Playbill 1837 Samuel Weller, Or, The Pickwickians

''Playbill'' is an American monthly magazine for theatergoers. Although there is a subscription issue available for home delivery, most copies of ''Playbill'' are printed for particular productions and distributed at the door as the show's program.

''Playbill'' was first printed in 1884 for a single theater on 21st Street in New York City. The magazine is now used at nearly every Broadway theatre as well as many Off-Broadway productions. Outside New York City, ''Playbill'' is used at theaters throughout the United States. its circulation was 4,073,680.

History

What is known today as ''Playbill'' started in 1884, when Frank Vance Strauss founded the New York Theatre Program Corporation specializing in printing theater programs. Strauss reimagined the concept of a theater program, making advertisements a standard feature and thus transforming what was then a leaflet into a fully designed magazine. The new format proved popular with theatergoers, who started to collect playbills as souvenirs; however, the name ''(The)'' ''Playbill'' did not appear until the 1930s while earlier programs published by the company simply bore the name of the venue.

In 1918, Frank Vance Strauss sold the company to his nephew, Richard M. Huber. From 1918 onward, the company started printing playbills for all of Broadway and, by 1924, was printing 16,000,000 programs for over 60 theaters. The 1920s also saw attempts to introduce consistency in the design with the covers of the magazines featuring artwork representing the theater, which would stay the same from show to show. In 1934–35, the name ''The Playbill'' made its first appearance on the cover although there was still no standard logo in that period. The design underwent a series of transformations with show titles occasionally switching places with ''The Playbill'' logo in various places on the cover until the magazine's logo found its permanent place at the top of the front cover. The magazine was purchased by Roger L. Stevens in 1956. The publication as it is known today became ''Playbill'' in 1957, under then-owner Gilman Kraft. The publication has been owned by the Arthur T. Birsh family since 1973. Production and printing of the magazine takes place in Woodside, Queens.

Format

Each issue features articles focusing on actors, new plays, musicals, and special attractions. This "wraparound" section is the same for all ''Playbill''s at all venues each month. Within this wraparound, the ''Playbill'' contains listings, photos, and biographies of the cast; biographies of authors, composers, and production staff; a list of scenes, as songs and their performers (for musicals); and a brief description of the setting for the particular show. It also lists the number of intermissions and "At This Theatre", a column with historical information on the theater housing the production. The ''Playbill'' distributed on opening night of a Broadway show is stamped with a seal on the cover and the date appears on the title page within the magazine. This is, however, not the case for every opening night playbill: there are many in circulation that do not feature the date.

In lieu of the cast and show information, the subscription edition of ''Playbill'' contains listings of Broadway and Off-Broadway productions and news from London productions and North American touring companies.

The ''Playbill'' banner is yellow with black writing. Each June since 2014, the yellow banner has been replaced with a rainbow banner for LGBT Pride Month.

The Playbill banner has changed the yellow to another color on rare occasions in its history:
* October 2008 – green for the fifth anniversary of ''Wicked''
* October 2011 – royal blue for the tenth anniversary of ''Mamma Mia!''
* October 2013 – green for the tenth anniversary of ''Wicked''
* April 2018 – white and red for the fifth anniversary of '' Kinky Boots''
* November 2021 – black for the 25th anniversary of ''Chicago''

Other media

''Playbill'' launched Playbill Online in January 1994. The free website offers news about the theater industry, focusing on New York shows but including regional theater, touring, and international stage happenings. It is read by show fans and theater practitioners, and is updated regularly. It also offers discounts on tickets and dining for its members.

In 2000, ''Playbill'' added www.playbillstore.com, an online shopping store offering official ''Playbill'' merchandise and merchandise from most current Broadway and touring productions.

In 2006, ''Playbill'' released its first records on Playbill Records, an imprint of SonyBMG. Releases included Brian Stokes Mitchell's eponymous solo album and two compilations of show tunes entitled ''Scene Stealers, The Men'' and ''Scene Stealers, The Women.''

''Playbill Radio'', a 24-hour Broadway-themed internet radio station featuring news, podcasts, and a musical library of over 20,000 titles, premiered in 2007.

In 2011, ''Playbill'' launched Playbill Vault, a comprehensive online database of Broadway history. Playbill Vault provides records of Broadway productions from 1930 to the present. Information on the website includes original and current casts, actor head shots, production credits, Playbill cover images, scanned Playbill Who's Who pages, production photos, and videos.

In 2012, ''Playbill'' launched Playbill Memory Bank, a website that allowed theater-goers to track their memories of their theater attendances by entering dates they attended a show, along with information like ticket scans. The site provided information about cast members, including which performer had each particular role, for roles that may have had several replacements over the life of the show. Playbill Memory Bank shut down December 31, 2016.

''Playbill'' launched its first app, called Playbill Passport, on January 4, 2016.

In 2021, ''Playbill'' added a "post-the-pay" rule to their job site after a campaign by On Our Team and Costume Professionals for Wage Equity called for an increased pay transparency and equity in the theater industry.

Competition with ''Stagebill''

For decades, ''Playbill'' concentrated on Broadway and Off-Broadway theaters, while ''Stagebill'' focused on concerts, opera, and dance in venues such as Lincoln Center and Carnegie Hall. However, by the late 1990s, ''Playbill'' was highly profitable; ''Stagebill'' was not, losing millions of dollars annually by 1998. To increase revenue, ''Stagebill'' entered ''Playbill''s turf. The truce was first breached in 1995, when The Public Theater quietly defected to ''Stagebill,'' and more noisily in 1997, when Disney contracted ''Stagebill'' for its musical ''The Lion King'' at its newly reopened New Amsterdam Theatre. The main point of contention in the latter case was control over advertising content: ''Playbill'' is distributed free to theaters, relying on advertising revenue that is completely under its authority, whereas Disney, per company policy, required a program without cigarette or liquor ads.

In response to ''Stagebill's'' upstart incursion, ''Playbill'' began to produce ''Showbill'', a sister publication that conformed to Disney's advertising requirements for all publications distributed in its properties. Now with an alternative, Disney switched from ''Stagebill'' to ''Showbill'' for ''The Lion King'' late in its run at the New Amsterdam. (When the musical moved to the Minskoff Theatre, which Disney does not own, it was obligated to use ''Playbill'', as are Disney productions at other theaters.) The Ford Center for the Performing Arts also commissioned ''Showbill'' for its inaugural production of ''Ragtime'', presumably to exclude other automakers' ads. In a different circumstance, the producers of the Broadway revival of ''Cabaret'' wished to maintain the atmosphere of a sleazy nightclub at its Studio 54 venue, and insisted on handing out ''Playbill''s ''after'' the performance (instead of before). ''Playbill,'' sensing missed exposure for its advertisers, offered the show's producers "Showbill" instead.

Additionally, ''Playbill'' responded further by producing publications for classic arts venues, aggressively courting many venues that were once ''Stagebill'' clients. In the spring of 2002, ''Playbill'' signed a contract with Carnegie Hall; this milestone was bookended by the earlier acquisition of the valuable Metropolitan Opera program and the ensuing contract with the New York Philharmonic—both tenants of ''Stagebill's'' erstwhile stronghold Lincoln Center. With the acquisition of the programs for performing arts venues, ''Playbill'' broke from its typical format and began publishing completely customized programs in the vein of ''Stagebill.'' This, coupled with continuing fiscal troubles, signaled the end of ''Stagebill'' as a publishing entity; later that year, ''Stagebill'' became insolvent after five years of head-to-head competition with ''Playbill,'' which acquired the ''Stagebill'' trademark.

Museum of Broadway

''Playbill'' is a founding member of the Museum of Broadway.

References

External links

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Magazines established in 1884
Magazines published in New York City
Monthly magazines published in the United States
Special Tony Award recipients
Theatre magazines published in the United States