Surveys were distributed at 24 productions at 72 individual performance times during the period June 2009-June 2010. Findings are based on the 6,127 questionnaires that were returned.
Tourists accounted for 63 percent of the 11.89 million Broadway admissions this year. International tourists accounted for 17 percent of all admissions to Broadway shows in New York City; in fact, one in four of the 8.6 million foreign visitors took in a Broadway show.
Although online ticket buying continued to be the most popular method of purchasing tickets for the sixth consecutive year, the use of the Internet for this purpose decreased by five percent.
In a statement Charlotte St. Martin, executive director of The Broadway League, said, "Our annual demographic report reflects the consistency of the Broadway audience, yet slight nuances demonstrate how audiences and their behaviors do change from year-to-year. We did see a drop in the international tourists from a record high, most logically due to the changing economic conditions. New York City continues to show strong tourism numbers as such a significant number of our visitors do come from outside the NYC metro area."
Other findings of the League's report follow:
"For show selection, critics’ reviews were the most influential factors for playgoers, followed closely by personal recommendation. However, 48 percent of theatergoers at musicals said that personal recommendation was the single strongest reported factor in deciding which show to see.
Playgoers also tended to be more frequent theatregoers than musical attendees. The typical playgoer saw seven shows in the past year, compared with five for the musical attendee. Those who saw 15 or more shows comprised 6 percent of the audience, but represented 31 percent of all admissions.
Reflecting a trend of the past few decades, 66.3 percent of the audiences were female, marking the highest percentage of female audiences. Furthermore, 69 percent of those making the purchasing decisions were female.
Three quarters of admissions were Caucasian theatergoers, but audiences have become slightly more diverse over the past decade. There were a higher percentage of Asian theatergoers this season, moving up from 3.9 percent to 6.1 percent." The Demographics of the Broadway Audience is published annually by The Broadway League, the "clearinghouse for information on the business, demographics and economic impact of Broadway theatre throughout North America." For more information visit www.broadwayleague.com/orderform.php.
