Broadway Slow To Recover From Covid Even As Audience Diversity Increases, Report Finds
11.12.2023 - 21:37
/ deadline.com
While Broadway shows are attracting a more racially diverse audience and tourism from outside the U.S. is fairly strong, the New York theater industry has been slow to recover from Covid-19: Admissions totaling 12.3 million for the 2022-23 were nearly 17% lower than the record-breaking pre-pandemic levels of the 2018-19 season.
The good news: Broadway audiences were more diverse than ever last season, with 29% of attendees identifying themselves as Black, Indigenous or People of Color. The figure compares with 26% in the 2018-19 season.
The numbers are included in the Broadway League‘s latest annual demographics report, released today.
A comprehensive analysis of the theatergoers who attended Broadway shows during the 2022-23 season, the report covers the first complete season since Broadway reopened in September 2021 following the 18-month industry-wide pandemic shutdown. The League’s 23rd annual report is its first since the 2018-19 season.
“While we are not yet back to pre-Covid attendance levels, audiences are returning,” said Broadway League president Charlotte St. Martin in a statement.
St. Martin attributed the higher percentage of BIPOC theater attendees to “a combination of outreach efforts as well as more shows being written and/or starring people of color.”
During the 2022-23 Broadway season, high-profile productions written by authors of color or featuring casts primarily or significantly of color included Ain’t No Mo’, Between Riverside and Crazy, Fat Ham, Death of a Salesman, Ohio State Murders, The Piano Lesson and Topdog/Underdog.
Other key findings of the League report:
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