Posted by Brian Mahoney, Vice President – Ticket Sales
Is there a Broadway audience that sees new plays and new musicals, or is the new musical buyer different than the new play buyer?
While the fall season was good for many of the 11 commercial shows that opened, it was not good to all shows. It has been suggested by some that the Broadway audience was no longer supporting new musicals. For those who think the sky is falling (and those who just like information) we did a little research.
We looked at the sales on Telecharge (through Nov. 30) for the shows that opened this fall (apologies to the producers of The Last Ship, On the Town and Honeymoon in Vegas but of course we could not include your sales in the Telecharge analysis). There were 9 shows we could look at, 8 plays and one musical. What did we find?
While the fall season was good for many of the 11 commercial shows that opened, it was not good to all shows. It has been suggested by some that the Broadway audience was no longer supporting new musicals. For those who think the sky is falling (and those who just like information) we did a little research.
We looked at the sales on Telecharge (through Nov. 30) for the shows that opened this fall (apologies to the producers of The Last Ship, On the Town and Honeymoon in Vegas but of course we could not include your sales in the Telecharge analysis). There were 9 shows we could look at, 8 plays and one musical. What did we find?
- Musical buyers see plays. Even early adopters of musicals see plays.
- 70% of the people who bought tickets to one of the 8 plays and who had purchased from us before had two or more musicals in their purchase history. 44% had two or more musicals in their purchase history in the last 24 months, 31% had two more musicals in their history in the last year.
- 41% of the people who bought tickets to one of the 8 plays and who had purchased from us before had purchased a musical as an early adopter (before opening). 19% of the sales were to people who had purchased two or more musicals as early adopters in their history in the last year.
- 70% of the people who bought tickets to one of the 8 plays and who had purchased from us before had two or more musicals in their purchase history. 44% had two or more musicals in their purchase history in the last 24 months, 31% had two more musicals in their history in the last year.
- New shows do have some new (never purchased a Broadway show from us before) customers
- New shows have new customers but not in the same percentages as for established shows. While our new customer percentage is normally in the high 30s, for the plays this fall it was 28%.
- New shows have new customers but not in the same percentages as for established shows. While our new customer percentage is normally in the high 30s, for the plays this fall it was 28%.
- Not everyone sees more than one new show in the fall.
- 17% of the buyers through Telecharge saw more than one show; 2% saw 4 or more shows.
- Those numbers could be interpreted as impressive when you consider this analysis only looked at sales for new shows that opened this fall and only shows handled by Telecharge. Some of those theatre goers could have bought another show at the box office or TKTS. Maybe some are avid Broadway fans who might have also seen one of the shows not sold by Telecharge: On the Town, Honeymoon in Vegas or Last Ship, or a show at LCT, MTC or the Roundabout. There will be customers who saw a show in the fall and will see a show, maybe two, in the spring. It is possible that some of these new show customers also saw a show this fall that opened in a prior season. Attendees from out of town may have only had time to see one show on their visit; most of these new shows saw more than 40% of their sales from an out of town audience with some over 50%. But yes, 83% of those who bought tickets on Telecharge for a new show only bought tickets for one new show.
- 17% of the buyers through Telecharge saw more than one show; 2% saw 4 or more shows.
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