Broadway sees benefits of building black audience
Broadway shows about black characters often draw black theatergoers, but the producers of "Memphis" and "Fela!" as well as producers of some coming shows are particularly going after African-Americans...
From The New York Times:
They thought it was about Elvis.
That’s what a focus group of a dozen African-American women concluded about the musical “Memphis” last summer when they were asked to assess the show’s tagline, “The Birth of Rock ‘n’ Roll.”
But after seeing artwork featuring Felicia, the black R&B singer in the show, and after hearing about the turbulent romance between the character and a white D.J., the women in the focus group said the show was much more up their alley.
With that in mind, the producers changed the “Memphis” tagline before opening on Broadway to: “His Vision, Her Voice. The Birth of Rock ‘n’ Roll.”
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