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For immediate use Nov. xx, 1991 - No. xxx

U.S. outdoor dramas post
gains for second year

By LIZ LUCAS
UNC-CH News Services
CHAPEL HILL -- For the second year in a row, U.S. outdoor dramas
posted attendance gains while much of the nation�?Ts tourist and
_ entertainment industries remained in a slump, according to the Fy
¥ me University of North Carolina at Chapel Hilk Institute of Outdoor

Total attendance for U.S. outdoor dramas was nearly 2.4 million

for the 1991 summer season, up more than 19 percent from the previous
year. Paid attendance rose more than 5 percent.

Fifty-three of the country�?Ts 70 outdoor dramas reported
attendance figures to the institute last month during the 29th
National Conference on Outdoor Drama: in Bardstown, Ky. Last year, 49
companies reported figures.

The most encouraging statistic is a 42 percent increase in
average nightly paid attendance, said Scott Parker, director of the
UNC-CH institute, a central information source for outdoor theater
productions and a national repository for information about outdoor
dramas.

"This is a dramatic increase, and it is especially encouraging in
light of the fact that the actual number of performances offered this
year was roughly the same as last year," Parker said.

He said the attendance increase came despite a 26 percent
increase in rained out performances from 1990.

"We think that indicates tourists who get rained out for a
performance stay over another night in the area to see the production
the next night," Parker said. "That attests to the value placed on

dramas by the vacationing public."

Outdoor dramas -- including historical dramas, Shakespearean
festivals and religious plays -- typically run in June, July and
August and are produced in 30 states.

The institute estimates these productions have a $500,000 million

impact on the U.S. travel industry when the multiplier effect on local

economies and sales of tickets and related items are considered.

Forty-four of the outdoor dramas reporting charge admission and
generated $22.1 million in ticket sales, Parker said. Nine dramas are
free. He estimated those, as well as the dramas not reporting figures,
produced another $7.3 million in ticket sales.

Combined with income from concessions, souvenir programs, gifts,
and craft shops at amphitheaters, the institute estimates U.S. outdoor
dramas are a $29.5 million industry annually. Outdoor dramas also
created more than 4,500 summer jobs.

The dramas fared well compared to other tourist and entertainment
industries last summer.

"In the best of situations, tourism this summer was flat," said
Jim Cammisa, publisher of Travel Industry Indicators, a Miami-based
newsletter. "In the worst of cases, tourism was down 5 to 10 percent.
In most destinations, it was a very weak domestic summer, a weak
Summer all around. On average, tourism was down 3 to 5 percent across
the country."

Billboard magazine reported U.S. entertainment companies fell
20.72 os sascha the second quarter of 1991 fa pproximately the

seeserne Gross income from
movie ticket sales was down about 10 bist de suamr «

During the 13-week summer season, attendance at Broadway plays
was down by more than 208,000 compared to 1990 figures, according to
Variety Magazine, an entertainment industry trade paper.

Parker said the comparison between outdoor drama and Broadway
attendance figures is significant because both are in the travel and
tourism business.

"Broadway draws a Significant portion of its business from
tourists," he said. "This also is true of outdoor historical dramas."
Parker suggested the general economic slump may be the main
reason the tourism and entertainment industries are down. Typically,
when the country is in a recession, people take shorter vacations and

stay closer to home.

Even in prosperous times, recent figures show families are taking
shorter vacations closer to home, Parker said. The trend may be a
result of more women in the full-time workforce and the difficulty

Spouses face arranging vacations, he said.

While not all outdoor dramas saw attendance increases this year,
most did. Those with the greatest growth had major populations within
a 200-mile radius, Parker said.

"Nationwide, the average outdoor drama audience member travels
400 miles round trip to see one of the 70 outdoor historical dramas,"
he said. "That�?Ts 200 miles to the drama, and 200 miles traveled back
home.

"Some of these dramas have more than 20 million people living
within 200 miles, while others have less than 2 million," Parker said.
"Those with high populations within 200 miles had the strongest
increases in attendance this summer, which supports the theory that
people don�?Tt travel as far during economic recessions."

Parker said he expected the outdoor drama industry to continue
faring well.

"There are eight or 10 communities around the country developing
their own outdoor historical dramas, and we expect to see them come on

line with major production companies within the next three to five

years," he said. "Unless something dramatic happens unexpectedly, we

see the outdoor drama movement on the verge of significant expansion
in the 1990s."
- 30 -

Print Contact: Liz Lucas
Broadcast Contact: Barbara Thompson