With concerns about Covid on the wane, aging theatergoers returned to Broadway last season, according to a new report by the Broadway League.
As the audience shrank modestly in 2023-24 for every age group under 50 years old, ticket buyers who are 50 and up increased, according to the trade association’s new demographic study.
The results are a reversal from the previous season, when the League reported that the average theatergoer was the youngest in two decades — 40 years old. In 2023-24, in contrast, the average age increased to 42 years old, roughly the same average age as in 2018-19.
The study of the second full season after the industry shutdown provides a snapshot of Broadway’s rebound in progress. While the number of theatergoers 50 and up increased 12 percent, they were still off by more than 20 percent from the last complete season before the pandemic. For all ages, “attendance figures resembled levels of ten years ago, before the record-breaking seasons just prior to COVID,” according to the report.
This season, the stats suggest that the appetite for live theater is up broadly. With just 15 weeks left in 2024-25, grosses are up 18 percent from a year earlier, according to the League, which represents theater owners and producers. The bounce is driven by improved tourism; a renewed mania for Wicked, which is selling out at Broadway’s largest theater, thanks to Jon Chu’s movie adaptation; and an eclectic mix of audience-pleasing shows, including Oh, Mary!, Sunset Boulevard and Gypsy.
Despite the industry tailwinds, profits for Broadway investors remain elusive, thanks to escalating production costs. The suburban audience — traditionally a Broadway mainstay — remains a tough sell. The League said that just 13 percent of admissions last season were from the metropolitan area suburbs, the lowest percentage in 30 years.
The 2023-24 audience demographic study is the League’s first since the exit of President Charlotte St. Martin, who previously wrote an annual introduction that accentuated the positive. The latest edition was prepared before Jason Laks was named her permanent successor and omits an intro by the president.
Michael Abourizk of Broadway News reported about the study last night. To create it, the League’s research department distributed 25,431 paper questionnaires at Broadway shows, 60 percent of which were returned. Audiences could also complete the questionnaires electronically.
