What is Broadway?
When referencing "Broadway", it's important to know what that term means specifically. The word "Broadway" is a reference to a neighborhood that is the hub of theatre in not just New York City, but the entire world. The reason the district came to be known as Broadway was because, originally, all of the theaters in the area were placed around the main throroughfare of the area which is, of course, Broadway St. However, as the musical theatre scene began to grow in size, new buildings and spaces needed to be constructed away from the main throroughfare, thus evolving "Broadway" to mean more than just the street and to mean the neighborhood as a whole.
What is Musical Theatre?
When thinking of musical theatre, its easy to think of an image much like that of "Phantom of the Opera". Opulent costumes and elaborate set pieces with operatic singing and booming choral vocal numbers. However, musical theatre is an extremely versatile medium of exressive art. At it's core, musical theatre is much like a straight play, made most famous by the works of Willam Shakespeare. The difference is that scenes are interjected with musical numbers that often serve to enhance the emotion or feeling of a scene. These musical numbers can be in a wide variety of styles from high energy, joyful songs that serve to make a scene come alive to deep, sorrowful balads that can bring an audience to tears. Simply put, musical theatre, sole purpose is to make the audience feel and enhance that feeling with music.