The highest percentage of people were in the 45-to-54-year-old age group. Next highest was 25-to-34. ``So it's before kids and after kids,'' said Laura Henrich, Wednesday night coordinator.
Indeed, only 8 percent of the respondees said they brought the children. Most people came in couples, 62 percent with friends, 22 percent with spouses.
Men interested in meeting women might like to know that females considerably outnumber males in attendance Wednesday nights - 63.7 percent compared with 36.3 percent.
Wednesday night visitors tend to be an educated lot. According to the survey, 13.2 percent had doctoral or medical degrees or the equivalent; 29.8 percent had master's degrees; 28 percent were college graduates; and 20.41 percent had some college.
Asked what type of Wednesday night activities they preferred (more than one could be listed), 63.5 percent listed classical music, 51 percent jazz, 38 percent folk music, 38 percent ethnic music, 37 percent dance performances, 25 percent big band, 22 percent choral concerts and 20 percent pop/rock.
Obviously, the Wednesday night visitors like the programs. Asked to rate their overall satisfaction with their visit, 52.4 percent listed excellent and 44.6 percent listed good. Only 2.6 percent marked down fair, and 0.4 percent said poor.
The Wednesday night programs do not pay for themselves, but they've been a huge success in getting new members for the museum, said Caroline Stewart, membership manager. In the fiscal year ending June 30, 866 new members signed up on Wednesday nights, she reports.
``We convert on the average 4.5 percent to 5 percent of the Wednesday night visitors, as compared to an average of about 1.5 percent to 2 percent of paid visitors during regular weekday and weekend hours,'' she said.
MANY IMITATORS The Wednesday night programs have had an effect far beyond the Philadelphia city limits. ``We've had calls from at least 30 other museums around the country wanting to develop programs based on ours,'' said Sandra Horrocks, vice president of marketing and public relations.
A number of museums in Texas and the Midwest have put evening programs in place based on Philadelphia's, she said.
In the new schedule of 26 evenings, there will be the usual mixture of unusual events - among them, improvisational comedy by Comedy Sportz on Jan. 15, an evening titled ``Inaugural Ball'' (black tie or blue jeans optional); a jump-rope team on ``Family Reunion'' night Feb. 19; and a six-part series of Chinese films, starting April 30.
The weekly get-togethers open tomorrow with jazz night, and thereafter, the first Wednesday night of every month will feature jazz. On other evenings, you can hear country music (Jan. 22), German music (Jan. 29), big band music (Feb. 12), traditional African music (Feb. 19) and Parisian cabaret music (March 19).
TASTINGS The films, presented at 7:10 in the Van Pelt Auditorium, are the usual mixture of old, new and somewhere in-between.
There also will be wine-tasting nights; coffee-tasting nights; an Irish beer-tasting night (five days before St. Pat's Day); a chance to win a three-day getaway to Caesars Pocono Resorts; and a chance to win a nine-day tour of France, courtesy of Trafalgar Tours and AAA-Travel.
All this comes with the price of admission to the museum - $7 for adults, $4 for seniors and students, free to museum members (except April 9, ``College Night,'' when college students with I.D. can enter free; alums wearing their old schools' caps, sweatshirts or T-shirts can enter at half-price).
The eats will cost you, but not much for the light food and drinks in the Great Stair Hall, and not much more for dinner in the museum restaurant. (Reservations are advised, 215-684-7990).
Here is a listing of the Wednesday night events, which are planned through June. For more information on the programs, call 215-684-7506.
TOMORROW Jazz FM Wednesday. Film: Sleeper (1973), directed by Woody Allen, with Woody Allen, Diane Keaton. Performance: The Bright Hope Baptist Church Celestial Choir featuring Cecelia Birt, soprano-actress, and Gary Giles, orator. Donald Dumpson, artistic director. A tribute to the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. with a celebration of songs. Music: Dave Burrell, jazz pianist, composer and arranger and recipient of Pew Fellowship for musical composition. Spotlight: ``A Passion for Paisley: A Tour of the Shawl Exhibition'' with Kristina Haugland, assistant curator of costume and textiles. Coffee tasting. Chess night in the West Foyer Balcony; bring your own board.
JAN. 15 Inaugural Ball. Film: Dave (1993), directed by Ivan Reitman, with Kevin Kline, Sigourney Weaver. Music: Flamin' Caucasians. Comedy: Comedy Sportz, improvisational comedy, all games based on political suggestions from the audience. Spotlight: ``Pageantry of the State: Ceremonial Arms & Armor'' with Meghan Mackey, project conservator for the Kienbusch Collection of Arms & Armor. Sparkling wine tasting. Special: WMMR Night hosted by a DJ.
JAN. 22 Yee Ha! A Country Night. Film: Coal Miner's Daughter (1980), directed by Michael Apted, with Sissy Spacek, Tommy Lee Jones. Music: Y'all, country music group. Dance: Spins Dance Company, a country-western exhibition troupe. Spotlight: ``Breaking Home Ties'' by Thomas Hovenden with Darrel Sewell, curator of American art. David and Linda Glickstein, ``The Discerning Travelers,'' talk about off-the-beaten-track country destinations. Demonstration: scrimshaw, with Charles Kiel.
JAN. 29 Going German. Film: Men (1985), directed by Doris Dorrie (German with English subtitles), with Heiner Lauterbach. Music: Heimat Klaenge Brass Ensemble. Dance: Vereinigung der Donauschwaben Youth Dance Group. Dance: Vereinigung Erzgebirge Folk Dance Group. Spotlight: ``German Paintings and John G. Johnson'' with Katy Luber, assistant curator of the John G. Johnson Collection. Beer tasting.
FEB. 5 Jazz FM Wednesday. Film: Bird (1988), directed by Clint Eastwood, with Forest Whitaker, Diane Verona. Music: The Walter Bell Latin Jazz Unit. Performance: Excerpts from The Wilma Theater's production of Avenue X, an a capella doo-wop musical. Demonstration: Mardi Gras maskmaking with Cindy Farnham. Coffee-tasting. Chess night in the West Foyer Balcony; bring your own board.
FEB. 12 My Funny Valentine. Film: Sid and Nancy (1986), directed by Alex Cox, with Gary Oldman, Chloe Webb. Music: Rat Pack Cocktail Party with Kurt and Aaron (big band music and dance). Valentine's Day fashion show. Spotlight: ``Dancing for Love in India'' with Gail Maxwell, staff lecturer. Godiva chocolates sampling. Martinitasting.
FEB. 19 A Family Reunion. Film: Waiting to Exhale (1995), directed by Forest Whitaker, with Whitney Houston, Angela Bassett. Music: Women's Sekere Ensemble, traditional African music. Dance: Tribe Performing Arts Entertainment presents Voices, a dance theater piece. Performance: The Dynamite Demonstration Jump Rope Team. Spotlight: ``Highlights from the African American Collection'' with Jean Woodley, museum educator. Charlotte Blake Alston speaks on oral African tradition. Demonstration: wood carvings with Robert Douglas Council.
FEB. 26 A French Symphony. Film: The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (1964), directed by Jacques Demy (French with English subtitles), with Catherine Deneuve, Nino Castelnuovo. Music: Lower Merion Symphony Orchestra. Spotlight: ``The Feminine Taste: An 18th-Century French Writing Desk'' with Donna Corbin, assistant curator of European decorative arts. Wine tasting.
MARCH 5 Jazz FM Wednesday. Film: Shallow Grave (1994), directed by Danny Boyle, with Kerry Fox, Chris Eccleston, Ewan MacGregor. Music: Steve Guyger and the Excellos, blues. Spotlight: ``Japanese Tea House'' with Gail Maxwell, staff lecturer. Poetry reading by Linda Rodriquez & Friends. Coffee tasting. Chess night in the West Foyer Balcony; bring your own board.
MARCH 12 An Irish Celebration. Film: A Man of No Importance (1994), directed by Suri Krishnamma, with Albert Finney, Tara Fitzgerald. Music: The Good Guys Ceili Band. Dance: Fiona Dore Buckley. Vocalist: Eugenia Brennan, Irish and Irish American traditional songs. Spotlight: ``A Look At the Henry P. McIlhenny Collection'' with Joseph Rishel, senior curator of European painting. Storyteller Tom Flattery. Irish beer tasting.
MARCH 19 Life is a Cabaret. Film: Naked (1993), directed by Mike Leigh, with David Thewlis, Lesley Sharp. Music: Wynnewood Vocal Ensemble, Parisian cabaret. Performance: Cabrini College Theatre presents sequences from Cabaret. Spotlight: ``At the Moulin Rouge: The Dance'' by Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec with Bay Hallowell, special projects coordinator for education. Poetry cabaret with the Underground Poetic Society.
MARCH 26 Critic's Choice. Various critics choose the evening's attractions. Film: Klute (1971), directed by Alan J. Pakula, with Jane Fonda, Donald Sutherland. Music: Rock n' Roll with Buzz Zeemer and singer-songwriter Todd Young. Spotlight: ``Visions Past and Present.'' Poetry reading by City Paper's Daisy Fried on urban life, anxiety and desire, with three area poets. Discussion: Dine in the Museum Restaurant with City Paper's food critic Jim Quinn and try one of his favorite dishes (for a fee). Beer tasting. Specials: Featuring the Museum's executive chef, Tracey Hopkins.
APRIL 2 Jazz FM Wednesday. Film: Backbeat (1994), directed by Iain Softley, with Stephen Dorff, Sheryl Lee. Music: The Sherry Wilson-Butler Ensemble, jazz; the Jon Madof Trio, instrumentals. Spotlight: ``Smooth and Sleek: Brancusi'' with Mimi Stein, museum staff. Coffee tasting. Chess night in the West Foyer Balcony; bring your own board.
APRIL 9 College Night. Film: Trainspotting (1995), directed by Danny Boyle, with Ewan MacGregor, Robert Carlyle, Jonny Lee Miller. Music: burning bus, progressive funk; Chord On Blues, all-male Penn a capella group. Spotlight: ``Dead Troops Talk'' by Jeff Wall with Danielle Rice, curator of education.
APRIL 16 A Renaissance Night. Film: Romeo and Juliet (1968), directed by Franco Zeffirelli, with Olivia Hussey, Michael York. Music: Blanchard Consort of Voices, Italian madrigals; Double Indemnity, Renaissance Celtic band. Spotlight: ``The Funeral of Titian'' by Alexandre Hess with Christopher Riopelle, associate curator of European painting.
APRIL 23 An Evening with Brahms and Friends. Film: Madame Bovary (1991), directed by Claude Chabrol (French with English subtitles), with Isabelle Huppert, Jean-Francois Balmer. Music: A look at Brahms, by the Philadelphia Orchestra's program annotator and musicologist, Dr. Paul Horsley. Music: Lilah Mittelstaedt, piano works by Brahms and his contempories. Spotlight: ``Sonata'' by Marcel Duchamp with Glenn Tomlinson, staff lecturer. Wine tasting.
APRIL 30 Asian Medley. Film: The Wedding Banquet (1993), directed by Ang Lee, with Winston Chao, May Chin, Mitchell Lichtenstein. Dance: ethnic dances demonstrated by Asian students and faculty from Community College of Philadelphia; Mutya Philippine Dance Company. Performance: Korean Martial Arts demonstration with Yang's Martial Arts School. Spotlight: ``The Iron Tiger'' with Judy Kim, research assistant in East Asian art. Demonstration: Calligraphy and Oriental waterpainting with Bub Chang Whang, Buddhist monk.
MAY 7 Jazz FM Wednesday. Film: Eat Drink Man Woman (1994), directed by Ang Lee, with Sihung Lung, Kuei-Mei Yang, Chien-Lien Wu. Music: Larry McKenna Quartet, jazz instrumentals. Spotlight: ``Mythological Improvisation: Fifty Days At Iliam'' by Cy Twombly with Rolando Corpus, curatorial assistant, 20th-century art. Poetry reading by A.A. Keating. Coffee tasting. Chess night in the West Foyer Balcony; bring your own board.
MAY 14 WXPN Night. Film: Girl From Hunan (1986), directed by Xie Fei and U Lan. Music: Selected and hosted by WXPN. Spotlight: ``A Medieval Cloister'' with Marla Shoemaker, associate curator of education.
MAY 21 A Celebration of Dance. Film: Ju Dou (1990), directed by Zhang Yimou (Chinese with English subtitles), with Gong Li. Dance: Headlong Dance Theater; Rennie Harris PureMovement with hip-hop history; Tap Team Two & Company. Lecture: ``The Evolution of Martha Graham and the Contemporary Ritual of Becoming'' by Mary Hill, Temple University dance research doctoral candidate.
MAY 28 Don't Sweat It. Film: The Story of Qiu Ju (1992), directed by Zhang Yimou (Chinese with English subtitles), with Gong Li. Music: Beats Walkin', Texas swing band. Spotlight: ``Highlights from Art and Anatomy'' with Kathleen Brown, curatorial intern, prints, drawings and photographs. Fashion show. Workshop: Gestural figure drawing workshop with Al Gury, Fleisher Art Memorial drawing faculty.
JUNE 4 Jazz FM Wednesday. Film: To Live (1994), directed by Zhang Yimou (Mandarin with English subtitles), with Ge You, Gong Li. Music: The Rich Rudin Trio, jazz. Spotlight: ``It Was Jazzy Then: American Furniture in its Period'' with Jack Lindsey, curator of American decorative art. Coffee tasting. Chess night in the West Foyer Balcony; bring your own board.
JUNE 11 Mellon PSFS Jazz Night. Film: Round Midnight (1986), directed by Bertrand Tavernier, with Dexter Gordon, Francois Cluzet. Music: Tony Miceli and Friends, jazz. Spotlight: ``Two Cubist Masters: Leger's The City and Picasso's Three Musicians'' with Blake Bradford, museum educator.
JUNE 18 Surf's Up. Film: The Scent of Green Papaya (1993), directed by Tran Anh Hung (Vietnamese with English subtitles). Music: The After Dinner Mints, modern lounge music. Spotlight: ``Nineteenth-Century French Seascapes'' with Joseph Rishel, senior curator of European painting. Fashion show. Best books for the beach, presented by Borders. Beer tasting.
JUNE 25 Strictly Ballroom. Film: Strictly Ballroom (1992), directed by Baz Luhrmann, with Paul Mercurio, Tara Morice. Performance and participation: The Academy of Social & Ballroom Dance with Don Celea. Spotlight: ``Entertaining Philadelphia Style: The Powel Room'' with Martha Halpern, assistant curator, American art. Wine tasting.
