Broadway audiences are getting a little bit younger and more diverse

Mixed news from Broadway: One of New York City’s main tourist draws is still crawling out of its pandemic-era hole, but audiences are getting a bit younger and more diverse.

The numbers came Monday afternoon from The Broadway League, a trade organization representing theater producers and owners. It released the highlights of its newest demographic report, collected during the 2022-23 season — the first full season since Broadway shut down in March 2020.

The League reported that this season included 12.3 million admissions to Broadway shows — which is still almost 17% lower than the record-breaking, pre-COVID 2018-19 season.

According to the League, tourists still form the biggest audience for Broadway shows by far: only about 35% of show attendees during the 2022-23 season were from the city itself or the surrounding metropolitan area, while 17% came from foreign countries.

The report says that the average age of the Broadway theatergoer is 40.4 years old — the youngest demographic the League has seen in 20 seasons, but only 0.2% younger than in 2018 — and 65%, are female. Meanwhile, 29% of attendees self-identified as people of color, the highest percentage the League has had in its history of these reports. In 2018, that number was 25%.

Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.