How many live theater venues are there in New York City?

Also, which if any are considered the most prestigious places to perform?

And which has the greatest seating capacity?

John L2013-11-23T23:07:08Z

Favorite Answer

Hundreds, if you count all the off-off-Broadway places and theatres in colleges and other schools. Depending on what kind of theatre, I'd say the Broadway theaters and the Lincoln Center theatres are the most prestigious.

The Metropolitan Opera seats 3800 but I've never heard of non-operatic performances there. The adjacent Koch (formerly NY State) theater seats 2586. The biggest B'way theater is the Gershwin with 1900.

Madison Square Garden has concerts, and seats 18,000. If you're the Pope and hold a mass in Yankee Stadium, there's room for 51,000.