The Society of London Theatre 2007 Box Office Data Report is now available, and with last year breaking almost all box office records it makes for interesting reading.
Underlining theatre’s popularity, 2007 scored the highest attendance since records began, with a record-breaking 13,636,540 people attending the theatre last year – a massive 10% up from 2006. For the first time ever the seating capacity sold exceeded 70% and advance bookings increased by 40% from an already record-breaking percentage in the previous year.
Much of 2007’s success is due to a number of popular musicals which opened at the end of 2006 in large theatres. Wicked, Monty Python’s Spamalot, Dirty Dancing – The Classic Love Story On Stage, The Sound Of Music and Hairspray all proved enormously popular. They were also joined by Joseph And The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat and Grease, both of which cast leads from reality TV shows in 2007, bringing in a new, younger audience to theatres.
Although it was arguably the year of the musical, there were many sell out plays, many of which saw stars of the screen treading the West End boards. Daniel Radcliff, most famous for his Harry Potter role, starred alongside Richard Griffiths in the critically acclaimed Equus at the Gielgud theatre, Patrick Stewart starred in the transferred Chichester Festival Theatre production of Macbeth, and Ian McKellen starred in the RSC’s productions of The Seagull and King Lear.
The report is researched and written for the Society of London Theatre by Richard Andrews of Performance Report, and analyses audience data, performance numbers, ticket prices, external factors affecting theatre audiences, the difference in performance between commercial and subsidised theatre, and compares categories of productions, for example how plays fared against dance shows.
The report makes essential reading for anyone involved in theatre, whether you are an investor, producer, theatre marketer, box office manager, work within a government sector dealing with performing arts or have a personal interest in the stage.
Priced at £45 (plus postage and packing), the report is now available to order by calling the Society Of London Theatre on 020 7557 6700.
CM