Attendance at D.C.-area theaters dropped slightly in 2007 despite a record number of shows.
Approximately 1.9 million people went to the theater during the year, taking in at least one of 8,050 performances. Overall, though, attendance was down by 1.9 percent.
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Statistics on the year’s theater season were compiled by the Helen Hayes Awards, D.C.’s theater recognition ceremony held Monday night.
A sluggish economy as well as the typical challenges of reaching new audiences may have contributed to the decline, according to Linda Levy Grossman, Helen Hayes Awards president and chief executive officer. Grossman said theater is often perceived as expensive and risky, and it competes with other, more accessible forms of entertainment.
Still, 25 of the city’s 67 professional theaters saw an increase in attendance during the year, including Capitol Hill-based Catalyst Theater.
Catalyst Artistic Director Scott Fortier attributed the company’s success to its pricing — all tickets are $10.
Arena Stage spent the end of 2007 dealing with the challenge of drawing an audience to a new location; the group is temporarily housed in Crystal City while its Southwest D.C. facility is being renovated. Director of Communications Chad Bauman, though, said while the theater projected losing 5 to 6 percent of its subscribers to the move, that number went down by just over 1 percent, and the company added more than 5,000 new accounts to make up for it, including a 5 percent spike in out-of-town customers.
The Helen Hayes statistics did not include the approximately 19,000 attendees to the 2007 Capital Fringe Festival.
New theater groups can mean more competition for established players, but companies aren’t complaining.
“I think eventually there is a saturation point for the community,” Fortier said. “But deep down, my philosophy is the more theater, the better.”
