Theater (warfare)

In warfare, a theater or theatre (see spelling differences) is an area or place in which important military events occur or are progressing. A theater can include the entirety of the air, space, land and sea area that is or that may potentially become involved in war operations.

Theater of war

In his book On War, Carl von Clausewitz defines the term as one that: Denotes properly such a portion of the space over which war prevails as has its boundaries protected, and thus possesses a kind of independence. This protection may consist in fortresses, or important natural obstacles presented by the country, or even in its being separated by a considerable distance from the rest of the space embraced in the war. Such a portion is not a mere piece of the whole, but a small whole complete in itself; and consequently it is more or less in such a condition that changes which take place at other points in the seat of war have only an indirect and no direct influence upon it. To give an adequate idea of this, we may suppose that on this portion an advance is made, whilst in another quarter a retreat is taking place, or that upon the one an army is acting defensively, whilst an offensive is being carried on upon the other. Such a clearly defined idea as this is not capable of universal application; it is here used merely to indicate the line of distinction.

Theatre

Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of fine art that uses live performers to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The performers may communicate this experience to the audience through combinations of gesture, speech, song, music, and dance. Elements of art and stagecraft are used to enhance the physicality, presence and immediacy of the experience. The specific place of the performance is also named by the word "theatre" as derived from the Ancient Greek θέατρον (théatron, "a place for viewing"), itself from θεάομαι (theáomai, "to see", "to watch", "to observe").

Modern Western theatre comes, in large measure, from ancient Greek drama, from which it borrows technical terminology, classification into genres, and many of its themes, stock characters, and plot elements. Theatre artist Patrice Pavis defines theatricality, theatrical language, stage writing, and the specificity of theatre as synonymous expressions that differentiate theatre from the other performing arts, literature, and the arts in general.

Theater (song)

"Theater" was the German entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 1980, performed in German by Katja Ebstein. This was Ebstein's third Eurovision entry, she had represented Germany in 1970 and 1971, with "Wunder gibt es immer wieder" and "Diese Welt" respectively, both times finishing in 3rd position.

The song was performed twelfth on the night (following Norway's Sverre Kjelsberg & Mattis Hætta with "Sámiid Ædnan" and preceding the United Kingdom's Prima Donna with "Love Enough For Two"). At the close of voting, it had received 128 points, placing 2nd in a field of 19.

The song is a Ralph Siegel-Bernd Meinunger collaboration, with Ebstein singing about the manner in which clowns have to mask their true feelings when performing on stage - a situation which is said to be true of all performers. The four backing singers were dressed as clowns and Ralph Siegel played the piano on stage wearing gloves with small clowns on the fingers. Ebstein also recorded the song in English (as "It's Showtime"), French ("Théâtre") and Italian ("Teatro").

Broadway theatre

Coordinates: 40°45′21″N 73°59′11″W / 40.75583°N 73.98639°W / 40.75583; -73.98639

Broadway theatre, commonly known as Broadway, refers to the theatrical performances presented in the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theater District and Lincoln Center along Broadway, in Manhattan, New York City. Along with London's West End theatres, Broadway theatres are widely considered to represent the highest level of commercial theatre in the English-speaking world.

The Theater District is a popular tourist attraction in New York City. According to The Broadway League, Broadway shows sold a record US$1.36 billion worth of tickets in 2014, an increase of 14% over the previous year. Attendance in 2014 stood at 13.13 million, a 13% increase over 2013.

The great majority of Broadway shows are musicals. Historian Martin Shefter argues, "'Broadway musicals,' culminating in the productions of Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein, became enormously influential forms of American popular culture" and helped make New York City the cultural capital of the nation.