There back!!!

If you are a tourist in New York City, thank you! Why? Because without you the performing arts in New York would be dead, seriously. A survey by the League of American Theatres & Producers, release this week, found that over the course of the past year, tourist make-up 65% of broadway's core audience. This explains why shows such as The Phantom of the Opera and Les Miz can continue to play for decades, because tourist want to see a name brand show.

Overall the survey concludes that six years after the attacks on 9/11, when theatre was just hanging on, tourist are coming back and in record numbers. Last year tourist accounted for over 12.3 million tickets sold, the highest number in a decade. Even more suprising was that theatre-goers under the age of 18 accounted for 1.42 million tickets.


These numbers are incredible because it was barely a decade ago that many around the world started wondering if broadway was dead. Show's weren't opening and audiences seemed to want something more. Than after 9/11 shows tried every trick in the book to get audiences, and now it seems those tricks are paying. While actor's and directors and stage managers etc., are celebrating with these numbers so are producers. My word of caution (Mr. Brooks) don't ruin a good thing. The reason tourist go is because it's affordable. The minutes tickets start climbing higher and the top price is over $500 these numbers could fall. As for now, while I may loathe tourists in the city, I don't loathe them in the city.