Arts Journal - Boycotting is alive and well as a protest tactic. Based on ticket sales figures leaked to The Washington Post, Kennedy Center audiences are voting with their feet and staying away.
Sales appear to be cratering. Here’s the damage:
- Single ticket sales down 50% in April and May as compared to last year
- Theater subscriptions are down an eye-popping 82%
- Dance subscriptions are down 57%
- Subscriptions for performances for young people are down 82%
The Center’s constituent arts organizations are suffering as well, with the National Symphony Orchestra’s subscriptions down 28% and the Washington National Opera down 25%. It’s just two weeks into the subscription campaign, but the staffer who provided the documents to The Washington Post said they thought it would be nigh impossible to reach last year’s numbers with this kind of start.
The results aren’t surprising, considering that the Center’s audience is made up mostly of people from Washington D.C. (where 92% of votes went to VP Kamala Harris in the 2024 Presidential election) and surrounding areas.
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