What does this phrasal verb mean: 'play off'? Is it an idiom?

[Ella]

Dear Torsten,
could you, please, explain the meaning of the following phrase?

He played Othello off Broadway last year.

As I understand it he played the part of Othello, but I am not sure where, in one of the theatres on Broadway or not.

[Alan]

This means away from the main Broadway area. You would say: At a theatre off Broadway.
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English as a Second Language
You can read my ESL story Present Simple

[Ella]

Thank you, Alan.