The Pollster Invasion of Broadway
Campbell Robertson of the New York Times reports on the increased use of polling on Broadway:
Just before a Monday night performance of “Altar Boyz,” Mr. Craig and his team were at work, taping detailed questionnaires to all the seats and finding audience members for an informal 20-minute focus group after the show.
“I’m seeing a heavier concentration of men than I’ve seen before,” Mr. Craig said, eyeballing the room.
This is the third survey Mr. Craig has done for “Altar Boyz.” Among the findings of the first, an online poll: for whatever reason, people said they found the show’s Outer Critics Circle Award appealing, and they liked the description of one of the characters as “a nice Jewish boy.”
So now, among other changes, the redesigned “Altar Boyz” poster features a big red circle advertising the award and a conspicuous Star of David hanging from the Jewish character’s neck. “The problem with our industry is we don’t test, we don’t rely on enough data,” Mr. Davenport, the “Altar Boyz” producer, said.
