I'm becoming convinced that the best way to get theaters to bring back printed programs is to convince them that doing so is a moneymaker. Those of us who really care about programs will pay $5 for one. Could also be a perk of being a subscriber.
My parents saved the Playbill from the first live performance they saw: Peggy Wood in the musical MAY TIME at he Shubert Theater on Broadway at 95th street. That was 1919. Wr continued to save every Playbill from then on. I took the binders with me from New York to Houston and then up to Federal Way, WA in 1987 when there were 48 of them! Through the years, friends in New York continued to send me Playbills. When I got to 60 binders, I ran out of room. Fortunately, the University of Washington Libraries Special Collections was willing to take them and that's where they are now. New York friends continue to send me New York Playbills. Each February, I type up a list of the previous year's programs and bring them to UW. The staff has had several exhibits of the Playbills over the years.
2
Like so many here, I save my Playbills from every Broadway show I see, dating back to when I was 7 and saw my first - the original production of My Fair Lady. Two are quite special, with Ginger Rogers' autograph when she was in Hello Dolly and Richard Rodgers' autograph when he was in the audience of a revival of Annie Get Your Gun. I look at that cover and think, "my gosh, I met Richard Rodgers."
I am so glad that Lincoln Center Theater is still printing beautiful large-sized programs with excellent articles and graphics - and only asking for a donation of $1 for them! That is in addition to the free playbill.
1
I save every single Playbill from every single show — in chronological order — meaning I’m currently filling up my third binder and getting ready for my fourth. In the same way that some folks have a hard time separating with t-shirts over the years, I suppose I see them as individual time capsules of sorts, a representation of how the actors and words and music made me feel at that particular moment in time. Long live the Playbill!
2
I have saved every Playbill from every production I've ever seen. I read them in the theater to find out something about the cast and crew, and I read them at home as a reference at times, looking back to see that some current featured actor played a bit part in a production seen years ago. A while back I got in the habit of stapling my ticket stub into the book as well, so I can recall where I sat (and it's interesting to see what theater prices were once upon a time). I hope there will always be a print option for Playbill.
2
I save all of my Playbills in a cabinet in my basement. I had to get a new cabinet when the shelves I previously used for that purpose started to buckle! I have them organized alphabetically. I have hundreds of them. It would be a shame if they were no longer offered at theatres. I frequently refer to them to see who was in the performance we had seen.
I live in Guatemala City, Central America, so I have to travel to New York to attend a performance. The Playbill is absolutely essential for a perfect evening! You begin to enjoy the show as you read your program and then you get it home and if you read it again you relive the performance. My collection dates back to 1951 when I made my first trip to New York with my mother. "Gratitude is the memory of the heart" and I am forever grateful for my many programs.
2
My theatre ritual is to read through the playbill while waiting for the show to start. When I get home I read it again- in depth, since I am now connected to the actors. New York, Chicago, Hawaii- no matter, Playbills are my connection to the shows I've seen - Broadway and way off Broadway in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.
1
My first professional theatre experience was seeing the first touring production of “A Little Night Music” in Philadelphia with Jean Simmons and Margaret Hamilton, and for a 16 year-old gay kid just coming out in 1974, it was life-changing on so many levels.
Since then, theatre has been an escape, a refuge, an education, and a healing place where I’ve been able to get in touch with my deepest feelings of joy, loss, hope and regret, and where I’ve had my mind expanded beyond the limitations of a somewhat shabby upbringing in an alcoholic family. Without planning it, I somehow held on to those early souvenirs that remain powerful totems that keep the feelings of those shows vivid and alive for me. And while I don’t tend to seek autographs very much, I was so bowled over by Lena Horne in her one-woman show in 1981, that having that Playbill signed by her is one of my most cherished mementos.
So, staunch environmentalist that I am, I will recycle and walk and bike and use public transit like a maniac to offset any harm caused by my preference of having a physical object to keep and touch and hold.
3
@Chuck D.
Chuck, I want to thank you on behalf of everyone who works in the theater and sees his name in the Playbill pages. Most of us do not receive awards or earn big paychecks. The Playbill is a reminder to us that we were there and your saving it to remember the show and the players is quite a reward.
2
@Chuck D. What a wonderful essay. And how could Lena Horne possibly sigh a digital program?
1
I've saved all of my Playbills and at some point will make a collage out of them. It's amazing the number I have collected and would make an attractive collage if I ever sit down to get it done! I also like to see who may not be performing that night that is a usual cast member, or to read a few of the bios to see if I've seen them in something before. Sometimes progress is a step backwards.
1
I am a theatre goer that saves all the Playbills I have ever received. I love to look back on them and reminisce about the show and who I was with. I think Playbills are away as the article states to take us into a separate world of live theatre. I know that as soon as they hand me one in the theatre, I bust it open to read up on the entire company of the show. I think it would be a disservice to the patrons of the arts to start taking away Playbills or programs in general.
1
I'm distressed by this trend, which I first encountered at CSC. There's a lack of respect for performers and artistic staff--both they and the audience are cheated. It's like shows that don't have a curtain call, which cheats the actors and audience alike. It doesn't have to be a slick Playbill-- a simply-printed list of actors, roles, staff and brief credits would suffice. On the other hand, the otherwise extremely brilliant New York Theater Workshop provides the worst programs ever-- uninformative, tiny-type and mainly just a list of donors. I never take those home.
I've asked this elsewhere but so far haven't found out: Did CSC decide to do some sort of paper program for the August Strindberg plays?
(Last time I was at CSC, I was so perplexed by the strange placement of the steps relative to the rail in our section that I was actually glad not to have a Playbill in my hand to deal with, LOL!)
Sometime last year there was an article printed about the 49 most iconic Playbill covers. I couldn't remember when so I did an internet search. It was on March 18, 2018 by Hannah Vine. I remembered that I had taken the time to look at all the covers. At one time or another I have owned 32 of them. I've lost some in moves over the years and I miss them. Now I keep every Playbill and read it at night to relive the play. I keep notes on which friends or family members with whom I attended the event. Next month I'm turning 70 and for my birthday, we are going to see Kelli O'Hara in Kiss Me Kate. It won't be the first time I've had the joy of seeing her perform or the first time I have seen this play on Broadway but I know it will be unforgettable. I would be very sad not to have a Playbill to take home that night. Additionally, as an artist myself, I would hate to be deprived of the work of the inspired artists who create the covers.
1
I lost a lot of Playbills to Hurricane Katrina. I was lucky enough to have my name printed as Production Secretary for "American Buffalo" in 1983. This is the issue I really miss. It's sad to go to a "live" performance and not have a "Playbill" or some kind of program.
1
@Cal Gio Check ebay if you're looking to replace. They have several, including one from opening night at The Booth Theatre. Hope you can get this memory piece back in your hands. All the best.
1
I know Actor's Equity has rules about crediting actors in printed programs. If those programs don't exist, the shows may be outside of union agreements.
1
I save all programs for any performance I attend, including grandchildren’s second grade chorus concerts, brother’s community orchestra, school plays, etc. There is a special thrill in receiving that glossy Playbill, and knowing a professional theater experience is about to begin. The Playbill program is a small treasure of information and memories. I hope they will continue as part of the theater going experience.
2
@Grace Mullard, re "There is a special thrill in receiving that glossy Playbill, and knowing a professional theater experience is about to begin. "
I guess I felt that about Broadway and Playbill, but when "Mike Tyson" - even directed by Spike Lee, since Mike Tyson's was a very worthwhile story - appeared in a real Broadway theater for two weeks and got a full glossy Playbill, it told me that if you have enough money, you too an have a show in a Broadway house and get a full Playbill. I guess we always knew this, but that show, which seemed to exist just to eventually be filmed and say it was straight from Broadway, drove it home and dispelled romantic notions: "Broadway" is not a quality standard, it's a financial standard.
Like everything these days it's a complicated issue. Saving paper, informing patrons, being distracted by digital messages, treasuring memories.... I'm familiar with both U.S. and U.K. programs/playbills. I'm put off by playbills which contain very little information beyond bios of the principals, and are cluttered with ads. If you want to provide a playbill provide a substantial amount of information and background that will help me better understand the performance. I don't need a bunch of garish photos as in some instances in the U.K., but I'm happy to pay for the kind of playbill that is often available with National Theatre events in London.
1
@Michael I seem to recall, too, that the NT programs were pretty cheap (I was last in London in 2014) -- perhaps a pound or two (under $4). Am I correct?
My ritual since I was a kid is not to open the Playbill until I’m on the train back to Connecticut. I get cozy in my MetroNorth seat and devour every word, ad and photo. The history of shows that played the theatre, and actor shout outs (“thanks Mom and Dad”) in the bios are my favorites. This prolongs the magic and I can’t imagine going home without a Playbill. I save them all - so please Save The Playbill!
1
I agree with everything discussed, and I want to add playbills/programs are considered memorabilia. Not only are they hard copy handheld souvenirs, but they are collectibles! There is a huge community on social media of playbill collectors. People have scrapbooks and bookshelves full of playbills -- I prefer to keep mine in a drawer. I collect them as a tribute to my love for theater, whereas others enjoy the cover art, adore the actors in the cast, or see them as a connection to a show they perhaps can't attend. I've made some friends just because of this interest. I really can't imagine playbills going digital because it'll strip me of one of my favorite hobbies.
1
Call me a dinosaur but I’m a Playbill kind of gal. In addition to being part of the onstage experience, what will the actors sign as you meet them at the stage door following the product? Are sport events going the same way? Can’t imagine they are. Save the Playbill!
1
Maybe the road to getting the reading material beforehand and also getting a paper program has been paved. The ticket reminder for "Superhero" included what looks like a full program, in a format easy to forward to the rest of your party, and there's nothing that says this is instead of a program at the show! Hoping it's in addition.
Looking at it, it certainly could be a chance to target people already interested in the non-profit's work to maybe give a small )or better) donation which they might not have even thought of doing. If that happens, it wouldn't take that many donors to pay for the extra effort, likely at most a few overtime hours for the website designer. With the Trump Mnuchin Income act, with almost no one getting a benefit to giving charity (except really huge donors or people with really high medical costs, who are the only ones likely to itemize), any encouragement to get people to impulse-donate has got to be a plus.
In case anyone was wondering: The advance reading information the day before WAS in addition to a printed program.
That's a trend I could really get used to!
1
A thought a had a couple of weeks ago- "Just put the play itself on an app and be done with it." We're half way down a techno-digital Rabbit Hole. Why stop, now?
(I ain't a Luddite, either. I love the programs, and kinda miss the old tickets).
1
I have over 50 years of programs - New York, London, SF Bay Area and elsewhere. Four plastic storage tubs filled with theater, opera, and ballet programs. In a way they are memory devices - I often look through them both to remember the shows and the casts, who I was with and what was going on in my life at the time. Even looking at the ads for cars, restaurants, travel, etc is interesting! I would be very sad if online programs become a big thing.
4
I agree with you 100%. I love seeing who the actors are, what other shows I may have seen them in and more about the show. I do not want to read it online for the reasons you list and I want it during the show. After the show, I read them cover to cover and I save them. All of them. I sometimes go back to see who was in the show when I saw it as I see so many shows, both in San Francisco and New York. Or to compare casts when I have seen it in both places! I am horrified at the thought of not getting a paper program.
3
I enjoy reading the program as I’m waiting for the audience to take their seats and at intermission before the curtain. I would hate not having it right there as a reference as I’m watching!
3
I've been coming to Broadway b theaters since I was 11. Even though I don't live in NYC, I'm there frequently, at least twice a year. My Playbills are important to me. I save them, reread them, and consult them for a myriad of reasons. My first was Camelot. Please advocate to keep these important theatrical as well as historical documents.
6
What do the Theatrical Unions, especially Actors Eqity Association, have to say about this? Will they allow it for shows under their contracts?
2
Playbills are theater essentials! Yes, I keep programs and refer to them. But, things change with the times. I was taken aback at
the opera in Vienna when I asked for a program and was charged
for it. Maybe we will sit in theaters with our phones reading
Playbills on line? I hope not. I really do!
2
This was fascinating to read. It confirmed what we have found at the Rochester International Jazz Festival despite our efforts to introduce digital alternatives. Each year we discuss whether we should go all digital so we ask our attendees in a survey if they use the program guide, and each year the popularity rises! It's free, 100+-pages and all color. We rarely have any left over. People use it for autographs, make notes, we see them reading it in line and sharing info with others. While we have a robust app, and a responsive web site and do everything we can to drive people to digital ... the program guide remains popular. We also send email newsletters and people print those out and bring them to the festival each day. As much as our digital sources are also popular, we know that people are not fond of sitting next to someone who is looking at a device during a concert as the light is clearly distracting. It's a challenge to keep people off their devices during concerts no matter how many announcements are made and signs posted. And as ubiquitous as free WiFi is becoming, people also don't want to look for a log-in, or use their data if there is no connection. So in the interest of making sure our patrons are happy and fully enjoy the festival, for our 18th edition in June....the program guide will return!
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@Jean Dalmath I don’t currently live in your area but now that I know this I will make a point of supporting your festival if I am ever near it. Thank you!
@bluerose Thank you! We'd love to have you. Our lineup will be announced March 19. So please check it out on rochesterjazz.com.
Despite the fact that I am NOT a hoarder and love getting rid of things, I only WISH I had saved all my Playbills! I started way too late and can't remember if I saw certain productions or just heard about them. They can provide great memories.
2
Yes, I save my playbills, 50 years worth and counting. My first show and oldest Playbill: "George M" starring Joel Grey, from my oh so distant youth. And I collect Playbills from shows before my time, dating back to the 1930's. They are a wonderful window into Broadway history. Eliminating Playbill? The most cheapskate boneheaded idea ever, especially when you consider today's stratospheric ticket prices. And encouraging people to light up their to check e-playbills: really? Patti Lupone, we beseech you, please shout out against this insanity!
3
I'd lived in NY in the late '70s through mid '80s, and kept several of my favorite Playbills that I'd collected (ex. "The Wiz," with Stephanie Mills!) Yet I regret to inform my fellow theatregoers that, somehow, I inexplicably *lost* the only Playbill I'd ever had from an opening night: 1979's "Bent," with Richard Gere. I can still remember its special gold and black circular embossed sticker on the front page. Does anyone else remember those? (Yes, I'm still kicking myself.)
2
@Mildred Pierce I just checked ebay: four Playbills from Bent with Richard Gere's photo on the cover. Not your original one and not free, but still...
2
@ Stop Caging Children: Thanks very much for the eBay heads-up ... much appreciated!
1
I am not a hoarder--- I consider myself an ARCHIVIST!
I have saved every Playbill of all the Bdwy and Off Bdwy shows I've seen (most with my ticket stub glued in which documents the date I saw it ) ( and the cost- $15.00 for my Orchestra seat at the Music Box Theatre for "Side by Side by Sondheim") The collection started as an 8 yr. old at my first show: Ethel Merman in "Annie Get Your Gun" in 1946.
These programs are my theatre reference library! Many of these plays are being revived and It delighted me to be able to go back in 2014 to my Playbill of "The Real Thing" which I saw in 1984 to ascertain that I saw Cynthia Nixon play the teen aged daughter and she was being reviewed as playing the wife 30 years later!
I treasure having a wealth of information from biographies of the playwrights, actors and directors to the column I always read first the minute the program was in my hands "AT THIS THEATRE" detailing the plays that graced its stage from its opening. You couldn't replicate the history of NYC theatre to the extent that these Playbills cover it!
Many theatres recycle the programs at the next performance with the ones turned in by audience members don't wish to keep one. Let that be the extent of economizing on Playbills!
It will be a very sad move to exile Playbills to the digital world.
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@CarolSue
I too have saved all my Playbills since I was a kid. As an adult, I see at least 100 shows per year including inserts that tell is the cast has changed or an understudy will be appearing. This is as much a part of my reference library as my books. The theater going experience would change for the worse without the Playbills and hope they do not become a thing of the past.
1
We always read our Playbills (or other programs), and we save all our programs - sometimes both copies. We have several boxes (liquor box size or larger) of Playbills - going back I don't know how far (but we've been married for 46 years).
Some day (!) we're going to go through the boxes, throw out the duplicates, and put them in chronological order.
I have yet to find a file box that is just the right size for Playbills - the binder that they used to sell (do they still?) is inadequate for a large collection and is not an efficient use of space.
5
The printed program (whether an official Playbill or a theatre's own creation) is part of the experience of going to the theatre. I don't want to go to a screen when I sit down. I can't refer to that in the moment when an actor that I don't know is so brilliant that I need to know who that person is. A simple glance down suffices. Let's not give people another reason to turn on their phones in the theatre.
Reading the program is part of the ritual. Ticket. Program. Sit. Read. Curtain. Watch. Applaud. Leave. Read more. Save. All of it in real time with live actors, in a real space, and a physical not digital program.
Don't send me an electronic link and expect me to print it out and bring it. My ticket is expensive enough to cover the cost of printing.
I want the notes, the ads, and I love the "At this theatre" history.
Please keep them coming.
9
The Playbill is an important symbol. After entering the theatre and greeting the usher, it's part of the ritual to receive the Playbill. Once seated, it's in your hands and you know you're ready for the show. All part of the theatre experience.
I always take an extra. My walk-in bedroom closet is wallpapered in Playbills. My husband started that for me years ago. The ceiling is even covered and we're running out of room. But each day I relive the wonderful and even some not wonderful shows that have been a part of my life.
Please keep publishing!
8
I am in exile in Fla winters and am shocked, dismayed, distressed at the news that Playbills may be going digital. No! No! I have every Playbill from every play I ever attended since the’80s in those black Playbill binders lining my bookshelves. They are my life’s scrapbooks, every play is a memory. I have learned so much about theater from them.
Please, please don’t do this!
5
I would also vote for program notes from the author, director or artistic director as we had in years past. Those insights are invaluable and revealing when well written. How come EQUITY, IATSE, and the Musician's Union don't demand this for both on, off and off off Broadway? It is the least they can do for the talent that makes the shows happen. I don't want it before I get to the theatre, I want it at the theatre and the digital can be available after. I would also think that the advertising revenue of a hard copy program could be advantageous to everyone.
2
For years I saved my Playbills. They are memorabilia and part of the theater experience. Any idea they should be digitalized is awful! Some things are sacred.
Playbill is one of those.
3
My first playbill was from a 1982 school trip to NY, I saw Dreamgirls. My most recent playbill is 2 months old, from Network. My collection lies in different stacks, on various shelves, in drawers, boxes, tables, around the house. I really need to find a way to organize them... but I could never throw them out. I read all my newspapers and magazines online, but no, I don't want a digital playbill. My collection brings me great joy.
3
I save the Playbill from every Broadway production I have ever seen. They are precious mementos of magic moments in the theatre. No digital substitute could be as satisfying or meaningful. I fear that this is just one more “you don’t know what you’ve got til it’s gone” things....
2
@EM, re "one more 'you don’t know what you’ve got til it’s gone' thing" - I just saw this about the Joni Mitchell jukebox show that's being developed, now in Vancouver. With the recent discussions where a lot of journalists seem like they'd prefer a catalog show without a created "jukebox" story, it was so unusual to see this review earlier this afternoon, a critic who seemed bothered that the Joni Mitchell jukebox show turned out to be more a terrific concert with no story or created narrative.
https://www.vancouverpresents.com/theatre/theatre-review-circle-game-reimagining-the-music-of-joni-mitchell-is-a-theatrical-enigma/
Like a mash-up of two different theater concerns.
Probably an unpopular opinion, but my hoard of playbills has started to make me feel disorganized and negligent, as I have them in a growing pile on a bookshelf that I never look through. While they're the best way to keep a record of all the shows I've seen, I'd love a digital platform akin to Goodreads that would allow me to record the shows I've seen, want to see, whether it was on Broadway or on the national tour, who was in the cast at that time, as well as my comments/review of the show. The possibilities would then be endless in terms of learning about other shows and keeping track of the actors/directors/theaters I've seen and liked.
1
It is ironic to me that actors complain about phones being on during performances and yet the program is digital. I often check something in the Playbill when the play is going on, so I guess I'll have to have my cell phone at the ready from now on.
Having a printed program seems indispensable to this theatre-goer. And, I too save my programs. Many non-profit theatres we go to place collection baskets at the door and request that patrons return their copies. I almost never do, and my wife gives me a dirty look -- but I remain unabashed and walk off with my copy. I do occasionally check to see if an actor or dancer was in an earlier production, but I also have to confess that many of the programs languish in unopened boxes. And, sad to say, many have not survived multiple moves from city to city or house to house. Lately, I've taken to scanning my copies and discarding the original, a heresy I know, but at least I can now find all my recent theatre records in one place. As the digital file grows, I see that some of the shows I thought so memorable barely register in my memory while others seem to be poorly served by the scant information in an old program or playbill. In Washington the Folger, the Shakespeare Theatre Company and the Studio (among others no doubt) publish informative essays along with the usual information about casts. I wish Playbill and other publishers would consider making pdf files, especially of these dramaturg essays or interviews with cast members, readily available for downloads. That might tempt me to recycle those paper programs.
I keep ticket stubs and use them for bookmarks, and like samludu, I do not want to be cured of this habit. Memory is what we have left from live theatre.
3
@MR I also use my ticket stubs as bookmarks. This is becoming more difficult with the new trend of printing out barcode tickets. Although I strongly disagree with you on the "virtues" of PDF Playbills, I suggest you order binders and sleeves to organize your Playbill collection (they are available in exactly the right size), and in the process, I bet you'll remember why the pleasure of having a Playbill in your hands is so much greater than browsing through a PDF.
@MR, re: "I wish Playbill and other publishers would consider making pdf files"
This Playbill "vault" archive has pdf's of the pages from each Playbill about the show and opening night actors and the bios, at least, and is pretty thorough and goes very far back.
http://www.playbill.com/seasons?year=2018
(You have to remember to click the "search" button. I keep forgetting that it's not automatic.)
As a stage director, actor and theatre professor, I feel theatre programs are really important. I have kept almost every program of shows that I have seen and done.
I think it is good to know they are digitalizing program of some shows, but I think the paper programs fill other needs. First of all they help ease the audience into the world they are about to enter when they see a new play. They continue the ritual of sitting down to see a live work of art.
Also, a good program offers credentials of the creative talent that are almost always illuminating and surprising.
Over the past few months I have been organizing my photos and journals and mementos of 50 years in the theatre and those programs helped a great deal in filling in the gaps of my memory. So I hope they will continue. They are part of our cultural journey.
2
I have more than forty years worth of Playbills as well as programs from classical concerts, dance performances, and other cultural events. I have travel journals stuffed with ticket stubs, restaurant bills, store receipts, and other ephemera, which I annotate, to say nothing of clipped newspaper and magazine articles relating to the places I've visited. I've kept a journal (or diary, if you will) for forty-five years that's packed with even more ephemera, some of it duplicating some of the above, all of which is more interesting than anything I have to say in my journal.
My only regret is that I didn't begin this type of hoarding sooner.
This may be a disease of sorts, but I don't want to be cured.
8
As I read this article (on my computer) we all know, many things are going paperless. Less and less folks use paper to pay their bills or use paper to pay for things. I have no paper currency in my wallet.
That said, some things NEED paper. Building the more complex LEGO sets would be IMPOSSIBLE with out the beautifully printed instructions. The LEGO company understands these printed instructions must be part of their product.
In my opinion, the Playbill also must be part of this product we call theater. If they must, bump the cost of a ticket a little to pay for it, the tickets are already too much, whats another dollar or two....
3
As a millennial, I grew up in a digital world. Theater has always been my escape. For a few hours I exist in the world of the show in a way I never could through a screen. Playbills are an important part of that experience, and one I can revisit whenever I want. I love looking at design changes for shows I’ve seen multiple times, or flipping through the somewhat tattered pages of programs I saved as a kid. Digital Playbills just can’t compete.
2
I don't need a playbill but I do want a page or two listing the characters and who is playing them, the setting and time period, and the actor bios.
1
@Virginia hmmm. Sounds like you *do* need a Playbill.
1
Paper Playbills and programs for all of the reasons listed including a lovely memento of a wonderful time at the theatre.
2
I began saving Playbills as a child, many of them autographed by the performers named inside. They are tangible reminders of wonderful and wonder-filled hours spent in the theatre. Digitized formats may be useful resources for storing and retrieving facts, but they lack the emotional impact of ink on paper held in one’s hand.
4
@T.R. I love that you said wonderful and wonder-filled! It perfectly describes the entire theater experience which includes the Playbill.
4
I must have a Playbill when I walk into the theater! The idea of not getting one is unthinkable. At this point, I have filled three Playbill binders. This is one show that must go on!
6
I get the environmental impact and applaud it. Unfortunately, anything that encourages turning the house into an LCD light explosion is more than irritating. We have enough problems controlling cell phone usuage in theatres. Choices/options first! Recycle Playbills! How about some other ideas for environmentally friendly Playbills? I’ll gladly wait until intermission to read the program on my device if it spares the environment more devastation.
2
I keep every theater program. I go to Broadway, off-Broadway, Regional, Philadelphia area, and community theater. I LOVE my paper program for all the reasons stated in this article. It's a part of the show and should be given out to audience members as such.
6
I hate the thought of Playbills only online. I read all about the cast before the play, check to see what I might have seen them in, and refer to it again during Intermission when I've watched an actor I've never seen before, and want to learn more. I save every Playbill, which does add up when I see 3-5 shows every time I go to New York. Theaters remind us to turn off our cell phones. Now, they want us to turn them on to read our Playbill. I want paper Playbills before the show.
4
@Lesa, it'll be interesting to see if "Moulin Rouge" does in New York what they did in Boston last summer. During the goings-on before the "actual" first act curtain rising, they encouraged taking photos, videos, etc. (that's why there is an unusual amount of good non-surreptitious quality on YouTube) and also at intermission. This seemed to result in a very respectful powering down before each act.
@Freddie if the “Moulin Rouge” Boston policy helps to discourage inappropriate, obtrusive and disruptive cellphone usage I’m all for it. However, I fear it might have exactly the opposite effect sending a message that any phone usage is acceptable.
1
@ChrisM, I'm sure the intention was to set the mood and then do that again on the way into act 2. But people really were turning their phones off.
(I'm sure it gives away nothing to say there's a tragic descent during act 2 that intermission fun activity makes even more powerful, and which we then get jolted or even catapulted out of. I've got shpilkes waiting to see what the "Moulin Rouge" writer has up his sleeve in "Superhero" and now wish I had gotten earlier tickets.)
I live in Tennessee. New York City theater is a great--and rare--treat for me. Please keep paper playbills for our enjoyment in the theater. Please.
5
This is just dreadful. We were in London in October and no playbill was given for either of the West End shows we attended and we felt at sea. We may have known a bit about some of the actors but not much. I'd feel the same here. I do save some of my NYC Playbills but what I really appreciate about them is providing context and cast information (as well as the fun features, which are enjoyable to read at intermission and later.) Going to the theatre is an experience -- an expensive one -- and a playbill is part of that experience. "Who's in the chorus you saw in some other show!" Or, "I saw him on Law and Order and had no idea he could sing!" And as the author said, you don't always go home and look it up.
Speaking of which, not all of us bring cell phones to the theatre (or even have them, for that matter) and some of us are traveling in and don't have online access. An online guide is rather pointless in those cases. Keep 'em going!
6
I have every Playbill from every show I have seen in London and New York. since 1981. They help me to remember the shows and the joy I had in seeing them at the time. I can’t imagine going to a show and not having one. Show tickets are now almost $200 and they can’t give me a Playbill? Ridiculous! PAPER PLAYBILLS FOREVER!
5
I have an organized collection of playbills from the 1930’s through the present. My mother kept playbills of every Broadway show she saw. I do the same, as does my daughter. The collection, now expanded to include off-Broadway and regional theatre playbills, represents the theatre-going history of our family. Theatre is an art. We must savor everything about it.
6
@Alynne Krull
And find a college or university or large public library to bequeath them to! Special collections are our true treasures, especially if they can be indexed as I have indexed my playbills--date seen, play title, playwright, director, actor, part. I often go back in my collection to compare memories of how the same play has been staged in multiple ways and in many sizes of theaters.
As these 200 or so comments confirm, the Playbill cements a long-time bond between the theater and its paying customers. I've often been asked, and sometimes initiated, conversations on the bus home about a just-seen play or musical. The actors, directors and all deserve this recognition and the chance to give a shout out to their high school drama teachers. Long live Playbill.
4
Paper programs always. If everyone is on their phone looking at a small lighted screen before the performance, it ruins the eyes and keeps people even farther apart instead of bringing people together. Plus, I want my history on paper. If I see a performance which is destined to become historical either theatrically or even just personally, I want something to hold in my hands years later to remember that night with. A program is a prize, everyone wins when they go to the theater.
4
Please, oh please do not give up printed programs! I love collecting and referring to them years and years later when something theatrical comes up in discussion and a room full of theater buffs wants it settled.
6
We saw “Tina” in London recently and the only Playbill available was this huge gaudy ‘souvenir’ one. I want to know more performers names and their bios, am I supposed to google them later? I need context in the moment and absolutely hate using my phone constantly it takes away from the theater experience. Do patrons get any vote in this? We’re already paying thru our nose to attend.
3
@Pam
I never minded paying for a playbill in London, because ticket costs were so much less than in many US theaters. What I don't like is going to a musical and having to pay $10 for a "souvenir" program when the basics would do just as well for me.
I liked the Lewiston program option at Rattlesnake too. Paper or 'puter your choice.
Playbills are okay but these days, I tend not to consult them until after the show as the list of cast and characters frequently spoils some plot points.
I went solo to a broadway show in December and asked the usher if I could have two programs and was surprised that he says yes. One was for tucking in my bag for keeping, the other for devouring pre-show.
I grew up in Manhattan and in junior high, I wanted to take a friend to a “fancy” lunch, meaning not a coffee shop. I don’t remember where I got the idea to look at the restaurant listings in the back of a Playbill my mom had.
I wish I could remember what restaurant I chose, and the name of the show on the Playbill. With New York real estate the way it is, it’s doubtful the restaurant still exists. Please don’t make Playbills extinct. We’re losing too much of what makes the city what it is.
6
So - let me get his straight: no one likes it when someone pulls out a phone mid performance to check email, or whatever, but some Theaters would like patrons to use it to check the cast list, or production notes?
13
I have Playbills that were my mother's, going back to original casts from the 1950's. Some were obscure (ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO'S NEST, STARRING KIRK DOUGLAS, WHICH OPEN & CLOSED ON THE SAME NIGHT)
4
@Lj, I'd wondered why Michael Douglas produced the film, but the Kirk Douglas connection makes that make more sense. (The play ran about 10 or 11 weeks, but still, that had to be a disappointment with such a big star.). If the sin making the film was unfinished family business, what an amazing result in its time.
1
I've always saved my theater programs—for everything from Broadway and Off Broadway shows to touring and regional theater shows, and community and school productions. (Years ago I donated several boxes to a local theater archive, which was very glad to have them.) I do find it ironic that some theaters now require patrons to use their phones for program information—usually they're admonishing them to turn phones off, or threatening to confiscate them if they suspect video or audio recording. Kind of schizophrenic, if you ask me!
6
Thank God The Times has finally spoken out and scolded theaters who do not provide any form of play bill to its
audience .
Every time I go To CSC i mentally curse John Doyle for depriving me of reading then & THERE who is singing Carmen Jones. The actors should demand their bios. They deserve them and so do I !!
8
First of all, England and Ireland charge for a glossy program, but they give out the cast sheet for free. (At least they used to, at least at the sponsored theater -- National, RSC, etc.)
Playbill doesn't charge the theaters, right? It's a marketing tool. The theaters that do it on their own, like CSC, want to control the image, so instead of going digital only, they should just have the insert with cast and bios and silly directiorial (or even worse, dramaturgal) statement for those who actually want it. Lincoln Center charges $1 for a rather decent publication. I buy that, if it's a play I want some background on.
1
I'm kind of surprised the article discusses programs primarily as a sentimental or information token of a performance. Totally neglected is the fact that in today's world, a program is a deft marketing tool. A play will have only about 10 pages of content; a musical maybe 17. But a program is typically is at least 30 pages if not more. Another commenter despised the Carmen Jones program because it was online, and didn't bother to mention it was barely more than 4 pages. Printed programs cost money, and the more you want them, the more they need to be financed. Personally I hate all the advertisements although I understand it's a source of income.
My favorite programs are for the Metropolitan Opera. You not only get information about the specific performance, but also ample background information, a summary of the plot (that might destroy theatergoer's expectations of surprise) and much more than thumbnail biographies of interesting artists.
I save my programs by scanning the important content and then tossing the paper. With OCR, my programs become a useful database.
3
@Bob, Regarding "Another commenter despised the Carmen Jones program because it was online, and didn't bother to mention it was barely more than 4 pages."
I still prefer the handout option, even though I enjoyed getting it in advance. But what they sent was a really full program, on full-size pages, not playbill size pages. (Oscar Hammerstein's bio really seems long when it's in paragraph!)
They sent a printout also that I understood to be a quick guide to bring along if we want, and I brought that. IIRC, that was a few pages and I brought one along for both of us. It was a summer matinee, so not all that much pocket room, so I was glad for what seemed like a handy reference.
@Bob
OCR is what I would recommend that a library of playbills be--and accessible for both their visual and informational qualities--plus being accessible online, as many libraries are now doing with special collections of all sorts of materials.
I read the bios to see what else an actor has been in in case I haven't seen him/her before, and if I get a chance to talk to her/him I can offer my thanks - I also was very frustrated not having a program for the marvelous Carmen Jones at Classic Stage - Plus I don't enjoy reading lengthy pieces on a phone - very difficult...
2
The story’s in the print Times and not just digital now, so for some people, it’s official this morning. (And I can't help feeling this; just like the reviews and the editorials, it all "feels" more real in the physical paper, when it's not just digital.)
Time for reaction of the people who don’t even care for the digital paper, but for whom only the print paper will do - how will we know how they feel if they don’t comment online? Will they send snail mail letters to the editor?
Tune of “Paper Roses”
I lined up with the ticket that they sold me
Excited even though I paid a mint.
But when I got inside, the usher told me
Your Playbill's on your phone and not in print.
Paper programs
Paper programs
May I have one, I paid half a grand.
Yes, I’m all for
Saving paper
But it’s really getting out of hand.
5
Speaking of Classic Stage, at a recent performance of “Mies Julie” a theatergoer became angrily, loudly unhinged when he learned that he would not be receiving a Playbill. I believe he left the theater without seeing the play.
2
@Robert Hall - P.S. Something tells me the guy was either a comp ticket or TDF. No one who paid full price just leaves like that.
@Robert Hall, it may be for the best that he got out of there. Who knows how scorched and unhinged HE might have gotten during the play if that was his reaction to the program. Google's first reaction is:
“Mies Julie” is a scorchingly sexy, shockingly violent adaptation of August Strindberg's “Miss Julie,” transported from 1888 Sweden to 2012 South Africa. ... The relationships are similar in Strindberg's play, but the racial tensions add layers of meaning to “Mies Julie.”
And the movie article on page C1 says you can get layers of racial tension by watching the other Julie (Andrews) adjusting her makeup in "Chim Crim Cheree" - so he probably didn't mies that part either.
When I was younger I would try to read the Playbill cover to cover - every letter, space and punctuation mark - while the house lights were up, so as to fully capture the magic of the world I'd entered. (Okay, maybe it was just garden-variety compulsivity.) I remember noticing that "Dr. Max L. Kamen...House Physician" was at the end of the personnel list at every Broadway show I attended, and wondering (I'm single-digit age here) how he could be in so many theaters at once. That too was part of the magic.
3
The debate goes way back. I once dated this guy whose ancestor had a job delivering Playbills, and he brought a batch to the house manager and said “These playbills are for the birds.” The playwright heard this and got really upset, lecturing angrily on the importance of giving credit to the artists, almost fainting. The house physician ran over with smelling salts and warm tea in a clean glass, and revived Aristophanes, saying ”No, Ari, calm down. No one’s making fun of the program. These are for your play, The Birds." The house manager said, "I meant to tell you. Homer changed the title to boost sales.”
And that’s how Max Kamen got his start. They called him a show doctor at first, but then that took on a different meaning.
It could have happened.
2
I have complained about this at Classic Stage at their production of "Carman Jones" and others.I truly HATE this.
Reading about players reading a few words from the director even an ad for the next production in the series -- its part of the experience. .
I've been to London where they charge for programs. Honestly I'd pay a dollar for a program here.
2
I absolutely save all of my playbills. I frame them and hang them in my hallway! Katie
3
A printed program is an essential. Many theaters recycle them (and have a box to put them in if you don't want to take them home). The best way to handle this is just ask if people want a playbill. My daughter is a big collector of Playbill's--CSC's decision to stop using them last year has infuriated her.
6
I am happy to see that I am not alone with my obsession with Playbills. High school weekends in the early '60's was spent going from one Broadway box office (remember those?) to another asking for a Playbill, or waiting outside the stage door to get them autographed: got Rudy Valle (How to Succeed....), but he was obviously not amused to be stopped by a pimply teenager since he signed in RED. Even went so far as to go to the Playbill company and buy Playbills for shows no longer running, like Hellzapoppin.
5
Is this the first step toward making cell phones acceptable during a performance? It certainly seemed so when I saw Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui. For some unfathomable reason, CSC announced the digital link right before the show started. The result? All the turned-off cell phones were turned back on - and not all of them went back off.
7
@PJ Set your phones in Airplane mode.
@mricleAnd this will prevent my seeing fireflies throughout the performance? It sure didn't that night.
@mricle - Airplane Mode does not suppress alarms or timers - as a befuddled patron at Carnegie Hall famously discovered...
I have a collection of 2600 Playbills from my first show in 1964. They are all in binders with the ticket stub stapled inside. I can’t imagine replacing this with a digital version. Perhaps things have changed but when I was producing off Broadway the Playbill was free to the producers in exchange for distributing them to the audience. The advertising paid for the production of the Playbill. And Actors Equity used to have a policy that every theatergoer had to be given a physical printed list of the actors on stage. I know times are changing but to remove the physical Playbill from the theater experience is short changing the millions of people that arrive with anticipation at Broadway theaters each year - and do I really need to deal with one more person in the seat next to me with their phone on alternating between reading an online Playbill and checking their Facebook page?
9
I love my Playbills. I really hope they never go fully online. My wife works at an assisted living home and grabs left behind Playbills (which has always baffled me) to share with her residents. They love to see what's going on in the theatre world and it gives my wife a chance to discuss the show in-depth with them.
5
Adding my voice to the chorus of those who save, and cherish, their Playbills. Mine date back to the first Broadway show I ever saw, 1776, at the St. James Theatre in 1970. I'll add another one to my collection this weekend.
9
I do so agree with the writer. I have a collection of playbills from The Shaw Festival (in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario) that I treasure.
Their playbills, taken collectively, give me history and insights not only into the individual play but also into the social , political and economic issues that may inform the play. Together they have provided me with a rich education and appreciation for the work of the playwright.
4
I LOVE playbills. Even though I have been trying to listen to Marie Kondo and get rid of paper I am NOT getting rid of my collection of playbills. It is my personal history of theater going. Sometimes after seeing a play I will come home and look up an actor or play in my collection to satisfy my curiosity. Sure, I could do it on line but I enjoy having my real, tangible playbill.
7
So glad you wrote this. I feel cheated whenever there isn't a printed Playbill at a show. I also feel cheated when tickets are replaced with mobile scan codes.
So does my teenage digital native son. He was particularly irked by the demise of a "free" printed program when we went to the Christmas show at Radio City this year. Every decoration had a prominent logo (Chase on almost everything, Santa sponsored by Verizon..). Sadly, when there is no Playbill it removes the opportunity to know about the production/performers and wonderful history of the theater.
Digital programs and tickets scanned on mobile phones deny tangible memories of cherished trips to the theater. What a shame.
5
Printed Playbills also mean good jobs in paper mills, print shops, trucking, ink factories, and finally, recycling centers. The trees will grow back.
4
Not getting a playbill is ridiculous. I happen to be one of those people who not only save playbills and have dozens of binders but my husband and I wait by the barricades after most shows to get them autographed. Getting a printed playbill is an essential part of the whole live theatre experience and so is interacting with the performers after a show. We also like to look them over at dinner and read everyone's bio. A lot of work goes into these performances and it shortchanges the performers as well not to have their names and experience recognized. Please don't take this lovely memento away!
9
Attending theatre isn't merely an evening out with some entertainment. It's a visual and personal experience. Receiving a Playbill marks that experience as something special and provides the substance of a lasting memory which can be re-lived over and over again each time one peruses its pages.
6
For my husband and I going to a play is a special event, mostly due to the cost. I LOVE printed programs and I save them. I believe that programs should be provided for many reasons, not the least of which is to read about the actors and the backstage crews. I like the option of the e-edition, but I will always opt for a printed program, given the choice. And, I do not like the British way of charging for them either.
5
Thanks for this. I see in the comments that many readers save playbills and treasure them, as I do. To me they are a necessity. I write comments on them so that I will remember how the performance and the substance of what was created affected me. I read all the bios and much else. Programs don't have to be thick or slick; it's the information that counts. I haven't encountered online programs yet and hope not too--I want the information in hand, not online.
8
Today I attended a play at CSC and had my first experience with not getting a Playbill and was shocked when told I would need to read it online. I can only hope this idea of online Playbills doesn't become an epidemic! I can understand a simple sheet or two at an Off-OffBroadway theater but a proper Playbill is a must at other theaters. And yes, like other commenters, I keep every one of mine. Also in the fall I have attended several of the annual Broadway Flea Markets and have observed that some of the most popular items are the many tables laden with boxes of old Playbills. Hopefully the Playbills will continue to exist.
6
If I know a producer will not supply me with a Playbill or other appropriate printed information, I will seriously consider not attending that performance.
4
I have hoarded Playbills since first attending the theatre in the early 1960s. My first play was I Can Get It For You Wholesale. They meant the world to me, making me feel as though I had been accepted into the magical world of the theatre. In addition to mine I have also inherited those belonging to my parents who began their own theatre journey in the 1930s. When attending theatre productions in London, I am given the option of purchasing the program which I do without hesitation. An online version is no match for the physical embodiment of the experience.
7
@Barbara Jones
OMG, you have such a treasure. Talk to libraries, see who wants them, put them in your will!
1
I have ticket stubs going back 40+ years and playbills almost as old.
Never get rid of the playbills. Please. Or I'll find theatres that haven't.
4
A digital program is like a digital cheeseburger... empty. Behind where I am, high on a bookshelf and squeezed between Sam Shepard books is a Playbill program for "Heartless" that Shepard signed for my daughter... so that she might bring me a special present. The elimination of programs, the touting of the digital, is dastardly.
8
There is nothing like leafing through the old Playbills I have collected from more than 40 years of attending Broadway, off-Broadway and off-off Broadway shows. Who would remember shows like Love, Groucho at the Louise Lortel, or restaurants like Backstage at Hisei or great ads like "Liza Introduced Us to White Rum & Soda at a Party..." or "so and so chooses XXX restaurant" without the help or these doors to the past? If today's culture is all about the experience as opposed to the thing, I submit that we still need this "thing" to remind us of the experience. For those too young to understand this -- in 40 years, you will.
9
I'm glad you mentioned the ads and the old restaurants, so much fun to see them. I too have my mother's Playbills from the 50s.
2
Horrors. Not getting a Playbill is like getting an ice cream cone without ice cream! I love looking back at my collection that started with the original How to Succeed.
7
@John Holt
And be aware that there are multitudes of theaters outside NYC and London, places where famous actors and directors and playwrights got their start!
The simple act of touching means something. It is a physical connection that we don't get with digital devices. When we have physical contact with the production through the Playbill, we become a part of the process, not just passive recipients. We, in a way, get to touch the actors, the entire process. This erotic (in its highest sense) connection is valuable to many of us, including this commentator.
3
I have collages of my Playbill covers in poster frames hanging on my walls.
4
I save all my Playbills!
6
It's wonderful that a New York Times reporter attended the stunning performance of Grey Rock this month. What a shame that her response amounts to a lament about the lack of programs. Why not sing the praises of the extraordinary playwright, actors and producers? Why not consider the herculean effort and financial commitment required to assemble this troupe of performers in New York City? Why not celebrate the courage and creativity of the brilliant show or extoll the virtues of La Mama's $30 ticket? This moving show speaks volumes about the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. I will share the script with my students - electronically. I hope readers and viewers will support theaters, such as La Mama, that dedicate their precious resources to producing high quality work while keeping ticket prices low.
3
@Sarah The Times did indeed run an article about this production and linked to it in the article - here it is again in case you missed it: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/30/theater/grey-rock-amir-nizar-zuabi.html?module=inline
This article is about printed programs. That is a legitimate subject for an article. It doesn’t help your legitimate concern that certain types of theater get insufficient coverage to leave a comment like this. It also doesn’t help your credibility as a teacher that you failed to check the Times’ coverage of this play before commenting. I hope you don’t give your students bad grades on a well-written paper just because you think they focused on the wrong subject.
15
It's my ritual. I accept the Playbill from the usher, and as soon as I am settled into my seat, I look around at the theater -- the architectural details, the lights, the proscenium arch -- the seat fabric -- all to see if I remember being in this house. Immediately I open the Playbill to the most important article, "In This Theater." And I reminisce -- the warmth of a singularly wonderful evening -- or one that is now merely amusing, after having left the theater groaning and holding my nose from the stench. But most often, I read of the classic and brilliant plays and performances that inhabited the space and the ghosts of which are this night sweet and lovely. Ritual complete, I prepare to meet a new friend who in years to come I will re-visit in "In this Theater."
15
I totally agree. It serves everyone for the audience member to have a physical momento of the night in the theater. Yes, it utilizes resources, but so does everything else about the theater experience. Setting up systems that encourage audience members to recycle their programs or a place where they can be donated is an excellent idea, but I do think that a program is part of what I'm paying for with the cost of my ticket.
As for the concern that they're a distraction for the audience during the performance: it's the job of the people putting on the show to be compelling enough so that people won't want to look at their programs. And if an audience member has an attention deficit, better they should be reading the program than sneaking a look at their phone or whispering to their neighbor.
While I'm here, I also want to register my annoyance at musical artists who release physical CDs but put the liner notes online. That's just silly: either you're selling a physical product or you're not. One could argue that it makes more sense to release a physical book of pictures and essays and lyrics and put the music itself on an online audio file. And making the CD is more harmful to the environment than making the book. You're not being ecologically responsible; you're being cheap.
End of rant. Carry on.
12
I have saved physical programs since I started exploring theatre as a child. They are alphabetized and stored carefully in file boxes. The oldest dates to the 1960s I believe. And they are from shows here is Wisconsin, in new York, in London, in Chicago, and more. At this point, there are over 100 each season. I have only had one time when, at a very small, shoestring production, there was only an online program, and I did print it and add it to the archive. The program is wonderful in two ways. I am the person who arrives by 1/2 hour, settles in my seat and prepares for the journey ahead. Part of that is reviewing the artists involved and refreshing my memories as to where I last saw them. I read the director's notes and have that in mind as I experience their work. I feel this is helpful preparation, the same as i would do before a class or important work meeting. And I feel it is an obligation if you want to be serious about theatre attending. Each time I file, I look at the programs from prior experiences with the piece, and use it to refresh my brain. I also love pulling out a few randomly, to help me back into the seat that night. Finally, many programs are designed and printed by an independent company and the show materials are wrapped in advertising the company arranges to offset the cost and workload for company staff. So it really doesn't have to be a big burden to have printed materials.
7
I’m 30 years old and have saved every Playbill or program from every show I’ve seen for over twenty years. There’s nothing I love more than sitting down in the theater and reading the actors’ bios before a show begins. An an avid theater-goer and one time wanna-be actor, I love diving into their backgrounds, former shows, educational histories, and more, and making connections to other pieces I’ve seen or actors I admire. I would be so unbelievably disappointed to go into a performance that didn’t offer a printed program of some variety. Nothing fancy is required! But I want that tangible moment in my seat and the souvenir for years to come.
11
In 1957 my husband and I spent some of our very few dollars to see the touring Royal Ballet dance Coppelia in Cleveland. My mother-in-law babysat and said...Save your programs. Best advice ever. I am an old lady now but I can relive the incredible theater and music I have experienced from the early days of Steppenwolf in Chicago to hearing a string quartet in Verona where the program was in Italian. Last year we saw a Chekhov play at the Sydney Opera House and were dismayed when told there was no program unless ordered in advance online. I thought maybe that was just not knowing Aussie procedures. Fortunately, here in Cleveland, we are still getting programs...a little slimmer nowadays...but still handed out at the door.
10
@Gloria Drummond, re-watching "Tootsie" and with your thought making me think things are slimmer in Cleveland, I'm wondering if this exchange, which was really already non-PC when the film came out, has an equivalent in the Broadway show.
Director to cameraman (about Dustin Hoffman in drag):
"I'd like to make her a little more attractive, how far can you pull back?"
Nasty cameraman: "How about Cleveland?"
2
I have a collection of playbills dating back to the early 1970’s. Regularly I will open one of the 55 plus binders and relive the experiences. These mementos are a reminder of my having seen Meryl Streep and many other performers before they were big name celebrities. I look forward to reading the playbill when I get to my seat in the theater, referring to it at intermission and then placing it in its binder when I get home. Printing one for myself at home isn’t the same. Please do not forsake this valuable way to connect to the creative artists that entertain, challenge and enlighten us.
10
Playbills, yes. Reminders of great moments, reference material on actors we love, the list goes on. I will take my own bag to the grocery store but give me a Playbill if I ask for one.
6
I too love programs and pamphlets from museums. I keep mine for years and try to get autographs where possible. And towards end of show or exhibit grab any leftovers. The info inside is often good for reading exercises and cultural education for kids groups.
3
I love my Playbills because I always enjoy reading about the actors and the show before it starts. My daughter is 10 years old and she saves her Playbills in a binder which she will refer to occasionally for various reasons. I don't want them to be digital only.
Playbills are a joyful tradition.
10
Many off-broadway theater companies have dropped the traditional Playbill and have started printing in-house programs in order to save money. But as this article says the trend is now to require paying customers to download their programs. Don't agree with this. At first one company (who shall remain nameless) had copies in the box office at the end of the show. Audience members could choose to grab one or to print at home. Now that has stopped as well. Many theatergoers are (as I am) older and while I am pretty good with technology many aren't. Don't think it's right to continue to raise ticket prices. Many of the big name Off-Broadway houses have raised their prices to almost equal Broadway houses and then they want to save money on programs. It's become a do-it-yourself-world and this is no different as the cost of the paper and ink is now our responsibility. And as some folks have mentioned, it's a good read on the way home and also makes you think more about the show. I wonder, however, if Actor's equity has weighed in on this.
6
@Pesso: You have raised many good points in your comment!
I'd add that when I'm on the subway or bus returning from a performance, I usually hold (or flip through) the playbill then as well - I'm essentially providing FREE advertising for the show, since other people then see the front cover of the Playbill (and sometimes ask me "how was it?" or "what did you think?").
Having a Playbill cover visible is just as much an ad as anything else the theater does to promote the show!
9
Of course Playbill is a necessary part of the theatre experience!
And of course people want to skimp on customer service these days as prices continue to rise. I have all of mine since childhood, when my parents took us out of school for our season tickets to Wednesday matinees (they were the least expensive and theatre was that important to them and us kids!
7
The best Playbill was the one for SLEUTH that listen all the players with full bios except there were only 2 actors. Runner up was the listing for Mickey Rooney in SUGAR BABIES. Just 1 line.
1
I've been going to the theatre for over 50 years. I wish I had some of the programs from my pre-teen and teen years (Bobby Morse in "Take Me Along") but NY real estate prices forbid such hoarding. I do save all my tickets and the program's credits page of every play, opera, concert or performance art. When I am senile, I hope my caretakers will use them to bring me "back to myself." I see these artifacts as an investment in my future happiness.
7
Without a Playbill how would we know the number of cast members who have been in Law and Order? Although I usually turn them in at the end of the show, I like to read up before the show starts. Otherwise I spend half the show wondering where I've seen that actor before.
6
Of course there should be a physical program. I once scoured the city of Rome on a Saturday afternoon to find a print shop to print a one page playbill for a show. Lo those many years ago, the real copy places closed at 1 on Saturdays. I spent hours walking the streets till I found a tobacco shop with a little tiny printer and we printed the sheets one by one until we had enough to distribute to a full house. It was painful, but it would have been much worse, all these years later, if we hadn't done it.
3
I like Playbills and do go back and reread and search for performers. In London - in many theaters - programs are not free. If you want to have a copy - there is a charge. Problem solved.
@Lora McBride
Broadway show tkts are now $99 for the last row mezzanine- with a $2 service charge included if you buy at the box office. Should you order from a ticket service (and ALL phone numbers seem to lead to telecharge) you can pay some $17 in fees for EACH tkt. And now the powers that be are tossing around the idea of no playbills, we are suppose to go online BEFORE we attend the show? Tough enough in this crazy busy city to simply get there in an affordable manner!
I would think the print ads inside MORE than cover the costs of this publication. I can't quite comprehend the thinking behind this idea? How is this better... except for the bean counters?
Let's rethink this...
6
Thanks for your article, I fully agree. Like so many commenters here, I've kept my programs for the last 50 yrs - theatre, ballet, opera, etc. Two yrs ago, I had the opportunity to begin organizing my programs, and what a joy to go back and look at the casts and even some of the articles in them. I did attend a program last Spring with no program, but because of it's nature, it was difficult to have one. Different performers appeared and one did not know in advance who would be there, but I went home and recorded everyone who performed, to the best of my ability. Great performance, but I was very disturbed about not having a program even after the evening. I would not be happy about digital programs, and as someone commented, we deserve it for the price we are now paying. Put up a sign, '[f you don't want your program, return it here."
5
I understand that this is primarily a critique of the more monied institutions – that being said, when one is producing new work by younger artists on razor-thin margins because institutional support is largely in-kind and less monetary, it would be great for you yourself to supply the hundreds of dollars required to print anything beyond your maligned one-sheet, Laura. Thanks.
2
Yes, I save my Playbills. But, more importantly, the lack of a program, Playbill or presenter created, can greatly reduce the experience of the attendee. One of the most telling examples was Classic Stage Company's recent production of "Arturo Ui." This satire of Hitler's rise, told as a Chicago gangster story, can be very confusing to anyone without the background details and "who's who" information provided in the program. I lead a theatre discussion group and the confused members went "ah ha!" when they discovered that information AFTER THE SHOW online.
6
Do ya think that maybe, just maybe, that when a production saves money on programs, it might enable a few more less economically fortunate theater lovers to see the show, might contribute, through enlightened ticket policy, to a fuller house, so beloved by actors, without resorting to giving out comps to elitest critics like yourself. Hah? Hah? Ever think of that as you stake your claim to be sympathetic the "punishing economics of non-profit theater"?
3
no way.... just .. “no!” Playbills are part of the experience!!!
10
ohyeah, just what we need ... wanna know something? ... just turn on your nice bright screen right in the middle a show .. oh, that wouldn’t bother anyone, would it??
THIS IS A TERRIBLE IDEA.
11
Another cool thing about a printed Playbill is leaving them in plain view in your home to impress guests with your cultural superiority.
1
I love and cherish many Playbills. I have ones signed by original cast members: Patti LuPone (Evita), James Gandolfini (God of Carnage), Leslie Odom Jr (Hamilton) to name a few. The ones that are not signed are also tangible reminders of many magical, profound experiences. Does EVERYTHING have to go digital?
5
A playbill once helped me in highschool to write a paper! Playbill had more useful information than any critic's column and in those days web addresses did not exist.
4
Forget about the paper playbill.
They need to get rid of those awful single use (practically speaking that is what they are) bar cups. What a tragedy.
I don't buy drinks at the theater anymore. I can't stand the waste.
Get with it Broadway. Enough!
4
There's a benefit. I won't miss the person next to me reading the program during the performance, or the person in front of me fanning himself with his program, or the person on my other side spindling and flipping through the program during the show.
5
I've stopped taking them. Such a waste of paper!
@Mary Lou Wickham You are not required to take one if you don’t want to, but they are far from a waste for those of us who make very good use of them and cherish them for (literally) years afterwards.
8
I still remember my first Playbill.
I was 8+.
It was "Peter Pan" starring Mary Martin and Cyril Ritchard.
After the show, at home, I must have read that Playbill at least 10 times. Then my Mom handed me a treasure trove of Playbills.
Among them was "The King and I" etc.
After "Peter Pan I was not only a big fan of Broadway theater but a big fan of Playbills.
I saw Richard Burton in "Camelot" and "Hamlet(1964)
"A Raisin in the Sun", and "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf".
"The Music Man" and "Damn Yankees".
I saw Streisand as Miss Marmelstein and Carol Burnett in "Once Upon a Mattress."
Haven't seen a show on the Great White Way since 1989.
I see the major musicals when they are part of the Playhouse Square Broadway Musical Series.
To be honest last season I liked "Waitress" better than Hamilton.
I regret not seeing Julie Andrews in "My Fair Lady".
I was away at summer camp in the Poconos and my Dad took my Mom to see it for her birthday.
Maybe I'll get to see the revival in a few years.
So far, as of last summer, I still get a printed Playbill.
My granddaughter attends many of the shows with us...so that makes 4 generations.
Now we need her to decide to go to Med School and we can have 4 generations of Doctors...my Dad, me,my daughter and my granddaughter.
Going to the theater has been a life long gift from my parents.
9
@adara614 - "4 generations of Doctors...my Dad, me,my daughter and my granddaughter."
We celebrate artists, but cheers to your family for all the patients you've treated, and in turn the good they've been able to do because of your treatment. I'm not sure I support your dissing Hamilton, LOL, but other than that, you're certainly doing something right. I know you're paid for being doctors, but wishing you premium everything all the way!
@Freddie
My father was a house physician for many performances of Oklahoma during WWII.
He was an MD stationed at The Brooklyn Navy Yard and could moonlight.
He and my my Mom got Row 8 Center Aisle seats for the original "King and I" because one of the main actors was a patient of his.
Thank you for the nice words about my family.
4
To theaters who have stopped printing Playbills or theaters thinking about stopping:
The Playbill is part of the experience.
How many people must say this?
How often? (read Reader Picks comments, if a theater manager is skeptical.)
Maybe it’s easier to not print, to not connect audience experience to a printed program. Rationalize it is wasteful, environmentally unsound. This is not wise or thoughtful decision-making.
Listen. To what the audience passionately cares about. To what connects with them. To what holds attention and penetrates memory. Tactile experience matters. Commenters could not be clearer or more specific. And behind every Commenter are at least a couple hundred (or thousand) theater goers saying “exactly! I agree.”
And please try to stop preaching “digital religion” about everything. Every generation changes many things for the better. But every generation inadvertently makes unwise pronouncements too. “All digital, all the time” is the latter.
11
My dad married my stepmom in 1971, when I was 11. I soon found out that she saved all her programs, and was intrigued by the practice. I enjoyed perusing her collection and fell in love with the idea so started doing it myself. It bothers me knowing I don’t have programs for a handful of shows, but the collection is a rich history of a variety of concerts and plays, many run-of-the-mill, a few even worse, some truly transformational. A favorite is the program from the first date I had with my future wife (A Coupla White Chicks Sitting Around Talking).
Since live performance is ephemeral by nature, having these talismans (as another reader so aptly described them) to return to from time to time makes a lot of sense. I witnessed worsening dementia over the last ten years of my stepmom’s life, so having these records of a relationship with art throughout a lifetime seems even more useful and important.
I recognize that we program savers are in the minority. If they’re not doing it already, I fully encourage and expect theaters to save on their costs by calculating the percentage of programs left behind and reusing them.
8
Within my 'Library', I have saved every PLAYBILL for every performance seen, dating back to the early 40's (and I've seen MANY). It is such a joy to take the time, review many PLAYBILLS (along with items from all other professional artistic performances), and marvelous memories return. I hope I can find a worthy permanent home for my 'theater memorabilia' - at 89 yrs. old, I am searching.
17
@betty sher
Start writing to the head of Special Collections in university, college, and public libraries. The worst they can say is "no" or the best is for them to tell you where your collection might be WANTED! Go for it!
1
I would not go to a restaurant that did not give me a menu. I feel the same way about theater. When I sit down to watch a show I expect to have a playbill in hand. I have been going to the theater for the past 55 years, sometimes 4 times in one month and have kept every single program that I was given. Some have autographs, most do not. But it’s comforting that I can go back and reminisce about everything I’ve seen on stage because of my collection.
14
@Linda Alvarez-Cruz What a perfect comparison. Well put.
It might be debatable (in both good and bad ways) that as an interested and attentive theater goer I arrive at the theater early so I not "one of those audience members" who crawl over other attendees while the overture and sometimes the first scene is in progress. While waiting for the performance to start, I read the Playbill and prepare myself to be a well-informed audience member. It's the performers' responsibility to be prepared for the audience. It's the audience's responsibility to be prepared for the performance. Playbills help with that responsibility.
16
I have been collecting play bills since my first show when I was in 7 th grade I grew up in NJ and a reward for selling 100 magazine subscriptions was a trip to see a show in the city. My playbills are framed in my guest bathroom. My phone cover is also of play bills.
6
The Playbill ties me to the play, actors, writer, etc. before the play, during intermission, and after the curtain falls. I hope they keep them.
12
To try to put this in context - let's broaden out this perspective from the "Playbill" --
As I type - I have the following program sitting here with me at my desk --
The Metropolitan Opera
January 30, 1974, at 7:15
Richard Wagner
Tristan und Isolde
Conductor: Erich Leinsdorf
Staged by: Auguste Everding
Sets and costumes : Gunter Schneidrr-Siemsnen
Cast in order of appearance
A sailor's voice: Raymond Gibbs
Isolde: - Birgit Nilsson
Brangane: - Michele Vilma (Debut)
Kurvenal: - William Dooley
Tristan: - Jon Vickers
Melat: - William Lewis
King Marke: - Paul Plishka
A shepherd: - Nico Castel
Steerman: - Louis Sgarro
Chorus Master: David Stivender
Knowledgeable opera lovers are well aware that - in their entire extensive careers - Birgit Nilsson and Jon Vickers were unable to arrange to sing "Tristan und Isolde" together - except on one single occasion --
I was there - with a very special friend at the time - with whom I still see occasionally - and the program - which I have saved for 45 is an invaluable and cherished memento from that glorious evening --
There's no digital alternative to something like that...
28
@Howard G
This response brought me to tears. What a wonderful memory this must be.
1
Who’s Who and In This Theater are indispensable to me. And, yes, I have every Playbill from every performance I ever attended, including local theaters and London’s West End. I even save playbills in foreign languages for performances like Italian operas in Milan or ballets in St. Petersburg, Russia. The folks who have already commented know that these contain happy memories and none of us want to part with or lose them. Period!
10
I have every playbill from every play I’ve ever attended. New York, London, San Francisco, Chicago and more. I have playbills with actors before they were famous. I always read them before seeing the show, perusing them for they’re education and experience. It’s a priceless collection since the 1960s.
17
For me, and I didn't see it mentioned in the article or other comments, among all its other necessities, the one absolutely essential of the Playbill is the vehicle to obtain and preserve performers' autographs after a show. And I'm including the whole experience of waiting eagerly at the stage door and offering personal adulation and congratulation to the artist. Any other piece of paper or object will simply not do. I now have a sizable collection from fifty years of this absolutely indispensable pleasure of life for which there is no substitite.
25
@Michele Victor
And it might be a source of a sizeable amount of money for the autographs alone, much less the playbills--for your heirs, if they can bear to part with them!
1
I totally agree. And part of the fun of the theater is settling into your seat, shutting off your phone and the outside world and preparing to enter the magic world of the play by reading the playbill. The first time I was faced with no playbill, I didn’t know what to do with myself before the lights went down.
14
It's also somewhat, um, confusing to be bugged to turn off your phone as soon as you enter the theater by the same usher who's telling you that the program is only available electronically.
38
I attend music concerts and they hand out Playbills, or some sort of program. They also tell everyone to turn off their cell phones and that photography or recording is not allowed. I frequently will look at the program in the middle a performance and use it to mark the location of my seat during intermission. It would be distracting for a lot of people if someone had to power up their smart phone in the midst of a music piece and probably a temptation to snap a photo or two, with the automatic flash, or illuminating led, going off. I just assumed that the cost of providing a program was included in the price of the ticket, but of course now everyone is out to monetize as much as possible and the publishers of Playbill probably have raised their prices accordingly, like hospitals that charge separately for an aspirin tablet or a Band-aid. Playbills always have advertising of local businesses or even short announcements or articles of interest to the concert community. If they start telling me to go online for the program notes I just won't bother. I'm happy to have an excuse to turn my phone off.
But of they really wanted to make it convenient they could just affix a sticker on the seat backs so the the members of the audience can just scan the QR code for the program of the evening.
2
I have several theatre season subscriptions, but am rarely able to research online beforehand. However, I do arrive early enough to read through the program, and prefer a basic synopsis, in addition to reading actor bios. I always take them home, and enjoy following up on the show - if I can find the time.
4
@Jay Phillips, I agree with your thoughts. But when I saw it was only "if I can find the time" it reminded me somehow of the voice of the great "Grand Hotel" lady who is planning to see the show again, twice, because "my husband works in the area."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Wcf64hp_54
1
How am I supposed to read it online when I'm also supposed to turn my phone off? All this will do is force people like me to keep my phone on. Oh, and yes, I do look at the ads. Honest!
13
Another example of management passing along costs to others; we in the symphonic musician world have seen this trend in our profession. They have the musicians printing out their own practice parts, previously provided so that musicians would be able to show up prepared .Seems their next target is the audience: good luck!
6
@Ellen Hammer
This brings up the cost of using thick, slick paper instead of less expensive paper for symphony programs, especially!
As someone who works in the nonprofit theatre, I know the challenges of providing a playbill with quality content on a limited budget. My favorite theatre playbill these days comes from Carole Shorenstein Hayes’ Curran Theatre in San Francisco. It’s truly a thing of beauty...great content, eye-popping design, and printed on fine paper. It’s the grace note, a worthy keepsake to remember the performance by.
6
Thank you so much for this article. Others have made all the points I wish to make, and more eloquently, but I can’t let this go without comment. I treasure every Playbill from every show I’ve seen over the last few decades. Some of them are signed (try doing that online). They are an integral and indispensible part of the experience. While I believe they should be provided free of charge, they absolutely must be available in a physical form even if the theatre feels the need to charge a (very) small fee. And isn’t the goal to get people to turn OFF their phones in the theatre?
21
I like my Playbills. I keep them and look back at the cast to see who has gone on to more fame. And I like looking at the ads. And I like my tickets like the old fashioned ones, not the ones I print out from my computer. I still have my old ticket stubs from the Fillmore East, NY Academy of Music and many more venues. The print out pieces of paper that are "tickets" just don't do it for me.
12
The Playbill is part of the theater experience. I love reading Who's Who in the Cast - often the best part of the bio is the dedication. And I save my Playbills; I have them from decades past. They are great memories.
13
Agreed. (Tangent- then Rant to follow.)
I further lament the loss of liner notes to albums (not mention the near loss of the album itself). I really want to know who I am listening to, who is in the band, when was the recording session, etc. it helps with further explorations and who I try and to go see live. I used to listen to MOG which was careingly curated, which was bought by Beats, then by Apple and now albums are parted out like old jalopies and good luck find anything but and old re-hashed bios of only major artists. -sigh-.
7
A Playbill is integral to the experience, both immediately before and after the performance. I, and many others I know, save the Playbill indefinitely and I refer to them periodically.
12
I would be greatly miffed if I didn't receive a program at the theatre! It's my guide to the entire experience: bios, Director's Notes, etc..etc..It's certainly not an extra, it's a necessity. At the prices being charged for tickets these days it's the least "amenity" the production should offer.
Yes, I do collect them and when too many pile up, I donate them to the local University's reference library.
16
The program is an essential part of the gathering. It is part of the production and for me, a totem and artifact that I keep and refer to. To go digital is an insult to the audience, the actors and the creative staff. Let the program live! Even if we go to the London model and have to buy them!
11
I treasure my programs from 40+ years of theatre going. I agree with the author, that paper programs help engage us in the production ahead. The audience does not need extra encouragement to stare at their screens instead of participating in the pre-show ritual of reading the program, enjoying the company of other theatre-goers, and anticipating entering the alternate reality created by good theatre. Save the Playbill!
12
It is a talisman , a memory preserved.
I have every playbill from every show I have seen since the early 70’s.
I love to reread bios after the performance, to learn each actors history..,
It simply enhances this glorious experience .
15
If you make it difficult to participate and for people to enjoy the experience, people will make other choices and will not come.
17
I was a house manager at a major Off-Broadway theater in NYC. Every audience member received a hard copy Playbill without asking. For a 300-seat house, I'm going to guess that 250 of them per performance ended up left behind on the floor.
Reading the Playbill before the curtain rises and taking it home to remember the show forever might be a sacred ritual for some, but I can tell you from experience that it's not for most.
6
@Frank: But what about BROADWAY (not Off-Broadway) theaters? Do you have statistics for that?
I am a lifelong New Yorker and I have EVERY Playbill for every show I have ever seen (and I've seen some shows multiple times). I also have the TICKET STUB tucked into each one (which are interesting when you go back to the 1970's and see what a good seat cost then!).
PS: I'd bet that most tourists keep the Playbills, too.
4
I don't live in NYC, don't get to attend the theater regularly, and as a result, I have attended only a few productions that used Playbill. I cherish them as part of the quintessential NY theater experience. Theaters should remember that many if not most of their attendees are like this, and it may be a once in a lifetime experience for them. Playbill is a part of that experience. I have attended a few "arena" or touring shows where you can buy a souvenir program; they are nice, but they are not the same thing. Keep the Playbills.
13
In an earlier life I've had the opportunity to work with some of the finest artists, producers and playwrights, designers and production professionals in the theater (by the way, you might have mentioned the dozens of personnel, including stage management, technical crew, press, front of house management and others who are also rightfully credited in a printed program, not just "actors' bios," it's an impressive list and I always peruse it as a reminder of the enormous effort put into even the most "Off Off" of theater productions). In my view the problem is not the cost of the printed program, the problem is the lack of marketing innovation that goes with it. Having also spent a career in publishing, I'm amazed at all those who are dropping their print products like lemmings off a cliff. Theater has been largely produced the same way for the past 100 years. It's way past time for the industry to put their thinking cap on, not just to save the printed program but theater itself.
6
My collection of more than 1,000 "Playbills", dating back to the end of the 19th century, is part of the theater collection of the Library of the University of Wisconsin in Madison and the State Historical Society. It has been combined with the Lunt and Fontanne collection of theater memorabilia. Their home, "Ten Chimneys", is an historic site . Playbills represent the best of American theater and to have one in hand id to hold a piece of theater history.
16
If they could hand you a Playbill when tickets were as cheap as $1.10 they should be able to still do it at more than $100 a ticket.
56
@Steve, do costs ever matter in setting ticket price, though? Even if the cast has just 8 actors (like Dear Evan Hansen) or 3 (like Bruce Springsteen), it's whatever they'll pay for as long as demand is there. Even last century - Michael Stewart summarized the price thing in “42nd Street” as David Merrick raised the top to $35 to honor and commemorate Gower Champion’s passing:
“They’re payin' $4.40 a seat out there, and they want real hoofin'." :)
tune of “Look What Happened to Mabel”
Sales are high, so greed is climbing
Pinching pennies leads to nickel-and-diming
They say they’ll save trees,
I got two words; “Puh-Leeze!”
Jeez, scream out, Louise -
Look what’s happ’ning to Playbill!
3
No.
Just no.
I save my Playbills in binders for the same reason I have a library of books that I have read. For the same reason I have photo albums. To be reminded of important life experiences that have contributed to creating who I am.
In fact, books, playbill binders and photo albums are all part of my library.
I would even PAY for a more detailed program with articles and biographies collected and organized by the dramaturg.
As i do each time I visit Lincoln Center. Or attend London Theatre.
14
I have all my playbills dating back to the 50's. I had several signed ones that I donated to charities for their silent auctions. Like Gwen Verdon in CanCan. I still have a Happy Hunting signed by Fernando Lamas with a glamorous Ethel Merman on the cover.
6
I love turning my phone off before I enter the theatre. I love looking through the Playbill as a I wait for a show to begin. I love to look around and watch people coming in, to soak in the chatter and atmosphere of anticipation, and to hear snippets of the orchestra tuning their instruments. I love that I do not need a device to enjoy a live theatre performance. Not that a playbill creates all this, but I, for one, fear that the lack of one could turn us back to the tangential distractions of technology we were asked to leave at the door.
46
Scheduled my first trip to NYC last December specifically to attend my first Broadway play “To Kill A Mockingbird”. Jeff Daniels is from Michigan, and have seen many plays at his theatre in Chelsea MI, and always found the productions to be a small slice of heaven. To walk away from my first and only Broadway play (at age 64) without a Playbill would have been a huge disappointment. I framed the Playbill and ticket, and also bought same frame for the couple we attended the play with (also their first time). Mine is proudly displayed and seeing it brings back wonderful memories.
34
I do expect the courtesy of at least a brief handheld program, including an insert with any cast changes. Doesn't need to be lengthy or glossy. The last thing anyone needs is even more audience members with their device screens lit up during performances. Spare us.
40
I’m a digital native and in almost any other setting I hate taking home paper. But I love playbills. I keep them in a shoebox and they serve as a reminder of the brief moments of magic I have witnessed.
18
I have a shelf of Playbills which I hope will chronicle my retirement years and my love of theatre. E-playbills cannot capture birthdays, anniversaries or first dates. Or for that matter, can they capture a signature at the stage door!
12
Back in the ‘70’s Playbill sold binders to collect their booklets. Any loyal theatre goer would remember these binders. I had my fair share of them, but like everything else in these tech savvy years, everything is digitized in part to a new disposable society. I admit, I enjoy flipping through the pages during intermissions and again reading on the bus home, but once I reach my front door, it’s in the recycle bin.
2
@Linda Moldauer
Playbill still sells the binders.
What a lovely and timely article! Playbills have been part of the theater going experience since I started attending as a kid in the sixties. I feel cheated every time I go to CSC and am told to go online,and now other theaters are following their example. If off-Broadway can keep raising their ticket prices,I see no reason why they can't include a playbill-I feel it's an insult to the actors and the whole creative crew not to have a permanent record of their work.
21
As programs disappear a lot more theater goers will be going home with gum on their shoes.
7
When I was 8 years old, my grandma took my to my first broadway show, Marry Poppins. My grandma has successfully saved every playbill with every ticket stub. These will always be a special thing to cherish with my family, friends, and other theater goers. The stop of playbills would stop a whole generation of learning about musicals, shows, and theater. If production of these stopped, we would loose generations upon generations of theater kids, and also, the art of theater would disappear. Playbills give us a way to look back on fond memories of a time where people where happy, do something that they love.
17
As someone with shoeboxes full of Playbills (from our years living on the east coast), I likely would not attend a production that did not offer paper Playbills, but not because of the missing Playbill. Think of the distractions in an audience of little lit screens during a performance; an advantage of paper Playbills is that they cannot be seen in the dark, requiring focus on the stage. And once an audience member has a lit screen to view, what other distractions await if that person is even slightly bored. Surely lit screens and downcast eyes would also distract the performers. Lit screens should be banned during performances, except in an emergency.
There should not be a cost issue since Playbill ads likely pay for the printing costs. Ads, especially annoying pop-up ads, are more distracting on a small screen than on paper.
Paper Playbills offer a history that temporary online programs cannot. I think of the then-unknown actors we have seen onstage who later became famous. We have a bit of their story in our old Playbills.
27
@Dee
That's exactly what I think will happen. We will now have phone lights all over.
When reading from little screens, you can't get the whole cast list or song list or synopsis on one screen. It takes time to scroll down.
5
i save all my playbills, and ticket stubs.. as a memento of a night well spent..
12
For my teenage daughter and her theater friends, there is no more meaningful memento — or marketing tool — than a Playbill. Her collection is proudly framed on her wall and the group shares and studies them, a welcome distraction from their phones. She looks forwarding to collecting the next. When we left Wicked in London empty handed, it was almost as though the experience had never happened. The printing cost is far outweighed by the marketing value for the next generation of theatergoers.
13
I have saved only one Playbill - Inherit the Wind starring George C. Scott and Charles Durning - my most memorable theatre experience. I am now, at almost seventy, regretting that I didn’t save them all. They are talismans, conjuring up memories of wonderful evenings and even dud events that were talked about just as much as the hits. These memories enrich my life and make me a person with more depth.
14
@Mary, I finally took a whole day and one by one (it took 30 seconds each), I checked whether the Playbill was on the net. If it was on the net, I saved a pdf and out it went. if it was not, or if it had an autograph, I kept it.
Favorites: Tommy Lee Jones, then unknown and 25 in a Carol Channing-Sid Caesar 4-act comedy vehicle "Four on a Garden." when I was 11 and my Dad kept hearing me play Carol Channing as Lorelei and Dolly, and like so many Brooklyn parents wanted to encourage this live theater habit. Like the Geico ads: It was just what middle class NYC parents did then. A signed "Cabaret" Playbill in 1960s previews, and mom said we brought you to that in previews, didn't we? Dad said if we did that for "Cabaret" when Freddie was 5 years old, we'd have been crazy, Rosie! Georgia Engel who absolutely killed, so normal at stage door, onstage acting wide-eyed like she didn't know why we were we in hysterics, this is serious, as Minnie Fay in Hello Dolly, 1970 with Merman. Years later, 2018 - at "Half-Time" at Paper Mill, when Georgia Engel due to MTM was arguably even more famous now than the Merm!!! - she had to stay in for dance stretching during a 5-performance weekend and the stage door people were shuttling our Programto her, while Donna McKechnie sat on a golf cart and talked and signed for everyone, until she'd answered everyone's questions, like do you like playing a mean person for a change.
By the end of the day: Four boxes became a half a box!
I'm a budding minimalist and zero-waster aspirant. However, I keep the program or Playbill from every show I attend in New York City and London. They are reminders of evenings spent with some of the world's best actors, directors and playwrights and those on the path to greatness -- evenings that moved and transported me, and evenings I shared with family.
After a show I love to get under the covers of my hotel bed and read the program and actor bios cover to cover. Or I do so in the morning to relive moments from the play. Over time, I return to the programs to remember each of the plays I've been lucky enough to see. I return to recall the names of actors I'd forgotten, and, to verify, that yes, once long ago I really did see Alice Krieg and Mark Rylance and Jeremy Irons on stage long before they were well known. And with enough program notes I can look over time to see how a play like "The Taming of the Shrew" was re-interpreted in the 70s, the 90s and in the last few years.
My search skills, whether online or in the archives of my brain, are good, but they are not strong enough to achieve all of this unassisted. The programs are meaningful keepsakes.
21
As a young boy coming into New York to see plays back in the 1960's with my mother, there was nothing as precious as coming home with that Playbill in hand. That SOUVENIR was proof that I was 'in the room where it happened', and from the vast distance between my suburban bedroom and the glitter of Broadway, I could still be connected. Now, half a century later, my office at the Sundance Institute Theatre Program where I am Artistic Director, sports three shelves - much to the dismay of my younger colleagues - of PLAYBILLS in binders. The oldest (not counting what I've added from a smattering of ebay finds) is "Lovely Ladies, Kind Gentlemen", an ill fated musical adaptation of "Teahouse of the August Moon". There are still young girls and boys across the globe, who treasure the memory and re-live the experience of the reality (not VIRTUAL reality, but reality) of seeing live theater through the lens of that paper Playbill.
40
I am a world class purger of things; I donate bags of clothing and home goods constantly whether to my babysitters or Housing Works, I constantly “change things up” and live of a clutter-free existence to the extent possible with a toddler. Long before Marie K. However the lot of Playbills, in the 100s, under my bed? I refuse their departure.
21
@Jill L, what great timing. Marie Kondo was just on "Smerconich" on CNN! To hold the Playbill and say something sweet like "Thank you for giving me joy” but needing to let go now. (Maybe I'll finally part with that out of town "Lestat" program that I keep keeping only because the quirky but wonderful Jack Noseworthy was still in it then, and I was convinced he was going to be a huge TV or movie star someday.)
I keep them. I also used to collect Tiffany & Co catalogs during the late 80s - 00s until they stopped sending them to me and offering them at the store. Not the Blue Book, the little robin's egg blue everyday catalogs I could look at over and over. I still have them in a box somewhere. Programs and catalogs are a visceral part of an experience, where you can go to dream and imagine and remember.
8
@Deb Paley, regarding "Programs and catalogs are a visceral part of an experience, where you can go to dream and imagine and remember."
It's never happened for me in this way in a New York production. But having been involved along the way in two projects that were the type you'd want to forget (there have been many many times that which I love to remember), I would love for all physical evidence of those two to disappear. And yet someone involved who had a really good time working on it, really not aware of the pain to the writers, nor should they be aware [in these cases, creating a legal fight for the underlying rights in one, a presenter mindlessly holding back the rights for an option period stopping someone else from picking it up in the other case], will bring the program in their bag to show me they still have it - when it would have been lovely to just let it be in cyberspace and feel there is no physical "thing" still there.
Thinking of what I've seen people treasure from other peoples' famous projects, I'm sure the Playbill from "Moose Murders" or "Dance a Little Closer" are great fun for many people to have and hold in their hands, like all the posters of the flops hanging in Joe Allen must be great fun for lots of fans - but I've been at Joe Allen with a person whose stage career halted because of the show hanging on the wall, who quietly asked to be seated elsewhere (not near that poster). It's part of arts that your failures are public, though.
1
Um, no.
One of the pleasures of theatre is waiting at the stage door, Playbill in hand, seeing the star of the show emerge afterwards and getting an autograph.
Are we now supposed to get e-autographs on our iPad?
21
In 1984, Al Pacino starred in a production of David Mamet’s “American Buffalo,” at the Curran Theater, in San Francisco. At the time, I didn’t know Mamet from the man in the moon, but the former had just filmed “Scarface,” and I was going to see him on stage, even if it were only to recite the telephone directory. Needless to say, the play became a classic and Mr. Pacino’s performance was one of the most memorably riveting theatrical experiences of my life. I am hardly a stage door Johnny, but I managed to obtain Mr. Pacino’s autograph on my playbill, and subsequently grew to be a major Mamet fan as well. The industry may be contemplating eliminating playbills, but I am keeping and cherishing mine, thank you very much—right next to the ticket stub and the rave review headlined “Buffaloed and Liking It”.
17
I treasure my playbills, which are arranged chronologically on the bookshelf by my desk. I review them periodically and when I do, I’m transported back through big swaths of my life. I also have a cherished collection of old playbills, especially from shows that flopped.
I’m surprised theaters can’t make playbills a revenue stream. Advertisers should love placing their brands before a targeted, generally well educated sector of the public that has some disposable income. If that’s unrealistic, however, I think the National Endowment for the Humanities or another funder should underwrite the tradition of paper programs. They are an important primary source of theatre history.
Or maybe ... “Playbills Available Upon Request”?
One final idea: How about conveniently located recycling bins in the theater? The virtually untouched ones that land there could be recycled as the audience files in for the next performance.
30
@Rebecca Jones
Some good ideas. It is amazing to me that many theaters and theater companies do not keep archives of their achievements. I just went back to two theaters and got lists of the plays they did in a specific season. I know I won't find reviews of them, but I may bring back specific mental images that are delicious!
Could not agree more. My late wife Tina and I lived in NYC in the late 60's into the early 70's and saw many Broadway plays. Before the actor or actress appeared we would arrive early and sit down and open the Playbill to see the background on each one. An outline of the play and the different acts. Also looked at the ads to see maybe would stop for a snack and next time have dinner at one of the restaurants that were advertised. It was not just the play, but looking up information in the Playbill seemed to make the event special. Yes, I am a bit of a hoarder now that Tina has passed away I pull out the programs and it is a way to look at them and remember her and what a good time we had that evening. Also like watching old movies and then looking up the actors or actresses to see what else they have appeared in the Playbill is a historical document of each one. I sit there and say of someone who has had a brilliant acting career, that's right they had a part in this play a little one, but look at their acting career now. At other times one wonders why someone that was great in that play never moved on to greater things. I guess I am old school and get an electronic version of this or that just does not get it from me. Jim Trautman
20
Agree with you 100%. Keep the paper Playbill!
18
The cost of Broadway shows should not exclude the necessary Playbill. Such a satisfaction seeing in your home for a good time after seeing a new play, adds to the enjoyment too, terrible idea.
16
I hope this trend does not continue. I have saved every Playbill since seeing my first Broadway show (the Wiz in the 1970s). Printed books, vinyl and tapes have come and gone. But the printed programs remain a consistent reminder of a pre-digital time, like live theater itself. And these days, it’s hard enough to get people to turn off their phones before a show, why give them another reason to turn them on!
66
I am 66 and have been going to Broadway since I was 17, I think that over the course of my lifetime I have attended about 1000 live performances. I have a Playbill for every single one. It's the only thing I collect. A long time Playbill sales rep and friend of mine, Bob Charles once told me that he and his wife used to spread out each year's Playbills on the table and reminisce about the year in Theater that way.
18
No Playbills? Is nuttin' sacred any more? One of my pride and joys is the Follies Playbill from the original 1971 production, complete with ticket stub. Practically everyone who trod the boards of that treasured musical production is long gone, but my Playbill is still with me. And yes, it's sacred.
47
@Jack, I have the same Playbill, from a nosebleed half-price seat. Alexis Smith.... I am so grateful to have been to that amazing production.
1
As a out-of-state theatre professional currently on a quick jaunt to visit New York, mostly commercial, theatres this weekend, I hope that programs will exist. Not only as an dramaturgical aide to my experience, or as a tangible way to jog my own memory years later, playbills serve as vital tools for education beyond the city. They become part of the needed living documents for our theatrical ephemera. They educate, they inspire, and they become talismans for the best
(and sometimes the worst) of American theatrical histories. I take that Playbill home and use it to engage with my colleagues, collaborators and students. Yes, online tools are essential, but why rob us of this history—and this building of legacy and excitement for future professionals? Money is a short-sighted reason to stop letting young adults be exposed to programs, literal extensions of experiences they can see, touch and dream about.
Ms. Collins-Hughes, your thoughtful, detailed, progressive and refreshing theatrical journalism gives me hope for this newspaper’s continued place as a leader in American theatrical criticism. Thank you, and please, NYT, more voices like hers that reflect and reveal the diversity of theatrical makers and audiences across America.
20
@Trevor Biship-Gillespie You ask 'why' and the article only hints at it, so I'll guess: mainly expense and partly ecological (deforestation ; inks can be petro-based, landfill, etc.). I like programs, too, though.
I'm a Playbill hoarder. During a recent excavation of memorabilia found a program of The Dutch National Ballet performing the works of Balanchine at the Herod Atticus Theatre in Athens Greece and the ticket was tucked inside June 21 1978. A trip of a lifetime at 23 yrs old. I still have the original program from Jesus Christ Superstar. Keepsakes for life.
10
The printed Playbill is an integral part of my theatre going experience. I am one of the people you'll see reading the cast and crew information before the show; not only to read up on the actors but also the costume and lighting designers, and the show producers. I save them to read and savor on the train ride back home, or later, to remind me of the experience (good and not-so-good).
With live theatre, you can't go back and watch that performance again. The printed Playbill is my record that the performance really happened, that I saw it, and it impacted me. It also, over time, shows to me how my tastes in plays and musicals have evolved.
69
"With live theatre, you can't go back and watch that performance again."
I'm being a little tongue-in-cheek, but this is absolutely true about performances staying in your memory: I saw "Moulin Rouge" in August, and what I wore has been to the cleaner three times since then, but I'm still picking out the confetti hearts from the end of the show. It's great to be reminded of it, but this is confetti with staying power (In contrast, the confetti from "Summer" was gone after one trip to the cleaners.).
This hasn't happened to me yet (in the theater district). I would be very disappointed to not have a Playbill before a play. My friend and I happily peruse it before the show and often afterwards on the train home.
17
I collect programs from the plays that I have seen, a collection that is now at about 650. I often refer back to them to refresh my memory. For example, I otherwise would not have remembered that I saw Mary Louise Parker when she was a young actress in Syracuse Stage's 1987 production of Moliere's "The Miser." I am also sometimes particularly impressed by an actor's performance and want to know more about him or her right away. I wouldn't mind paying for a program if it had more material about that specific play as is done at the UK's National Theatre or the Shaw Festival in Canada (the latter, happily, are still free).
9
@Bruce A I have every one as well, all 1000 of them! (I am 66.)
2
My mother had the Playbill for every show she ever saw (the vast majority on Broadway and a few off-B'way) except for the first two. Many years ago (she's now 93), I got a Playbill for the first one, "What a Life" from 1938 about the adventures of teenager Henry Aldrich, at the Lincoln Center Library's flea sale. When I gave it to her for her birthday (or was it Hanukkah? Hey, this was probably about 40 years ago now. Lol) and she opened the package, she got all teary at seeing this memory from her youth. And I just posted a signed Playbill from the 2004 national tour of "Nunsense" as a tribute to Kaye Ballard.
And what better a thing to have signed? My Mom has an "Othello" autographed by Paul Robeson to which, much later, I was able to add the signatures of Uta Hagen and Jose Ferrer; not that I'm planning on selling it, but I believe it's worth upwards of $1,200. I've gotten my Playbills signed by Hal Prince, Jessica Tandy & Hume Cronyn (he came down and chatted with me and my Mom after a performance of "The Gin Game" and couldn't have been nicer), Henry Fonda, Chita Rivera, Phylicia Rashad, Michael Crawford (in London, pre-Phantom), and, most recently, Glenda Jackson who chided me for asking her to sign some of hers from the 1980s after "Three Tall Women").
Just digital programs? Never!
38
I have my Playbill from every single play I ever attended, since age 11 or 13. I treasure every single one!
It is necessary to receive them before the show so that you can read about the show and the actors.
After the show, the Playbill is evidence that you have seen that show, on that date. You might even remember the people who were seeing the show with you. It is delightful to review them much later. I am reminded that I actually did do something in my earlier life. Also, it brings a smile to see the design, fonts, and advertising of past decades.
Age brings the deterioration of memory. The Playbill is an aid to memory.
I agree with Milton Lewis, below, who says that "[t]he traditional Playbill is an integral part of the theatre experience." I don't at all care for electronic playbills for current plays. I would not look for them before attending a play. It is unconscionable that some theatre patrons, see below, have not been advised to look for the theatre program online before attending a play; so that they are not oriented to the play before paying a lot of money and attending it.
15
@HC, the email saying to look for the program only can go to the person who charged the tickets, because that's the only email address the theater can possibly have. Any links and PDFs have been easy to forward to the rest of the party.
1
@HC
Saved every one...why?
1
It was interesting that "Rags Parkland Sings The Songs Of The Future" didn't hand out programs before the show, and the show starts with an extended solo performance. The reviews and the photos showed more of the cast, and a couple the actors in the photos were actually getting a drink at the concession stand as the line entered for some reason, probably not on purpose, maybe it's just where offstage was. About seven or eight minutes, though, someone behind us seemed to be quite nervously wondering if this was a one-man show, so during an applause moment, I whispered to him that the cast list in the paper had 7 or 8 actors, and he seemed much more relaxed that the show was going to open up. In this case, they wanted who was coming to be a surprise, but there are audience members who want to know - even if the artists want to keep secrets and hand out the program later.
2
I, too, have my playbills from the 60s to the present. I'd like to add "nostalgia" to the list of the joys of holding a playbill in your hands.
Sometimes for personal or professional reasons I want to remember the name of a person who has worked on the show. For a, mostly, complete list, I can go to IBDB. For off-Broadway, there is the Lortel Archive, although there are often many missing credits including, sometimes, Equity assistant stage managers.
As for the off-Broadway companies, their archives can range from fully complete - to all except assistant stage managers - to "Production Highlights", which can consist of listing selected plays with the names of the playwright, director, [chreographer, composer and lyricist] and a few featured actors - no designers or stage managers. In one particular case, the very-prolific company lists only 50 plays out of hundreds of productions.
2
I recently saw a play at the Classic Stage Company, the name of which I can't recall, probably because I did not enjoy it. Because the story was complicated and the play was long, I lost interest. When I got home I read the program online. There was commentary about the play which would have helped me understand it, and certainly enjoy it more than I did. Had I known there would be no programs at the performance, I would have read it online before I went. Not having programs available at the performance is a really bad policy that detracts from the experience.
55
The traditional Playbill is an integral part of the theatre experience. The entertainment history of the performers is interesting to read about and enhances the performance.Electronic devices have no place in the theatre and some of the joy from the experience is the escape from such devices. Remember Fiddler on the Roof. TRADITION. Celebrate tradition.Do not abandon it.
9
What will the artists have to autograph after the show?
11
I’ve saved every single Playbill since I saw Fiddler on the Roof (my first play) with my aunt and uncle when I was about 10 (some 50 years ago). From that day, I fell in love with theater. I agree that a digital Playbill is not the same as a paper one (I still buy books for the same reason). I love the ritual of settling into your seat and reading the bios of the actors, writer and director. When I moved to LA, they came with me across the country and when I moved back to NY, they made the return trip. I think it’s important to keep this tradition, and hope it does not go the way of the print newspaper or book.
20
@Carol Lopilato -- I too have every one, all 1000 as I am 60. They have traveled from NY to NJ to Texas and now Italy!
6
@Carol Lopilato
Do you still read a daily print paper?
2
@Carol Lopilato
I'm with you!
2
I agree completely! It's part of the ritual. Also, they want us to turn off our phones when we get into the theater so it's counterproductive to make us use them to read the program. Give me a paper program!
29
Playbill is just the corporate machine. Bland, no real detail on show or company. The best programs are at theatres that still make their own. Night and day difference.
2
Part of the reason is that the AEA Rulebook for Off-Broadway changed the rule regarding programs - the old rule was "A cast list must be offered free of charge to every patron who enters the theatre at all performances."
The new rule, adopted in 2016, now states: "Either a printed cast list must be offered free of charge to every patron who
enters the theatre at all performances OR an online equivalent must be made available."
Some theatre companies (especially non-profits) might do this out of "environmental concerns" although they don't seem to care about that when it comes to the physical production (sets, costumes, lighting, sound).
But the biggest reason for this is cost. Playbill, Inc. used to provide Off-Broadway shows with playbills -- free of charge -- for their patrons. Several years ago, however, Playbill changed it's policy for Off-Broadway: they would no longer service Off-Broadway. However, for some theaters, a production could get playbills, but in order to get them the production had to spend a certain amount of money per month on Playbill's services - email blasts, advertising in playbills, advertising on Playbill.com.
It's not a minimal amount either. So suddenly, productions were being forced to spend advertising dollars with Playbill in order to receive "free" Playbills. Or they had to create, format and print their own programs, which turns out to be a pricey endeavor. And thus the rule change to allow online programs.
24
@res66. Thank you for letting us know. Maybe we should do something to try to stop this.
2
@res66
This was very useful information - I was at CSC last night, knowing in advance that there would not be a physical program - but very unhappy about it just the same. I don't insist that a program be Playbill - just printed material with useful/necessary information about the story, the cast list with bios - to help orient the audience. If I were an actor or major contributor to a physical production the lack of printed material would make me angry.
I'd be willing to pay for it as well. It has never occurred to me to use my phone at the theater to look up the info online. I do that at home if needed.
2
"Saving trees" is possibly propaganda by who knows who. If trees are not used for holiday celebrations, printing, and the like, then the demand for trees specifically cultivated for those purposes reduces and the land is likely going to be developed for less environmentally sound purposes. Trees, even short-lived ones, make a positive contribution to the atmosphere and aquifer. When you use paper and holiday trees, you encourage the farming of trees. I see that industry as one of least harmful
10
Thank you for highlighting this recent and increasingly common practice. When I complained in an email to CSC about the lack of a hard copy program guess what? I received no reply. Their stated purpose is that it's for environmental conservation. I no longer patronize the company.
37
@lynn o
I, too, wrote to CSC regarding the lack of programs, which I first experienced when I went to see their brilliant "Carmen Jones". I wrote about what an insult it was to the cast members of have their production disappear into the ether with no written record. Like your experience, I received no reply. I had already subscribed for this season, and when it is over, I will never buy a ticket to anything in that theatre again! Their so-called environmental conservation shows a lack of understanding of what true audience experience is.
45
@Susan Gregory, before seeing "Carmen Jones" at CSC, the program came by email, and I was delighted to have a chance to really read the entire program before seeing the show. I got really absorbed, so Fareed Zakaria became just background noise that morning, but it was probably something I could catch up on later like nuclear disarmament, but the show was at 3. I really loved the show, and wished for the possibility of getting one in advance and maybe paying a dollar to get the real thing at the show, like in London. (I wished it had included a reminder that whatever language it's in, we're still telling in a 90-minute version what Hammerstein felt needed 150 minutes to tell. As Forbidden Broadway said about Les Miz: Better read a synopsis! My spouse cleared up plot holes by the time we got home, since he knew the full plot. But I won't miss a CSC show for that.)
2
@Susan Gregory and @lynn o
I respectfully offer the opinion that to stop patronizing a company over the lack of programs seems misguided. What a shame to miss out on great productions and exceptional performances from hard-working actors, who I venture to say would appreciate patronage in the audience more than passing perusals of their bios. I respect the fact that a program may be integral to many of our theatregoing experiences. Is it not, then, worth a bit of extra effort to access and consume that content in whatever fashion or format it is being provided?
3
Yes, Playbills list credits for productions, bios, maybe additional insights from the director, but basically they're advertisements. They're also perfect as projectiles aimed at an audience member filming the show or disrupting it with incessant chatter. :-)
Recently at Joe Papp's Public Theatre, I was admonished for taking a second Playbill (for a friend). The usher told me 'one to a customer,' refused to show me to my seat, then informed me security would be called if I insisted she give me her name. All over a Playbill?
Great Britain does it right. Buy the program. If we did it here, maybe the person next to me might actually watch the show instead of trying to read in the dark?
5
@Alan Gary, regarding the UK: In London, I've always gotten the program, but often when anything costs even maybe a pound or two, it makes a couple stop and think maybe they'll just take one for the two of them, or not buy them for the younger children at a show like "Oliver!" even back in the 1990s. (I'd still opt to buy one,I think. When I first saw Catherine Zeta-Jones in a film, I was so glad to have bought the program from when she'd been half of a showstopper duo in "Street Scene" in the late 1980s.)
I did feel a bit lost when the "Cabaret" revival here at Roundabout chose to give Playbills out after the show. But it does help reduce audience questions about understudies, since on one viewing, an understudy for one of the TV star names (I think it was Mariette Hartley's understudy) got entrance applause from the people who thought they were seeing the name actress until they got the Playbill.
This 1998 article by Playbill, reporting on the Playbill/"Cabaret" back and forth says the show was trying to preserve the ambience of the show's setting.
http://www.playbill.com/article/playbill-cabaret-reach-agreement-on-programs-com-329306
Wow, following that issue through online; Playbill online reporting on Playbills in print, Almost the definition of "digital age meta." And the writer Mr. Viagas keeps it objective somehow!