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Published on: 4/6/1998
Last Visited: 3/18/2007
"There's been real progress in the last five years," says Jed Bernstein, executive director of the League.
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Broadway's improving health results from a number of trends, from an ebullient economy to shifting demographics, says Mr. Bernstein.Babyboomers have 7-, 8-, 12-year-old kids who are now at a prime age to introduce to Broadway," he notes.
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"Talk about mainstream marketing," says Mr. Bernstein, a former advertising executive.
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"This reaffirms what we've known for a while now -- that costs have been rising way ahead of ticket prices," says Mr. Bernstein.
Those costs are less painful when productions are successful, of course.The number of new shows last year was similar to the 1991-92 season: 37 and 39, respectively.But because playing weeks increased nearly 50%, to 1,347 from 905, the average weekly operating expense remained virtually the same, at $318,000."Shows are always most expensive in the beginning, and economies of scale are created as the playing weeks go up," says Mr. Bernstein.
Creating a hit on Broadway will always remain a tough goal.But the industry's reviews, and thus its economic impact, are clearly on the rise.
"Broadway has returned to its rightful place on the entertainment menu, a position it had in the Forties, Fifties and beginning of the Sixties but then lost for a while," says Mr. Bernstein."Until now."