Venue Attrition

Apologies if another writer in my bloggerhood has already posted on this new study by the New York Innovative Theatre Foundation about the fortunes of Off-0ff-Broadway venues, which I found sobering. To wit:

Over 25% of OOB venues in both the West Village and Midtown area have either been demolished or repurposed into non-performance spaces in the last 5 years

43% of all OOB venues are located in the West Side Midtown area of Manhattan

The East Village, which only accounts for 14% of the overall OOB venues, is currently presenting 30% of the OOB productions

Those stats about Midtown, the East Village, and the Theatre District are a little confusing--they seem to contradict each other, or at least to indicate that though there's a concentration of OOB venues near the Theatre District, Downtown venues still stage a disproportionate number of OOB shows.

Shay Gines, the foundation's executive director, spells it out a bit more clearly: "Over the last 5 years, we have lost 26% of the Off-Off-Broadway stages in the Midtown area. We have watched a steady decline in the number of productions that are taking place in the 'theatre district.' Even more disturbing is the fact that of the 30 Off-Off-Broadway houses in the Greenwich Village area, over 25% have already been lost and with the displacement of the theatres from the Archive Building, that percentage increases to 40%."

I imagine we'll see a more in-depth post on this from Leonard any minute now.