Is There An Audience for Live Theatre on the Internet?
Magic 8 Ball says it is decidedly so
Hi hello, I’m Jess Ryan, founder of Broadway Unlocked. I write about theatre, technology, live broadcast and digital audiences every other Tuesday.
A quick note today, but an important and interesting one:
Last Tuesday at 7pm, the Broadway benefit concert MISCAST had a second opening night - this time on the internet.
📈 ~3000 unique audience members showed up for the live premiere on YouTube (that’s 2x the MISCAST capacity at Hammerstein where it’s captured).
💬 People showed up 45 minutes early to talk to each other ahead of the show.
🌎 15 countries and 16 states were accounted for (and that was just self-reported in the chat).
👀 We had more than 88,000 views of the show in under two days. We’re now well past 100,000.
The best theatrical moments don’t have a demand problem when it comes to the internet and streaming.
Which leaves the question of supply….
But more on that soon ;)
Previously on Broadway Unlocked
Want to know more about the history of MISCAST’s relationship with digital audiences? Check out last week’s post.
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Next up - June 2, 2026
Broadway Has a Situationship With The Internet
I was sitting in the orchestra during install for a Broadway live broadcast — one being paid for by a tech company - and which I was directing. Two young riggers above me, not knowing I was below them, started talking:
“’These tech companies — they come in here and they don’t know anything about theater.’