The term

[Playbilly]

This term tends to irk me when it's applied to young people. To me, it means someone who is at the youngest. middle aged. And has been in the theater, and Broadway productions for almost half their lives. But to some, a few shows by an under-30 (Aaron Tveit for instance) qualifies as a veteran. I know it's often used as a marketing term, or a way to give someone cred. Am I being too sensitive BWW? AM I?!

[henrikegerman]

Anyone who's been through a war is a veteran. Any one returning to Broadway is a veteran. Age is immaterial. Nina Arianda and Jeremy Jordan are Broadway veterans.

[egghumor]

Even people who endured THE ANARCHIST are Broadway veterans.

[dramamama611]

I'll add to henrik's analogy: if you've done one "tour of duty", you are a veteran. No age requirement.

[henrikegerman]

^that's a most acceptable amendment, dramamama.

[broadwaydevil]

Perhaps you're referring to the idea of a "Broadway legend" which seems to get tossed around a lot as well. While as others have pointed out, anyone who has ever appeared on Broadway is a "Broadway veteran," it takes something far more to be considered a legend.

[ARTc]

In support of Playbilly, one of the definition of "veteran" is as follows (taken from the dictionary):

veteran |?vet?r?n, ?vetr?n|

noun

1. a person who has had long experience in a particular field.
2. a person who has served in the military: a veteran of two world wars.

ORIGIN early 16th cent.: from French vétéran or Latin veteranus, from vetus ‘old.’

[DEClarke]

Unless we reference military service, I always thought veteran meant:

1. a person who has had long experience in a particular field.
(Thank you ARTc for the definition.)

Personally, I think of Bernadette Peters as a Broadway Veteran. I think of Ethel Merman as a Broadway Legend...

[broadwaydevil]

^Hm, an interesting definition, I've never seen that before. I would say Bernadette Peters with 2 Tony wins, 7 nominations, and 16 Broadway shows also qualifies as a legend, but I suppose it's just semantics.

[ARTc]

I vote for Ms. Peters being both a veteran and a legend. Both are possible. She qualifies in my book.

[Emma White]

Bernadette and Ethel are both legends and veterans in my book, with Patti and Audra and so on...