RESEARCH REPORT #42
So, as we struggle to be birthed (from the convoluted collective womb of local government, general contracting, and electrical engineering) we read (from Mike Daisy and others) that audiences are aging and dying, and that most actors (of any age) are merely struggling to continue (making a) living.
Daisy's piece made me (and a commenting friend) angry. I'm frustrated with what he reports, and (WORSE) with the complete lack of a solution (whether it's offered by Daisy, or anyone else with two cents invested in the future of live theater)!
Indignation is the blog-o-sphere's currency (dirty-sounding new half-words with hyphens are it's small change) and I'm glad to contribute my own anger.
So indignant, was I, when I first read Daisy's rant that I immediately rejected it's premise.
I thought: No way he's right, I know young people who go to shows... I know daring artists who put more than proverbial puff on stage.. I know... KNOW he must be exaggerating, embellishing and dramatizing (literally) a theme that elite artist types love to hear. A kind of apocryphal self-important, last-of-my-kind style ego-trip that I know appeals to a certain audience (one even I've been a part of).
and I immediately set out to prove him wrong with statistics (as any blogger worth his xml would).
I've failed. For what it's worth, this scientific study from the NEA backs up that whole smaller older audience phenomenon.
(Fancy Title Block)
So here's graph one (and for any math geeks out there: all data went through aggressive regression analysis-the trends you see seem to reflect correlation and causality not an aberration)
So what can we glean from this chart? First, Jazz is rapidly aging itself into historic-anomaly-status (sorry David). Second, In all the fine arts, median audience age is increasing steadily (with the exception of Opera-goers -- who've obviously always been old).
Next Chart.
Daisy's piece made me (and a commenting friend) angry. I'm frustrated with what he reports, and (WORSE) with the complete lack of a solution (whether it's offered by Daisy, or anyone else with two cents invested in the future of live theater)!
Indignation is the blog-o-sphere's currency (dirty-sounding new half-words with hyphens are it's small change) and I'm glad to contribute my own anger.
So indignant, was I, when I first read Daisy's rant that I immediately rejected it's premise.
I thought: No way he's right, I know young people who go to shows... I know daring artists who put more than proverbial puff on stage.. I know... KNOW he must be exaggerating, embellishing and dramatizing (literally) a theme that elite artist types love to hear. A kind of apocryphal self-important, last-of-my-kind style ego-trip that I know appeals to a certain audience (one even I've been a part of).
and I immediately set out to prove him wrong with statistics (as any blogger worth his xml would).
I've failed. For what it's worth, this scientific study from the NEA backs up that whole smaller older audience phenomenon.
(Fancy Title Block)
So here's graph one (and for any math geeks out there: all data went through aggressive regression analysis-the trends you see seem to reflect correlation and causality not an aberration)
So what can we glean from this chart? First, Jazz is rapidly aging itself into historic-anomaly-status (sorry David). Second, In all the fine arts, median audience age is increasing steadily (with the exception of Opera-goers -- who've obviously always been old).
Next Chart.
(forget that footnote, it's dull)
This is the one that struck me. In 1982 people under 40 (climbing the hill) composed just over half of theater audiences. As of 1997 (I wish they had more recent data!), that figure dropped to around one-third of theater audiences.
Now, you might say: "oh Peter, Big-deal! You just hate old people."
Well, that's true (not you grandma), but I think there is also a valid concern here. Live theater institutions are failing to market themselves effectively to young people. To me, this is a problem because: a) young fans are presumably the old patrons of the future, and b) the energy of young audiences is (I believe) a fundamental ingredient to the development and refinement of new styles, trends, and innovations in the form. If your audience is all old (like Jazz) your product won't ever be anything all new (like Jazz --sorry again David).
Granted, these numbers aren't quite worth my verbose text.
In 2004 only 1 in 10 20 year-olds reported seeing a play, but, for the population as a whole, that number only increases to 1.3 in 10. Maybe age isn't the big problem but the fact that ONLY 13% of the population goes to a play at least once a year.
Certainly in Fairfax county this is no surprise, as a trip to a professional theater generally means a trip out of the county. So, it's dawning on me, our goal at 1st Stage isn't just (as I'd originally imagined) to convince people that they'd enjoy a night at the theater, it's to remind people that a thing called theater even exists.
So, to start, tell someone today about this website, get someone excited (I promise we will have exciting news about progress within the next few weeks).
And then... get ready for thrilling Live Performance in Fairfax County that is anything but your grandmother's shows (not you Grandma).
Here's to bucking trends and proving the NEA wrong! (except about Jazz, sorry David)
This is the one that struck me. In 1982 people under 40 (climbing the hill) composed just over half of theater audiences. As of 1997 (I wish they had more recent data!), that figure dropped to around one-third of theater audiences.
Now, you might say: "oh Peter, Big-deal! You just hate old people."
Well, that's true (not you grandma), but I think there is also a valid concern here. Live theater institutions are failing to market themselves effectively to young people. To me, this is a problem because: a) young fans are presumably the old patrons of the future, and b) the energy of young audiences is (I believe) a fundamental ingredient to the development and refinement of new styles, trends, and innovations in the form. If your audience is all old (like Jazz) your product won't ever be anything all new (like Jazz --sorry again David).
Granted, these numbers aren't quite worth my verbose text.
In 2004 only 1 in 10 20 year-olds reported seeing a play, but, for the population as a whole, that number only increases to 1.3 in 10. Maybe age isn't the big problem but the fact that ONLY 13% of the population goes to a play at least once a year.
Certainly in Fairfax county this is no surprise, as a trip to a professional theater generally means a trip out of the county. So, it's dawning on me, our goal at 1st Stage isn't just (as I'd originally imagined) to convince people that they'd enjoy a night at the theater, it's to remind people that a thing called theater even exists.
So, to start, tell someone today about this website, get someone excited (I promise we will have exciting news about progress within the next few weeks).
And then... get ready for thrilling Live Performance in Fairfax County that is anything but your grandmother's shows (not you Grandma).
Here's to bucking trends and proving the NEA wrong! (except about Jazz, sorry David)
4 Comments:
As much as I'd love to present a solution, I'm afraid that I'm only adding an observation. I attended two universities undergraduate, the first in a small college town (Newark, DE), the second a sprawling suburban mess masquerading as a small college town (Fairfax, VA). In both cases, whenever I asked new acquaintances why they'd chosen the school, the location was a factor and I almost always received the response "...and if I want to get out, go to a museum or a show, it's a short trip into the city [Philadelphia or D.C.]." However, for the duration of my friendship with these various folks, did any of them ever venture into the city for a museum or a show? No. I, myself, made several trips into D.C., but I am ashamed to admit that those were motivated entirely by assignments. Am I glad that I saw The Goat, or Who is Sylvia at Arena? Yes. Would it have even occurred to me to make the trip had I not had to write a paper for a theatre class? Probably not. Even in the cases of museums (and I an art historian), it required an assigned exhibit review for me to make the trek downtown. Not because I hate museums, mind you, I love 'em. But I freely admit that I am a lazy creature by nature, and there's a whole lot of culture to be found on the internet, easily at my fingertips.
So I'm basically concluding from observations about my own age demographic that as the way things stand now, I don't see many of your statistics undergoing a great change. I'd love to say that your numbers and charts have made me see the light, and I'll make a concentrated effort to get out to more jazz clubs, but I can't even promise that (sorry, David). I can say, however, that I have great hopes for 1st Stage, particularly due to the involvement of you, David, and Lucas.
You're wrong about jazz.
And you may pooh-pooh my grandmother's shows, but her Medea is unparalleled, I'll have you know.
I don't know if the study accounted for this or not. But a possibly contributing factor to the increasing median age of the audience could be the increasing median age of the nation as a whole. I don't have any data to support this near me but I believe that the median age in this country has increased by several years in the past decade or so.
Good Catch Alex (which Alex?). The study did account for an increase of national median age (in the 1st graph I posted you see that overall sample medians go from 40 to 43 between 1982 and 1997 leaving a net difference between total-sample and theater-goers of only +1 year)
What particularly troubles me is not that first graph but the second. It shows a substantial drop in the % attendance of 18 to 39 year olds from 1982 to 1997 -- from about 53% of total attendance to only 36%.
Moreover however, my post is not meant as a prophecy of doom and gloom (and oxygen tanks built into our stadium seating) but rather as a rallying cry to bring youth and vitality to our endeavor. Ultimately, to encourage all ages to see more theater.
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