The report, which tracks profiles of audiences throughout the country, reveals that there were nearly 13 million admissions to Touring Broadway shows across the country during the 2011-12 season.
"With a wide array of touring shows, theatergoers have great options when determining what shows to see," said Charlotte St. Martin, executive director of The Broadway League, in a statement. "This report illustrates demographics and theatre-going habits in a detailed way. Our mission is to help provide resources to our members across the country to assist them in enhancing ticket sales."
Highlights of the report, according to the League, follow:
Twenty-one percent of respondents said that Tony Awards or nominations were a reason they attended the show, compared to 18 percent in the 2009-10 season and 8 percent in the 2005-06 season.
Forty-seven percent of touring Broadway theatregoers used the Internet to purchase their tickets, the highest percentage yet. Thirty-four percent of respondents said they made a visit to New York City in the past year. Of those, 82 percent attended a Broadway show while in town.
Facebook was the most widely used social networking site.
Three quarters of respondents said they would prefer to receive theatre information electronically, rather than via postal mail.
Surveys were administered electronically. Presenters across the country sent invitations via e-mail to their customer mailing lists, asking theatregoers to respond online. (The method for data collection for this report is different from previous reports in this series in that information was collected via email, rather than in-theatre surveys.) In total, 18,389 theatregoers responded.
Printed versions of the reports are available for purchase online at www.BroadwayLeague.com under Research and Information.