By PATRICK HEALY

With Broadway’s overall attendance on the decline , producers are particularly going after African- Americans to boost revenues.

The use of focus groups is one of several diversity strategies used by the musical “Memphis,” a turbulent romance between a black R&B singer and a white D.J., and the new play “Race,” also a show centered on black characters, who are rarely in the forefront of major plays and musicals.

While the “Memphis” producers estimate that 25 to 30 percent of their audience is black, the producers of a revival of “Fences” and “Race” say that their outreach has resulted in black theatergoers’ making up 40 percent of attendees.

“Fences,” with Denzel Washington, also drew large numbers of black people. (The play ended on July 11.) This autumn ‘s Broadway lineup already includes two new musicals about black men, “Unchain My Heart: The Ray Charles Musical” and “The Scottsboro Boys,” and possibly the new play “The Mountaintop,” about the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., depending on whether the producers can land the stars Samuel L. Jackson and Halle Berry.

Indeed, the producers of “Memphis” credit word of mouth among black people for helping keep the show alive long enough for it to win the Tony Award for best new musical in June. “Memphis” has no stars and an unknown score and story. But its producers believed that their show would become known as memorable entertainment if buzz spread among African-American ministers, choir directors and black women.

Plays and musicals
that resonate with
African-Americans.

“Anyone who says that ‘Memphis’ is somehow unoriginal as a piece of musical theater is missing the impact that the show is having on a wide cross section of people who feel that Broadway isn’t usually for them,” said Sue Frost, a lead producer of the show who noted with pride that Michelle Obama took her daughters to a performance this spring. One theater group-sales company that focuses on minorities, Full House Theater Tickets Inc., reported that “Memphis,” “Race,” and “Fela! ” (about the Afrobeat musician Fela Kuti), had drawn disproportionately large numbers of African- Americans.

“Part of the appeal of these shows is that they give black audiences something to talk about,” said Sandie M. Smith, president of Full House.

The R&B flavor of “Memphis,” and the serious treatment of African- American life in the segregated 1950s, were selling points for Willie Anderson, a tourist from Atlanta, Georgia, who took a group of 11 relatives and friends to a recent performance. Each paid $94 a ticket. “We wanted to see something with some African flavor, and what we heard in Atlanta was that ‘Memphis’ was a show worth seeing,” Mr. Anderson said. “I have nothing against ‘Mary Poppins,’ but I don’t see that as a show for us like ‘Memphis’ will be.”