How important is merchandise to your theatre experience?

So I was at the FoxWoods for SPIDER-MAN and there were more merch stands than i felt necessary. Like 4. And then a gift shop, not to mention Spider-Man selling photos in the lobby.
And while I'm a huge merchandise fan (i actually wouldn't mind working merchandise for a show sometime)... I found it a little ridiculous. Does anyone else feel the same?

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I never buy any merchandise but I have no problems with Spider-Man having all those merch stands. There are a lot of people in that theatre.

I'm not sure what this has to do with your theatre experience but from the way you posted it's as if this really bothered you. You have the option to walk straight on by all of the merch tables so it shouldn't have affected your experience at all.

I'm not a big merch person at all. I mainly go to the theatre with student rush tickets, so a trip to the stand might actually double the money I spend that evening. With my limited budget, if I'm going to spend $30-40 on something theatre-related, it had better be a ticket!

I have a couple of odds and ends, but they were mostly bought online when they were on sale. I've got a mug from A Little Night Music and a keychain from La Cage. Oh, and the tote bag from War Horse.

I’ll usually get a souvenir cup from one of the Nederlander houses, and a windowcard if I really love the show’s artwork.

^ That's what I do too. Most things I don't need from the theatre. But, if I can get it later on reduced, I might buy it.

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I always pick up a souvenir program. it's always fun to look at before the show starts and then after the experience, I also love reading the excerpts from the creative team.

I always get a program if they have them. And I will ALWAYS buy a poster if BC/EFA is offering them signed.

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Souvenir program and magnet, if available (I was disappointed that there was no merchandise of any kind for the recent Death of a Salesman). My better half usually gets a tee-shirt.

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I always buy the program (if available) and save my PLYABILL.
If the tee shirt(s) appeal to me, I get that(those) as well

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Updated On: 7/5/12 at 12:44 PM

I used to get merchandise, but don't any more. I found that (1) it became a little too intrusive on my small house and storage and (2) I rarely looked at it or used it.

Mugs and t-shirts are the most useful things, but how many t-shirts and mugs can you have?

I think the ephemeral nature of theater (here today, gone tomorrow) begs for you to have something that helps you remember the show. Here is what I do...

I get an extra Playbill (one to protect and keep sacred), I pick up whatever free flyers or pamphlets they have on the show (with pictures - the poor man's show program) and I take pictures of:

(a) the exterior of the theaters (i.e., full pic of the theater and the marquee, both daytime and nighttime)
(b) the artwork outside the theater (cast list and any scene pictures)
(c) the show posters in Shubert Alley/around Times Square

Between those and the free pamplets/flyers (which usually have pictures as well), I have a keepsake that is almost as good as a show program.

I have pictures of theaters in NYC that I have taken going back to 1987 - that is 25 years of theater history (some of the photos are digital and some developed from film because back in the day, digital did not exist). I find the pictures of theaters and their marquees very interesting - it is a snapshot frozen in time and really gives you the feel of what it was like to be there at the theater. My "collection" represents the history of how theater has evolved since I have been going to NYC (look at some old B'way theater pics - in the old days, they looked more like movie marquees than what we have now).

It is always fun for me to see old films or TV shows (like the opening credits for the TV show That Girl) that show theaters from the time (the opening credits starting with the second year of That Girl showed snippets of theater marquees and if memory serves, they included the original Cabaret and Cactus Flower).

The next best thing is the show program (mostly musicals though).

Updated On: 7/5/12 at 03:30 PM

I dont purchase much merch and I feel bad for some theatre fans who should be on Hoarders.Most of the stuff is useless crap. I used to buy a program to every show I saw until I realized I never looked at them and never had any place to store them.

I actually prefer to get one Playbill and have actors sign my smudged up one, because that is the Playbill that I had the experience with. That's the one matters to me. I then file it in my binder.

Cast recordings are hard enough to store. I cant even think about mugs, shirts, lighters, pillboxes, pillows, towels, etc.

I will purchase BC/EFA signed windowcards only if it is a show that I personally enjoyed. I dont buy blank windowcards anymore. What the hell would I do with them.

My signed windowcards are all professionally framed at JoAnns (with a 60% off coupon) and look great.

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Very rarely will I ever buy anything at the theatre.

Though, admittedly, last week, I bought myself the script to HARVEY post-show. I was enraptured, and wanted to remember the laughs!

"I always wanted there to be a CARRIE mug that was an aluminum bucket on the outside and red on the inside.

But I guess that would just be too 'campy'."

haha that would be awesome! I would buy one of those.