“The simple answer is San Jose’s population changed a lot in three decades and the Rep changed very little.”

An opinion about the demise of the San Jose Rep:

End of the San Jose Rep: Part II 

And this opinion is becoming more fact than opinion every day.  This morning, I heard in the news that the majority of kids in the Denver Public School District are now Hispanic.  How is your audience landscape changing?  Have you conducted demographic research recently?

In the case of the San Jose, CA area, the difference of the few decades is noted:

When I launched San Jose Rep, the city’s first resident professional theatre, San Jose had a population of 692,242 that was well-educated and arts-friendly. The ethnic makeup of the city was 74.1 percent Caucasian, 22.3 percent Latino and a small Asian population. The median age was 27, my age at the time.

Today the 2010 population breakdown is 952,576 people with an ethnic makeup of 28.7 percent Caucasian, 33.2 percent Latino and 31.7 percent Asian.

Holy cow!  What a difference! And this type of difference is not just happening in San Jose, CA as I mentioned above.  The landscape of our audiences are changing everywhere.  I implore you to do your audience development research and keep up with these changes.  Otherwise, your art and organization may not be as relevant as it was a few decades ago.  So instead, get in the know and roll with your current communities!

Cheers to happy and loyal audiences,
Shoshana

Shoshana Fanizza
Chief Audience Builder