I am an ardent opera and theatre fan. For years, I’ve had season tickets to both the Washington, DC, and Baltimore opera seasons.
Goign regularly, I have noticed - no surprise here - that I see a lot of the same faces. And I’ve gotten to know a lot of great folks.
But I have noticed that with one exception, exery single one of the couples we know through their opera atendance are Democrats, or don’t identify as a Democrats because they are even farther left. And with maybe three exceptions, my musical theatre fan friends are the same. (And one of those three exceptions is a couple whose musical theatre fandom comes much more from the wife and whose polticial conservatism comes much more from the husband, so I’m not even sure I should count them as an exception).
Now, obvious disclaimers – anecdotes are not data, sample size is small, etc etc.
I would like for my general experience and observation to be wrong, because … well, for a number of obvious reasons I want it to be wrong. And I can’t think of any particular reason it should be right. Still, it’s been sixteen years of going to the opera and the results haven’t varied much for me.
Is there any reason you would expect politically liberal types to be more attuned to opera and/or musical theatre than politically conservative types?
I have nothing of particular substance to add, except to say that (1) I’m a liberal and a theater type, as were most (but not all) of the people in my law school’s theater group, and (2) I think some of the correlation between liberalism and a love of theater, if it exists, is probably for some of the same reasons, whatever they may be, as the correlation between alternative sexualities and a love of theater. Theater is certainly perceived to be a more gay-friendly environment than most other places; maybe that same note is sounded in liberals as well.
I am both liberal and a big theater fan. One theory: left-leaning folks are more likely to study the humanities–history, literature, the arts–in college, as opposed to more lucrative fields such as accounting, computer science, or management. As a result, they are exposed to more live theater and gain a sense of appreciation that lasts throughout their lives. Just a thought.
My brother’s wife is an opera lover who regularly appears in the chorus of the DC opera, but was a Republican. She recently came into the light of the Democratic party in the past year or so, so now everything is better.
Musical theater? As in, Broadway? Let me find a bucket to go throw up in.
Unless by “musical theater,” you mean something involving a topless woman and a pole. And even that’s pushing it.
If I’m forced to pick a high-falutin’ performing art, I’ll take the symphony, though I’d much rather prefer either a smoky bar with an obnoxiously loud garage band, or a smoky coffee house (with booze) featuring a decent Delta or bluegrass picker.
I also don’t mind art openings, but I mostly because I like the free wine and snacks.