- Sector Scan
Health and Wealth: A Data-Driven Look at the State of NYC Theatre
- Posted May 14, 2025
2-minute read
How are New York City’s theatres really doing in the wake of pandemic disruption, economic instability, and social upheaval? Health + Wealth: Supporting NYC Theatremakers Through Data, a major new report published by the Alliance of Resident Theaters New York (ART/NY), dives deep into this question using three years of comparative data (2019, 2022, and 2023) from more than one hundred nonprofit theatre companies across the city.
Produced in collaboration with SMU DataArts and Skeleton Key Strategies, this publication is more than just a data snapshot, it’s a call to action. Drawing from financial data, case studies, and community insights, the report outlines systemic challenges faced by the sector and underscores the possibilities that emerge when we embrace bold, collective change.
The report explores five topics, each containing data visualizations, analysis gathered from ART/NY’s ongoing dialogue with the theatre community, and recommendations.
Key takeaways from all five topics:
- Bottom line: The data shows contributed revenues are in decline across most sources while expenses continue to climb.
- Workforce leadership: Questions of sustainability, legacy, balance and values are driving up against rising costs and the changing labor market.
- Space and real estate: Long-term access to space for rehearsing, performing, and office work was a significant factor in differentiating organizations that came out ahead financially.
- Community-specific missions and audiences: Organizations serving specific communities have access to unique knowledge and practices that have led them to perform strongly in areas like attendance and contributed revenue, however they are vulnerable to unsustained “flash in the pan” investments.
- Collaboration: theatres are finding new ways to work together as they face resource challenges, but we need to think beyond the single-show co-production model.
Health + Wealth: Supporting NYC Theatremakers Through Data urges theatremakers, funders, and service organizations alike to reject scarcity mindsets and design a future rooted in imagination, equity, and sustainability.
Risa Shoup and Talia Corren
Co-Executive Directors of ART/NY
“Artists are world builders. Honoring those who have come before and clearing space for those who will follow… let us build something new, together.”