Broadway Annual Yearbooks

[antonijan]

Posted: 4/19/07 at 5:32am

Playbill have their Annual Yearbook Vol. 1 and 2

It comes in 2 volumes so far...2004-05 and 2005-06 for $19.95 each.

I am planning on buying them since I want to read more about the shows on those time periods but at the same time...I am kinda trying to save some money for future shows and other souvenir programs :P

Anybody have them? What are your feedback about the contents of those yearbooks and how about quality?

I haven't tried e-bay yet or any of those used stores...and yet maybe even in the library...but then, I like getting mint conditions for my own collection.

What other oversized broadway books/coffee table books do you know or have?

One time at a bookstore....I saw a complete broadway listing book and it got lots of pictures.

I still plan to buy it :P



yearbooks Updated On: 4/21/07 at 05:32 AM

[Mattbrain]

Posted: 4/19/07 at 8:39am

I love 'em. I still need to get around to buying volume 2

[ashley0139]

Posted: 4/19/07 at 9:04am

I've only read them, don't own them, but I still love them. They are funny and a great source of information and pictures. I will pick them up eventually.

As for other books, I have the Broadway: The American Musical book and a couple of single shows' coffee table books.

[Weez]

Posted: 4/19/07 at 12:50pm

I have them. I love them. They're a really handy source of reference if I wake up in the night NEEEEEDING to know who was in 'Shining City' or whatever, and I can sit and read all the anecdotes and factoids for hours. Plus it's fascinating to see how many shows there are, and who's doing what in a single season, and all that. Really can't wait for the next one!

[GYPSY1527]

Posted: 4/19/07 at 12:55pm

I adore these books. They are a great source of information for any broadway fan. Can't wait for the next one!

[ashley0139]

Posted: 4/19/07 at 1:02pm

Weez- does that happen often?

[LiTtLeDaNcEr729]

Posted: 4/19/07 at 1:07pm

I read both of mine from cover to cover within a 24 hour day period of getting them :)

[Piercemn]

Posted: 4/19/07 at 1:10pm

I get those and the Burns Mantle Best Plays from the library. I just took 2004-2005 back last week. Why pay for them when you can check them out again and again?

[ashley0139]

Posted: 4/19/07 at 1:20pm

Because then, if you're like Weez and need to know who was in Shining City in the middle of the night and you don't have it then, you're SOL.

[husk_charmer]

Posted: 4/19/07 at 1:23pm

Weez-
I understand completely.

I have to still get them, but I am planning on it!

[Weez]

Posted: 4/19/07 at 1:29pm

Ashley: actually, that time, I was on a train. But I quite often get moments of "I really need to know this about a show RIGHT NOW!" (yes, sometimes in the middle of the night), and it's just sooooo much more satisfying to grab a hefty hardback book and plop it open on my lap than it is to sit at my PC and tap some keys.

[RockabyeHamlet]

Posted: 4/19/07 at 2:44pm

I love mine like my own children:) I could stare at those books for hours. They are the most regurally read books in my library. I know I have access to all the information on the internet, but I find it much easier to have it all in one place, with pictures, along with extra stuff, then to go through a zillion web pages.

And Weez- I am the exact same way, except I really can't focus on anything else until I find out the answer to whatever question I have.

Posted: 4/19/07 at 3:26pm

I have both volumes and am eagerly awaiting volume 3. I own the complete set of "The Best Plays of ..." and Richard C. Norton's 3-volume set "A Chronology of American Musical Theater." Who could ask for anything more?

[EponineThenardier]

Posted: 4/19/07 at 3:43pm

Totally worth buying. LOVE THEM, and cannot wait for this year's to come out.

[courtnyj]

Posted: 4/20/07 at 4:49am

This thread inspired me to take my Broadway Yearbooks off the shelf and look through them. I forgot how cool they are! I love the pictures and I love recognizing people from this season's shows and discovering what they were in a year or two before. Some of these gypsies really do get around!

[ILoveMyDictionary]

Posted: 4/20/07 at 7:01am

I have them and I love them. I actually read all the blurbs the cast says in one day.

I also have Broadway Day and Night which is a collection of stories from people involved in all aspects of theatre. This one is great too

And I have At This Theatre, which tells the history of every theatre on Broadway now.

[seaweedjstubbs]

Posted: 4/20/07 at 10:36pm

I recieved Volume 2 for Christmas and could not put it down. The accounts by the actors or crew of the show are both hilarious and insightful. I would like Vol 3 for a birthday gift.

[Raviolisun]

Posted: 4/20/07 at 10:42pm

Man, I would LOVE these.

[Dover]

Posted: 4/21/07 at 8:00pm

What I love best is that they list and show pictures of just about everyone involved in a show, so I often discover people I know in casts, crews, orchestras, front-of-house staff, etc. that I didn't know were doing or had done a certain show. Except with actors, it can be difficult to find out who's working on shows most of the time. I also love the little stories from each show, I wish they all could be twice as long.