Posted: 1/5/24 at 8:45am
https://www.vox.com/culture/24010951/sondheim-broadway-musical-theatre-future-jukebox-musicals-mean-girls-hamilton-rent
There's no paywall so you're free to read or skim it. I was entertaining the argument that there are still new musicals and the shows that the shows recouping post-pandemic "represented a range of ideas." And while I think it skimmed over the difficulty of a new composer become the next Sondheim without significant institutional support, sure, theoretically someone could be toiling away and persevering even if they don't always get to stage their work very frequently. But it lost me at the end when the most anticipated shows it could shout out were Hell's Kitchen, Tammy Faye, Cabaret, and The Wiz.
https://www.broadwaynews.com/the-broadway-league-releases-2022-2023-audience-demographics-report/
Also, actually digging into the statistics complicates the assertions about a younger, more diverse audience returning. "There were 12.3 million admissions to Broadway in the 2022-2023 season, down from the industry’s record-high 14.8 million in 2018-2019." And the average audience age was younger because of a slight increase in the 18-24 range and a significant decrease in admissions for people 65+
The diversity increases seem negligible without seeing the actual numbers. The percentages have barely shifted. "While a direct correlation cannot be attributed, theatergoers who identify as Black made up 5.3% of the audience, a jump from 3.9% in 2018-2019. Asian theatergoers represented 8.9% of the audience, up from 8.6%, while Hispanic/Latin-identifying patrons made up 8.8% of the audience, compared to 8% in 2018-2019. Percentages of audience members who identified as Middle Eastern, mixed race or other remained steady at 1.1%, 2.7% and 2.6%, respectively."
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