Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
If you had a play or musical that was designed specifically for the black culture with black themes few people would show up because few whites, who are 90% of the Broadway Crowd. Having Black actors or singers who are crossover talents would be alot easier.
This really is selling white people short. Its also demonstrably false. The audiences I encountered at such "black" shows as Fela, the recent Cat on A Hot Tin Roof, the revivals of Driving Miss Daisy and Porgy and Bess, had many white folks in them. The difference was just, as I've pointed out, there were many many more black folks present. The difference, I think, is explained by a mix of money, education, and product, as well as how people see other rivals for their entertainment dollars.
Interestingly, I'm not sure who the crossover stars are who would STRONGLY attract black and white theater goers alike. White folks may be familiar with Brian Stokes Mitchell, but I'd guess that the mass of black folks aren't. Tyler Perry shows (which I personally am not crazy about) can fill theaters with black people, but I 've seen very few white people flocking to anything with M'dea. James Earl Jones, for sure, but we don't know how long he'll be around. Audra McDonald, perhaps. My best guess is that the crossover people will not be folks who made it on Broadway, but someone who made it in music or movies and decided to drop in on Broadway to get some acting cred -- a Blair Underwood. P.Diddy, or Vanessa Williams type. (But I think Vanessa really IS good and I've admired her comeback from the Miss America scandal.)
So no black person is interested in attending an event unless it contains black themes and is dominated by black people? No wonder we face so many racial problems in our country. How about attending an event racially blind because it is interesting? So is that why there are so black people at baseball games because the game does not have a black theme?
People from different cultural experiences have different interests. And you cannot force them to do what doesnt interest them, or accuse them for being racists if they have certain preferences. Indeed I am sure that if one were to analyze the white audiences there will be more people from Scarsdale and fewer from Bensonhurst.
Having said that demographic trends suggest that more of the population will be Hispanic and Asian, and (to a lesser extent) black. So if these people arent being attracted to Broadway then one might see the market for these plays shrinking as the existing audiences age and a new demographic is not interested.
Broadway knows this. Hence Fela, The Heights, etc as it attempts to stage plays that will interest whites, but draw from a broader cross section. The idea being that once a growing upper middle class consisting of diverse groups tries Broadaway then they might see plays that say nothing about "their" experience, much as they crowd theaters with genrel market themes.
But right now Broadway isnt something that many diverse audiences think about...and might be ignorant of the fact that "cheap" seats are available sometimes.
This is shocking!! We need a tax payer funded program to force people of color to Broadway! Stat!
No Broadways needs, and knows its needs, to get more Hispanics, Asians and blacks to be part of its audiences as these groups will become a larger % of the market, so if they dont go then Broadway will have to shrink.
Indeed Brazil is now one of the largest sources of foreign visitors to NYC as the United Kingdom becomes less important.
I work right next to the Broadway Theaters and attend quite a few Broadway Plays and Musicals. One thing that I always noticed is almost everyone at the Broadway Shows is White! Why is this true in one of the most ethnically diverse cities in America?
Yes, I know that 65% of the people atteding Broadway Shows are tourists but NYC is full of tourists of all ethnic groups and from all over the world.
I knew my friends on City Data would not believe me unless I got some type of official study, so I googled the subject and came up with an official survey developed by THE BROADWAY LEAGUE.
Eighty-three percent of all tickets were purchased by Caucasian theatergoers, of those 65% were women.
The average age of the Broadway theatergoer was 44 years, older than in the past few seasons.
Only 4% of the tickets are bought by African Americans
I found this to be very interesting and scary at the same time. It says as America becomes more Hispanic and the baby boomers die out, interest in Broadway Shows will fall drastically.
What can Broadway do to get more participation by ethnic minorities, younger people, and men?
RE: if you want to put race into this - --It is the same at most sporting events & concerts in the rest of the country even more so in Boston at Fenway Park & TD Garden which (supposedly) has a similar amount of diversity like NYC
I'm not wading through 7 pages of posts to answer this: the reason is that Broadway tickets for a family of four cost about as much as a month's rent for folks outside of Manhattan. I love Broadway shows but if I'm trying to budget my entertainment dollars, I can get a lot more for my money elsewhere.
I'm not wading through 7 pages of posts to answer this: the reason is that Broadway tickets for a family of four cost about as much as a month's rent for folks outside of Manhattan. I love Broadway shows but if I'm trying to budget my entertainment dollars, I can get a lot more for my money elsewhere.
Plenty of families still goto Yankee games & Ranger games at MSG (crowd is more likely to be people from the NYC metro area than tourists) and the cost is the same or more than a Broadway show ticket for most seats.
And 'a months rent' (or mortgage payment) for folks outside of Manhattan is likely over $2,000 a month (still cheaper than the average $5,000 2 bedroom apartment rental in Manhattan however)
If you had a play or musical that was designed specifically for the black culture with black themes few people would show up because few whites, who are 90% of the Broadway Crowd. Having Black actors or singers who are crossover talents would be alot easier.
Like Audra McDonald? She's one of the greatest actor-singers of all time. I love her work.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
