I know the city slows down during Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur, is it easier to get tickets during this time? I’m trying to plan something with a friend for October, I’m wandering if the shows will be on TDF.
You can check the weekly grosses year over year here on BWW.
Broadway Legend Joined: 3/23/17
Broadway Flash said: "I know the city slows down during Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur, is it easier to get tickets during this time? I’m trying to plan something with a friend for October, I’m wandering if the shows will be on TDF."
If you ever meet a Jew someday, ask them?
Understudy Joined: 10/8/18
JSquared2 said: "Broadway Flash said: "I know the city slows down during Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur, is it easier to get tickets during this time? I’m trying to plan something with a friend for October, I’m wandering if the shows will be on TDF."
If you ever meet a Jew someday, ask them?"
Not sure how one single Jewish person —especially one who is religiously observant and therefore not attending theater — would be able to answer that question. As a non-practicing Jew I can only answer anecdotally but some Jewish themed shows do have more availability during the more important Jewish holidays. Leopoldstadt opened right after Yom Kippur presumably for that reason and I recall that during Passover there was better seat selection.
just because Flash posts a lot of idiotic and annoying comments makes me question their mental capacity doesn’t mean that all of their posts fall in that category.
veronicamae said: "You can check the weekly grosses year over year here on BWW."
Those are weekly grosses and the Jewish holidays we're really talking about, Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, are 1 or 2 days long. Unless you were looking at single day data, it would be impossible to figure it out.
My guess though is if you were seeking a ticket to a Jewish themed show, it's reasonable to assume less people would show up during a big holiday. If you're going to a show like Hamilton or Wicked which isn't, there's no reason to assume attendance would significantly dip.
Jews are only 1% of the population and according to a Pew Research Center survey only 27% of American Jews attend religious services at any point during the year.
A few things to consider here:
1) Yes, Jewish people love theater and often attend shows.
2) Other people love shows too, so perhaps there will be less Jewish people in the audience on those days, shows can typically go on without them.
3) Less people are religious today. People still celebrate holidays with family, but synagogues are less full. So, again, there will be less Jewish people at shows on those days but still some.
4) Unless you have a cast member who is observant (like Tovah during Funny Girl), it seems Jewish cast members will be in the show on the holidays. Interesting though because those are the biggest holidays, so for people to miss them speak to the fact that less people are religious today.
5) Obviously these are generalizations and will differ for each individual as they practice how they see fit.
Swing Joined: 5/4/22
Just to respond - many religiously observant Jews see Broadway shows. I am Orthodox and the majority of my observant friends/neighbors see shows regularly. In fact, my daughter attends a university under Orthodox auspices and they have a Broadway club where they get amazing discount tickets for the students.
In terms of Broadway being quieter, I agree with the above postings - you'd have to check for past attendance info.
Although on the intermediate (Chol Hamoed) days of the holidays Sukkot/Passover the theater is usually packed with observant Jews because families are on vacation. I remember seeing the OBC of Spamalot on Chol Hamoed Passover and when Arthur asked, "Are there any Jews here?" it was practically the entire theater that day. ;)
Broadway Legend Joined: 3/27/19
It's not that egregious a question considering it's been asked here before:
https://forum.broadwayworld.com/readmessage.php?thread=1119023
I’m pretty sure the sound levels remain the same at broadway shows even during holidays.
Broadway Legend Joined: 4/14/11
Call_me_jorge said: "I’m pretty sure the sound levels remain the same at broadway shows even during holidays."
For the cast, but pending the holiday and pending the amount of alcohol consumed at celebrations beforehand, the sound level from audience members can increase tenfold.
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