Off Broadway Scenic Paint — Opaque Cover for Hard Scenery (AU & NZ)
Rosco Off Broadway scenic paint · AU & NZ
Painting hard scenery, flats or a mural?
Off Broadway is the scenic painter's everyday opaque — a big, matte, one-coat colour range that covers hard scenery, metals, rigid plastics, flats and exterior murals without a fight. Straight from the can or cut 1:1 with water, it lays down flat and true, and it's the workhorse most paint frames reach for first. Here's what it's best at, how to use it, and the full palette to add to cart.
What it's best at
The opaque that covers anything hard
Hard scenery & flats
High-opacity coverage on timber, MDF, metal and rigid plastics — the base-coat and block-in colour for built scenery.
Murals & exteriors
Tough, matte and durable enough for large murals and exterior scenic work that has to last.
Blocking & base tones
Lay down solid, even base colour fast, then glaze and detail over the top with Supersaturated.
How scenic artists use it
Opaque coverage, straight or thinned
Off Broadway is a standard-body, highly opaque scenic acrylic. Use it straight from the can for maximum hide on a first coat, or cut it 1-part paint to 1-part water for brushing and rolling large areas. It dries matte and re-coatable, takes glazes and washes beautifully, and behaves predictably under stage light. It's the opaque foundation you build a scenic treatment on.
- Straight from the can for maximum opacity
- Cut 1:1 with water for large-area brushing & rolling
- Dries dead-matte and fully re-coatable
- Ideal base for Supersaturated glazes, washes and detail
- Seal or prime porous surfaces first for an even lay-in
Off Broadway vs Supersaturated
Reach for Off Broadway when it's hard & opaque
The rule scenic painters use: Off Broadway for hard scenery, metals and rigid plastics where you want opaque coverage; Supersaturated for fabrics, scrims, drops and translucent glaze work. Off Broadway hides in one or two coats; Supersaturated stretches and stays flexible. Most paint frames carry both and switch between them by the job.
- Off Broadway — opaque, for hard & rigid surfaces
- Supersaturated — concentrated, flexible, for fabric & glaze
- Use OB to block in, Supersat to glaze and detail
- Both intermix and layer cleanly
New to it? Start here
Off Broadway Sample Kit
Off Broadway Sample Kit (5300)
A curated set of Off Broadway colours to test the range, mix and match on your own samples before you commit to gallons.
White (5350) — the base you'll reorder
Every frame goes through white. Grab the gallon and keep blocking in.
The full palette
Pick your colours — add to cart
The Off Broadway range in 0.95L quarts (gallons and larger on each product page). Click add-to-cart on the colours you need.
White White (5351)
White (5350)
Black (5352)
Paynes Grey (5382)
Yellow Ochre (5353)
Raw Sienna (5355)
Burnt Sienna (5356)
Raw Umber (5357)
Burnt Umber (5354)
Earth Umber (5358)
Van Dyke Brown (5380)
Lemon Yellow (5366)
Golden Yellow (5367)
Brilliant Red (5376)
Magenta (5369)
Purple (5368)
Ultramarine Blue (5359)
Sky Blue (5372)
Pthalo Blue (5373)
Navy (5375)
Pthalo Green (5371)
Emerald Green (5364)
Chrome Oxide Green (5365)
Imperial Green (5374)
Gold (5384)
Bright Gold (5383)
Antique Gold (5387)
Copper (5386)
Silver (5385)
Build the rest of the treatment
What scenic artists add alongside
Supersaturated for glaze & fabric
Concentrated, flexible colour for drops, scrims and translucent washes. See Supersat →
Clears & glazes to seal
Protect and set the sheen with Clear Acrylic and Premier Clear. Clears & glazes →
Off Broadway on stage
What scenic artists build with it
Real productions, real charge artists. Courtesy of Rosco Spectrum.
Case study · Annika Radovcich — The Juilliard School
One deep blue-grey that does almost everything black can
Across Franklinland, Sweeney Todd, They Promised Her the Moon and Company, scenic artist Annika Radovcich leans on a single Off Broadway colour — #5382 Paynes Grey. Watered down it reveals a blue undertone for slate skies and foliage shadow; add White for cool marble, Burnt Umber for industrial grime. It base-coats marble so undertones peek through the lighter layers on top.
“It's deep, it's dark, it's mysterious, and it does almost everything black can do — but so much better.”Annika Radovcich — Scenic Artist, JuilliardRead it on Rosco Spectrum →
Courtesy of Rosco Spectrum
Case study · Guthrie Theater / Univ. of Minnesota
A walkable sunset groundcloth that survived the run
For Earthquakes in London, scenic artist Angelique Powers painted an 18′×55′ walkable cloudscape groundcloth in Off Broadway — shadows in Paynes Grey — that had to take actor traffic, furniture and nightly rolling, viewed from six inches away. The trick was many thin, heavily-thinned glaze layers over a pastel base, sealed with Clear Flat Acrylic Glaze. It came through tech week with zero touch-ups.
“Working with many layers of highly thinned paint, instead of just a few thicker layers, really helped keep the drop pliable.”Angelique Powers — Scenic ArtistRead it on Rosco Spectrum →
Courtesy of Rosco Spectrum
Scenic FAQs
Working with Off Broadway
How much do I thin it?
What surfaces does it cover?
Can I intermix colours and mix with Supersaturated?
Is it flame retardant?
Block it in with Off Broadway.
The opaque workhorse for hard scenery, flats and murals — add your palette above, or tell us the job and we'll spec the colours and quantities.
Speccing paint for a build or a season?
Tell us the scenery and we'll spec Off Broadway colours, quantities and the coatings to go with them. Exclusive Rosco distributor for Australia & New Zealand.