It's generally accepted in the industry, particularly amongst its most ardent fans, that Broadway tickets are prohibitively expensive, and not without reason. Last season was the highest-grossing on record, and with the most expensive tickets in Broadway history, with the average paid cost sitting at $129.12. Infamously pricey tickets to star-driven revivals like Othello, Good Night, and Good Luck, Glengarry Glen Ross, and other titles surely made sure that average stayed particularly high.
But the piece of data that is harder to contend with is that all of those productions were also extraordinarily well attended. Othello, which had the priciest tickets of any show last season, was a near total sell-out. And while that doesn't mean there aren't still absolutely socio-economic brackets to whom Broadway is less financially accessible, it does bring that generally accepted knowledge—that Broadway tickets are too expensive, that less shows would fail and the industry would make more money if producers made it less of a luxury-priced experience—into serious question.
That's being bolstered by newly released survey results from theatrical production company No Guarantees Productions. Surveying 1,000 Gen-Z and Millennial theatre goers (500 each), they found that while 72% of respondents found Broadway tickets too expensive, that changed when confronted with the prices of other luxury goods and experiences, and with the production costs associated with mounting and running a show on Broadway. After being given that information, respondents more than tripled what they found Broadway tickets worth, many answering they'd be willing to pay more than $500. The results also repeated the group's findings from an April survey, that this younger theatre-going group overwhelmingly finds the Broadway experience worth the high ticket price—92% of those surveyed, in fact.
No Gurantees' takeaway from the results is that Broadway isn't overpriced, but rather undervalued, and perhaps under-explained. Their survey showed that 61% of survey takers admitted not knowing why Broadway was expensive, and the company says that an education initiative in this area is needed.
The results underscore some survey data about the Gen-Z and Millennial generations that have been turning up in similar studies across a number of industries, that they tend to value experiences over products. Interestingly, No Guarantees' results also implied that ticketing discounts do not motivate ticket purchases, and made 63% of respondents question the quality of the show or of the seat locations.
The survey notably does not include information about respondents' income brackets, but the group says the data represents almost 75% theatregoers in the tristate area, with the remaining 25% from outside that area. Of the 1,000 questioned, 685 identified as women, 300 as men, and 15 as gender nonbinary. No Guarantees says the racial and ethnic identities of those surveyed "reflected that of the national population within the parameters above." Those who had not been to live theatre in the last year and had no interest in going to the theatre in the next year were not included in the data.
No Guarantees' current and recent projects include Huzzah!, soon to make its world premiere at San Diego's Old Globe; Goddess, which recently played Off-Broadway's Public Theater; and the recent Broadway runs of The Hills of California, Fat Ham, and Bad Cinderella.
The full study results are available at NoGuarantees.com.
