It was founded in 1977 by Broadway producers Carole Shorenstein Hays and Robert Nederlander as Shorenstein Hays Nederlander Theatre (later abbreviated to SHN) as a promoter of short engagements of national touring productions of plays and musicals.
[1] On October 1, 2019, SHN changed its name to BroadwaySF in the aftermath of a lawsuit between itself and founder Hays, who had given up an active role in the organization.
[3] BroadwaySF has hosted the world premieres and pre-Broadway engagements of numerous shows, including: Wicked, Mamma Mia!, Baz Luhrmann's La Bohème, the 2006 revival of A Chorus Line, Legally Blonde: The Musical, and a new musical stage version of Irving Berlin's White Christmas.
BroadwaySF engagements have started the national tours of Jersey Boys, Spring Awakening, the Lincoln Center revival of Rodgers and Hammerstein's South Pacific, Avenue Q, Edward Scissorhands, and The Light in the Piazza, all immediately following their Broadway runs.
BroadwaySF has presented the West Coast premieres of Caroline, or Change, I Am My Own Wife, Spamalot, The Color Purple, and August: Osage County which won the Pulitzer Prize.