Is theater a rich man’s world? The diagnosis is complicated
Since this is the Chronicle’s health issue, I’d like to take a brief look at the state of theater in 2026. Both diagnosis and prognosis for the patient are complicated. Box office revenues are up, but audience attendance has flatlined. Fewer attendees are paying higher prices for fewer shows. A top ticket to “Hamilton” on Broadway is $1500, $900 to see Denzel Washington in “Othello,” an orchestra seat at the Ahmanson can be $200, and 99-seat houses now charge $45 for a show.
Much like dining out, increasingly only the well-off can afford to go to the theater frequently. The rest of us pick and choose our “experiences” with an eye to our budgets. The result is the gradual decline in small theaters (and restaurants), especially those taking creative risks on marginal budgets.
If nothing else, our local theaters once served as incubators for developing talent. Now many of our best small theaters have become rental spaces for self-funded vanity projects that, to stretch the analogy, bring little meat to the table, while larger theaters bring in shows that were developed elsewhere (to share costs) or focus on plays with small casts.
The Theater Communications Group (the theater industry’s association) has noted a 40% drop in theater programming since the pandemic, with shortened runs, fewer productions, and complete theater closures as the prime factors. With dwindling audiences, the doom loop continues. Theaters sacrifice modest subscribers in exchange for patrons with more significant disposable income who’ll pay for a “premium experience” at each event.
“The pandemic,” according to the TCG analysis, “was a hard stop button on life… people changed their habits, their behaviors, their preferences, and the way they consume arts and culture. It’s a shift in consumer behavior.”
Consumers were not the only ones to shift behavior. Nationwide, corporate, foundation, and private donor support to theaters has dropped about 40%. Donors are increasingly “skeptical about the power of the arts to create a better world” (TCG), and research shows that funders who have lost faith in the ability of the arts to impact society are more focused on advancing social and political agendas directly.
If this diagnosis isn’t bad enough, another TCG survey, entitled “Heart, Hustle, Survival,” found that 73.3% of respondents have considered or already left the theater field, primarily due to financial constraints. The data points to a broader crisis in the arts, where passion often clashes with the economic realities and psychological strains of making a living. The fewer shows available provide fewer jobs; fewer jobs draw fewer people into the arts as careers; fewer arts education programs mean fewer students are exposed to the arts, which means even fewer audiences for the future.
We’re not quite on life support yet. Nearly half of single ticket buyers are first time theatergoers, again choosing plays that present an “experience” over more traditional fare, and theater closures seem to have run their course.
The plague may have taken its toll, but those of us who have survived, perhaps, have been inoculated enough to thrive in an uncertain future.
POSTER for show at The Mark Taper in DTLA.
What to watch for
Patrick Page brings his evening of Shakespeare’s villains, “All the Devils Are Here,” to Santa Monica’s Broad Stage, Thu., Jan. 15, to Sun., Jan. 25; 310-434-3200; thebroadstage.com.
The Geffen Playhouse presents the world premiere of “Sylvia, Sylvia, Sylvia,” a thriller, Wed., Feb. 4, to Sun., March 8; 310-208-2028; geffenplayhouse.com.
A Noise Within puts Shakespeare’s “Richard III” on stage Sun., Feb 8, to Sun., March 8; 626-356-3100; anoisewithin.org.
Mozart and Salieri dish it out in Peter Shaffer’s “Amadeus,” at the Pasadena Playhouse, Wed., Feb 11, to Sun., March 8; 626-356-7529; pasadenaplayhouse.org.
The Mark Taper brings David Byrne and Fatboy Slim’s Imelda Marcos musical, “Here Lies Love,” to L.A. Wed., Feb 11, to Sun., Mar 22; 213-628-2772; centertheatregroup.org.
Category: Entertainment
