Great White Way
Definition: a street brilliantly lighted at night and devoted chiefly to public amusements
The Phillips Avenue Diner in Sioux Falls at night
(Credit: South Dakota Department of Tourism)
Clearly, Broadway in New York City is an example of this. However, I suppose it could apply to any “entertainment district” of a city – even a couple blocks Phillips Avenue in downtown Sioux Falls.
Wiktionary just has this for etymology:
So called from its brilliant illumination at night.
Why I Looked It Up
In an article about singer Vanessa Carlton:
Despite never repeating the smash success of her first hit, Carlton continued to record – and even made it the Great White Way as Carole King in the musical “Beautiful.”
Clearly, that’s a geographic metonym for Broadway.
I did find a blog called Great White Way Wisdom with a subtitle that expanded the concept to theater in general:
Broadway, Off-Broadway, The West End and The Bard meets Quirk. Life as I know it- told by those I listen to.