Are Audiences Ready to Return to Broadway? We Surveyed Our Readers to Find Out

With Governor Cuomo announcing Broadway shows will resume September 14th, OnStage Blog conducted a survey of its email newsletter subscribers and members of the OnStage Blog Green Room Facebook group, asking how willing they are to attend performances once broadway and other local theaters open up again.

But first, some background on our respondents:

Respondents were fairly evenly distributed in age 18 years and older, with a plurality (40%) between 18-40 years old. Most respondents were from the United States (83%), have already been vaccinated (78%), see a Broadway show at least a few times per year (78%), see a community theatre performance at least a few time per year (88%), and performed or worked in a theatre production at least once in the last 5 years pre-pandemic (65%).

In other words, no surprise, our audience is heavily invested in theatre!

Below we will list the key questions asked on the survey, followed by a summary of the responses

Q: Please select the option that most closely represents your willingness to attend a show on BROADWAY, OFF-BROADWAY, or in a theatre in your nearest METROPOLIS.

Less than half of respondents (42%) said they would attend a show, regardless of whether safety protocols were enacted or not.

More than half (56%) indicated they would only go if proof of vaccination were required, a negative covid test was shown, or if capacity was less than 50% and social distancing was enacted.

Only 2% said they would not go to a Broadway show no matter what.

This surprised us given most of the respondents have been vaccinated. If only half believe in the vaccines enough to go no matter what, this does not portend well for full capacity in July. Given that Broadway shows reportedly only make money if they sell-out shows, they need fully vaccinated individuals who do not need social distancing or proof of vaccination to show up in force.

Q: Please select the option that most closely represents your willingness to attend a show in LOCAL COMMUNITY THEATRE?

The willingness to attend a community theatre performance is just about the same as a Broadway production: almost half (47%) would attend a show no matter what, and most of the remaining half would attend but only with either proof of vaccination/negative covid test or social distancing measures in place.

While we think Broadway shows may require proof of vaccination/negative test, remains to be seen if community theatre will do the same.

Q: please describe your willingness to participate in a show as a cast member, director, producer, or stagehand?

Less than 40% of respondents (37%) on average would participate in a show no matter what, while most of the rest require social distancing for cast, crew, and audience.

Remember, 80% of respondents have been vaccinated. This finding surprised us as well and may signal that Broadway may be ahead of community theatre in opening up, at least in certain areas.

Q: What Broadway show would you see first?

We asked this out of pure curiosity, tangential to COVID response, to see what our readers were most excited for. Moulin Rouge was the winner here, with 19% of the vote (the respondents could only pick one out of 10 choices and could select a write-in option). Hamilton, Music Man, and Book of Mormon tied for 2nd with 10% of the vote.

(We were mildly surprised Diana the Musical, a new show with a lot of buzz to it, didn’t fare better, with just 8% of the vote.)

Company and Hadestown also received multiple write-in votes.

What does this survey ultimately mean? These responses may change months later as the vaccines demonstrate they can hold up against all the variants out there. But for now, Theatre has its work cut out to instill confidence that its most avid fans and performers can enjoy it safely.

If you would like to participate in OnStage Blog surveys, please sign up for our email newsletter, or join our facebook group: “OnStage Blog Green Room”