6/4: Bad News for Broadway?

June 4, 2009 by Marist Poll
Filed under Entertainment, Entertainment Center, Featured, Living

The neon lights may be bright on Broadway, but are those glittering marquees attracting a local crowd? Broadway producers need to convince a majority of New York City residents — 53% — that catching a show is the way to go. That’s the proportion of city dwellers who say they have not seen a Broadway show during the last three years. And, yes, personal finances do come into play. Just 35% of those who earn less than $50,000 annually say they’ve taken in a show during that period while 61% of those making $50,000 or more saw at least one curtain go up recently.

Table: Gone to a Broadway Show

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Stubbed by Ticket Prices…”Not Worth the Money,” Say Nearly Half of New Yorkers

New Yorkers are known for their strong opinions, and nearly three-quarters of them are sending a message to Broadway producers — tickets are not affordable for the average person. 72% of residents feel that way compared with 20% who view prices as fitting within the budget of the average person. 81% of those who have been to a Broadway show in the last three years feel the cost of admission is out of line. Not only do New Yorkers think the average audience cannot afford tickets, a plurality believes theatergoers should get more bang for their buck. 47% of residents think the cost of a Broadway show is not a good value. However, half of those who have who have attended a Broadway show recently think theater tickets are worth the expense.

Table: Affordability of Broadway Shows

Table: Value of Broadway Shows

Making a Lasting Impression?

71% of New York City residents say they have a favorite Broadway show. And, New Yorkers are diverse in their theatrical tastes. So, which shows take the top spots? 9% reflect fondly upon “the circle of life,” making Disney’s “The Lion King” their favorite Broadway production. The “memory” of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s “Cats” has 7% of the city’s population purring. 5% vividly recall “the music of the night” in another Lloyd Webber blockbuster, “The Phantom of the Opera.” 4% “dreamed a dream” while experiencing “Les Miserables,” and “oh what a night” it was for 3% of New Yorkers who call “Jersey Boys” their favorite Broadway show.

In fact, New Yorkers’ top ten shows all include musicals, making it little surprise that 57% of city residents, including 65% of those who have attended a production in the past three years, prefer to see shows with music. Men and women, however, disagree. 65% of women prefer musicals compared with just 49% of men.

Is tried and true the best policy when it comes to Broadway shows? Not according to the 60% of New Yorkers who say they would go see an original production over a revival. Just 17% prefer shows resurrected from the great Broadway beyond.

Table: Favorite Broadway Show

Table: Musicals or Plays

Table: Production or Revival

Marist Poll Methodology

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Reflections on the Great White Way

Tags: broadway, New York City, plays, shows, theater

Reflections on the Great White Way

June 4, 2009 by Mary Griffith
Filed under Blog, Entertainment, Featured, Living, Mary Griffith

2 Comments

Flashing lights, a pop-rock score, and actors whizzing by on roller skates! I couldn’t have been more than 11 years old, and there I sat in the Gershwin Theater experiencing my very first Broadway musical, “Starlight Express!”

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My parents weren’t wealthy by any stretch of the imagination, but we lived a comfortable middle class existence in the outer borough of Queens. My mother, an avid opera and theater fan, always looked for ways to expose my brother and me to the fine arts. And, while dad was more of a “beer and baseball” kind of guy, he, too, enjoyed the finer things in life. So, after a casual conversation at a family gathering with my Godmother (also a theater junkie), my parents thought it was time to introduce my brother and me to the glittering lights of the Great White Way.

The evening started off with a crash — quite literally. On the day of the performance, mom picked us up from school, scurried us into the house to get us changed (no jeans and sneakers to a Broadway show, thank you very much), and whisked us into our car where we proceeded to Bensonhurst to pick up my Godmother. From what I can recall, we were right on schedule to wait in line to purchase discount tickets at the TKTS booth in Duffy Square. It was first come, first serve at TKTS, and I held my breath, hoping upon hope the tickets for the evening performance weren’t sold out!

Success! Mom returned to the car with five tickets. First, though, we had to park the car. That’s when it happened.

The garage my father chose had one of those twisting entrance ramps that went on for what seemed like an eternity before you actually reached an attendant. Let me put it this way, we never reached “forever.” At the time, my parents drove a used Lincoln Continental the size of, oh, let’s say, the U.S.S. Intrepid, and as we were winding our way down the ramp, my dad sideswiped the wall.

Everyone was fine, but it was an unwelcomed and unexpected sideshow to the evening’s events. Miraculously, though, we made it for the performance’s curtain. The musical was a spectacle like nothing I had ever seen before! And, I thank you, Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber for giving me my first taste of the narcotic that is Broadway. Twenty years later, it is an addiction I choose not to break.

That night was more than an introduction. It was an initiation. I became a member of the legions who have had the privilege to witness some of the greatest performers in the world take to the boards — Ethel Merman, Angela Lansbury, Jerry Orbach, Mickey Rooney, Chita Rivera, Bernadette Peters, Patti Lupone, Michael Crawford, and the list goes on and on.

But, I ask, will future generations be able to say the same? To put it mildly, Broadway is not cheap. According to a 2007 New York Times article, the average paid admission for a show between 1946 and 1947 was $3.90. From 1986 to 1987, theater goers paid, on average, $29.42, and that jumped to $76.32 between 2006 and 2007. And, for the week ending May 17, 2009, the average ticket price for a show ranged from $48.00 to $109.88.

I concede. There are great deals out there to be found. (Keep an eye out in the Sunday papers. My family found a terrific 2 for 1 promotion that allowed us to introduce my little cousins to the wonder that is “Mary Poppins.”) But, with so many “deals” available, does that not mean there is an unstated agreement that ticket prices are just way out of line? Shouldn’t discounted prices, then, be more of the rule than the exception? And, with the new discovery that the Broadway League — the trade association of owners and producers — has been charging a $1 league fee on discounted tickets sold at TKTS booths even though they successfully fought and prevented a state tax on theater tickets recently, I ask, “Is nothing sacred?”

Perhaps, Broadway producers should take a cold hard look at the facts. New Yorkers — an obvious target audience for Broadway shows — think the price of admission is out of line. In fact, The Marist Poll found that 72% of New York City residents think Broadway shows are not affordable for the average person. That includes 81% of those who have seen a show in the last three years. Even worse, perhaps, is that 47% of New Yorkers think Broadway shows are not a good value for their money.

There is nothing in the world like Broadway! And, trust me when I say, I do not begrudge the struggling actors, singers, and dancers their rightful due. These men, women, and children bring the words and music to life night after night. But, there must be some way to strike a balance — to make Broadway affordable while compensating the talented professionals who act, sing, and/or dance their hearts out six days a week. If not, I fear that entire generations to come will miss out on the magic that is Broadway.