physical presence in a specific venue at a specific time and at ticket prices that have risen to an average of over $100 for Broadway productions. Lane and Comley's insider status as working Broadway producers gives the platform unique access to rights holders, creative teams, and production companies that standalone streaming services would struggle to secure, and their personal commitment to the mission has driven the platform from a niche startup to the leading dedicated Broadway streaming service with a library of over 300 productions. Broadway HD served as the Official Sponsor of the 70th Annual Tony Awards and the Presenting Sponsor of the Behind the Scenes Tony Awards Livestream, cementing its position as an industry-recognized platform. Co-founder Bonnie Comley received a 2024 Stevie Awards Gold Winner recognition for Best Entrepreneur in Media and Entertainment.
In 2025, Broadway HD's library spans over 300 professionally captured productions from Broadway, the West End, off-Broadway, and international theatre, including musicals, plays, concert performances, and special theatrical events featuring Tony Award-winning performers and landmark productions. The catalog includes iconic titles like 'The Phantom of the Opera' (at the Royal Albert Hall), 'Les Miserables,' 'Cats,' 'Kinky Boots,' '42nd Street,' 'She Loves Me,' 'The King and I,' 'The Sound of Music,' 'An American in Paris,' and 'Love Never Dies,' alongside the complete works of Shakespeare, Cirque du Soleil performances, and contemporary productions. Recent additions demonstrate the platform's ongoing growth — in December 2025, Broadway HD added 'Next to Normal' (the 2025 West End production starring Caissie Levy, Jamie Parker, and Jack Wolfe), capturing a Tony Award-winning, Pulitzer Prize-winning musical in a fresh new production. The 'Pippin' 50th Anniversary Concert had its streaming premiere on the platform in March 2025. For actors, this library provides the rare opportunity to study world-class theatrical performances in detail — pausing, rewinding, and re-watching specific moments to analyze vocal technique, physical storytelling, ensemble dynamics, and the bold performance choices that read in large theatrical venues.
How It Works
Getting started with Broadway HD requires creating an account on broadwayhd.com or downloading the Broadway HD app, which is available on iOS, Android, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, Roku, LG and Samsung smart TVs, with Airplay and Chromecast support for casting to additional screens. The platform is also available as a Prime Video Channel through Amazon, which allows subscribers to add Broadway HD to their existing Prime Video subscription with a 7-day free trial. The subscription process is straightforward — select a plan, enter payment information, and gain immediate access to the full library. The interface is organized by category (musicals, plays, concert performances, behind-the-scenes content) and browsable by title, performer, and genre. Each production includes a description, cast list, runtime, and preview content. The streaming quality supports HD playback, and productions are presented in their full-length theatrical format without editing or abridgment. The multi-platform availability means actors can study performances on whatever device is convenient — watching on a large screen TV for the full theatrical experience or on a phone or tablet during commutes or between auditions.
The educational value of Broadway HD for actors extends across multiple dimensions of craft development that are difficult to address through any other means. Studying Broadway-caliber performances allows actors to observe how top professionals handle the most demanding material in the American theatre canon — sustaining energy, vocal power, and emotional authenticity over two-plus-hour productions that require extraordinary stamina and technique. Musical theatre performers can study the integration of acting, singing, and movement that defines great musical performance — watching how performers manage transitions between book scenes, musical numbers, and dance sequences reveals the seamless craft that audiences experience as naturalistic storytelling. The ability to watch ensemble work — observing how performers listen, react, and maintain character when they are not the focus of a scene — teaches collaborative skills that are rarely visible in film and television where editing controls audience attention. Behind-the-scenes content and concert performances provide insight into the rehearsal processes, creative decision-making, and performance preparation that produce world-class theatrical work. For actors preparing for specific musical theatre roles, watching professional productions of the same show provides invaluable reference for understanding the material's demands and the range of interpretive choices that have been explored by previous performers.
Who Uses It
Broadway HD's audience includes musical theatre performers and actors studying Broadway-caliber work for technique development, theatre enthusiasts who love live performance but cannot regularly attend Broadway shows due to geographic distance or cost, drama students and educators using the platform as a teaching resource, casting directors and creative teams who reference specific productions and performances, and international theatre lovers who may never have the opportunity to see a Broadway production in person. For working and aspiring musical theatre performers, the platform is particularly essential — Broadway is the pinnacle of the American musical theatre industry, and studying the performances that define the art form's highest standards is a fundamental part of professional development. Actors in regional markets, touring companies, or community theatre who are preparing roles that have been performed on Broadway can study the original or landmark productions to understand the material's demands and possibilities. The platform's growing library and multi-platform accessibility have made it an increasingly standard reference tool in the professional theatre community.
Pricing & Plans
Broadway HD offers subscription pricing at $19.99 per month or $199.99 per year as of 2025, with promotional pricing occasionally available — a recent holiday promotion offered $50 off the first year of an annual subscription. The platform is also available as a Prime Video Channel at $11.99 per month with a 7-day free trial, providing a lower monthly entry point for viewers who already subscribe to Amazon Prime Video. Individual productions can be rented or purchased outside the subscription through the platform's transactional model. Compared to live Broadway attendance — where orchestra seats average over $150 and premium seats regularly exceed $300 — the streaming subscription provides access to over 300 productions for less than the cost of a single ticket. Compared to Digital Theatre (£9.99 per month for predominantly UK productions), Broadway HD is priced higher but offers a library more focused on American musical theatre and Broadway productions specifically. The subscription model provides unlimited access to the full library, with no per-view charges or viewing limits, making it ideal for actors who want to study multiple productions in depth over time.
Pros & Cons
What's Great
Broadway HD's greatest strength is the unique combination of its founders' insider Broadway access, its dedicated focus on professional theatrical productions, and its growing library of iconic shows that represent the highest standards of American musical theatre. The platform preserves theatrical performances that would otherwise exist only in the memories of audiences who attended live — in an art form defined by its ephemerality, the ability to capture and share landmark productions has enormous cultural and educational value. For musical theatre performers specifically, the platform provides access to the definitive performances of the roles they aspire to play, the productions they reference in auditions and rehearsals, and the artistic standard they are working to achieve. The multi-platform availability makes theatre study convenient and portable — actors can watch full productions on large screens for the theatrical experience or study specific scenes on mobile devices between rehearsals. The ongoing addition of new productions, including contemporary shows and fresh productions of classic material, keeps the library current and ensures the platform remains relevant to the evolving landscape of professional theatre. The Prime Video Channel option provides a lower-cost monthly entry point with a free trial, reducing the barrier to exploration.
What Could Be Better
Broadway HD's primary limitation is the inherent difference between watching a captured theatrical production on a screen and experiencing live theatre — the energy exchange between performers and audience, the three-dimensional spatial experience, and the unrepeatable spontaneity of live performance are impossible to replicate in a streaming format, which means studying recorded productions provides invaluable reference material but does not substitute for attending live theatre. The library, while growing to over 300 productions, represents a small fraction of Broadway's historical output, and many significant productions and performances are not available due to rights restrictions, production capture limitations, or the relatively recent emergence of theatrical capture as standard practice. The subscription pricing at $19.99 per month or $199.99 per year is higher than some competing entertainment streaming services, which may be difficult to justify for actors who only occasionally need to reference theatrical productions. The library skews toward musicals and established commercial productions rather than dramatic plays, experimental theatre, or off-off-Broadway work, which limits its usefulness for actors whose primary interest is in non-musical dramatic performance. The quality of theatrical captures varies — some are multi-camera professional productions that effectively convey the theatrical experience, while others are less polished single-camera recordings that do not fully communicate the production's impact.
Our Recommendation
Broadway HD is an essential resource for musical theatre performers at every career stage — if you are pursuing musical theatre professionally, the ability to study Broadway-caliber performances of the shows you will audition for, rehearse, and perform is not a luxury but a professional necessity. The platform is also highly valuable for dramatic theatre actors who want to study how professionals handle demanding classical and contemporary material on stage, even if their primary focus is not musicals. If you are a screen actor with limited theatre interest, the platform's value is more limited, though studying the heightened performance energy, vocal projection, and physical storytelling of theatrical work can expand your range and versatility in ways that transfer to screen work. Start with the Prime Video Channel option at $11.99 per month with a free trial if you want to explore the library before committing to the full subscription. If you are a student or early-career actor on a tight budget, the annual subscription at $199.99 per year (or less with promotional pricing) offers significantly better per-month value than the monthly option, and the ability to study 300-plus productions over the course of a year represents extraordinary educational value compared to the cost of attending even a handful of live Broadway shows.
Pro Tips
Use Broadway HD strategically by prioritizing productions directly related to roles you are preparing or genres you want to master — watching the professional production of a show you are about to audition for or rehearse is the single most valuable use of the platform. Study how performers manage the specific challenges of the material — vocal stamina in belt-heavy musicals, emotional authenticity in dramatic plays, physical comedy in farces, and the integration of acting and singing that defines great musical theatre performance. Watch ensemble scenes with the sound muted periodically to focus on physical storytelling, reactions, and the visual composition of stage pictures — this reveals the physical performance dimension that gets lost when you are focused on dialogue and vocals. When studying a role, watch the full production once for the overall experience, then return to your specific scenes and watch them multiple times, focusing on different elements each viewing — first the text interpretation, then the vocal choices, then the physical staging, then the transitions and connections between scenes. Explore productions outside your comfort zone — if you primarily perform contemporary musicals, study classic productions; if you work mainly in straight plays, watch musical performances to understand the integration of disciplines that makes a complete theatre artist.