Live performance venues were hoping summer would be the season where they could bounce back from COVID closures, yet even in cities known for the arts, presenters are seeing much smaller audiences than they'd hoped.
In St. Louis, the Muny season just wrapped up. The theater's director of marketing, Eric Pugh, and the President and CEO Kwofe Coleman joined KMOX to talk about Muny's attendance levels.
The theater's leaders said Muny had a bit of a drop off, but said it was nothing more than the fluctuation seen between any two years. Subscriptions were strong; single tickets were a little bit lighter.
"But again, nothing that raises any alarm bells, just in the kind of seasonality of what we do. Sometimes you see a fluctuation anyway, and it wasn't anything greater," Coleman said.
Pugh said nationwide, he's heard different things.
"I've heard some theaters are down about 30%. But it's really hard to compare because the Muny is such a individual beast, if you will, you know, comparatively to Broadway," he said. "Broadway numbers are down. But, you know, they rely on the international tourists, which haven't really come back in full force."
Hear more about the state of live performances post-pandemic:
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