Munster Express Online

It’s like the bus, sometimes you wait in vain for one then finally two arrive. Normally, statistics about theatre are few and far between but recently there has been a selection of them and especially London information and now a 2008/09 Broadway set for comparison.

The gripes in so far as they are that many are to do with booking fees, and transaction fees, comfort of seating and toilet facilities.

In the London SOLT 2008 survey and individual theatregoer went to 6.4 shows, while on Broadway it was 4.2. Average age: London 43/ Broadway 42.

Local audience (as against tourists) London 38% Broadway 37%. Theatregoers using the internet to book shows London 48% Broadway 39%. Theatregoers who were influenced by critics London 35% and Broadway 23%. And still people think that critics reviews can sink shows!

There was even a Female/male breakdown! London 68%/32% Broadway 66%/34%. Women do a lot of the booking and decision making about shows.

In both areas about 36% of tickets are booked more than a month in advance and as high as 20% on the day of the performance.

Another interesting fact is the impact of reality TV shows like Over The Rainbow (only in London) where 40% of theatregoers had watched such shows and it helped them booked in advance.

London audiences are growing which is not the case on Broadway but it is hard to make accurate comparisons as other entertainment factors operate on Broadway – like how long a show runs, numbers of theatres, variety of types of shows etc.

There is a small number of outlets doing research in Ireland but a lot of the data ends up in unpublished academic research without shared methodology or analysis.