The
Innovative Theatre Foundation has conducted a number of interesting and important surveys about off-off-Broadway. The most recent survey, "Demographic Study of Off-Off-Broadway Practitioners," dated January 2010, looked at the artists and staff who work off-off-Broadway. They collected over 4,000 completed surveys. That's an impressive number but the survey cannot be considered representative of the universe of off-off-Broadway workers because the survey distribution wasn't random. Be that as it may, the Innovative Theatre Foundation's data are the best available.
The survey found that off-off-Broadway workers resemble the averageUS resident a great deal, in terms of average age, breakdown of percentage by gender, and yearly income. The income finding is a conundrum, as only ten percent reported work in theatre as their sole source of income. Also, just over 50 percent of respondents live in Manhattan, where a US average income is not enough to live an average lifestyle.
The off-off-Broadway community has fewer African-Americans than the US population: five percent vs. twelve percent. The OOB folks are less than half as likely as the national population to be married and much less likely to have children living in their households. OOBers are much better educated than the US population, with 85 percent holding a college degree. The US percentage of college educated adults is 27. Nearly one-third of respondents belong to Actors Equity, with another 16 percent belonging to other theatrical unions, such as American Federation of Musicians, Dramatists Guild, IATSE, Society of American Fight Directors, Stage Directors and Choreographers Society, United Scenic Artists, and others.
We wrote about an earlier survey by the Innovative Theatre Foundation
here.
