Is a Playbill Magazine subscription worth it?

[BroadwayBoy2]

Posted: 12/8/08 at 9:21am

Does anyone subscribe to this? Thoughts on it?

[BrodyFosse123]

Posted: 12/8/08 at 9:35am

Nope.

Each month's issue is the exact same Playbill given at each theatre, so if you're a frequent visitor to Broadway shows, you're paying for what you are getting for free at the theatre.

Also, all of the articles appear on Playbill.com, so that should answer any question you many still have about subscribing.

I used to subscribe many years ago. That was one subscription I never renewed.

[Patash]

Posted: 12/8/08 at 9:42am

As a person who lives out of town and normally only makes one, possibly two, major theatre trips to New York, it was always rather entertaining as I didn't get that many different Playbills. Then I discovered you can get all those articles online at playbill.com for free, plus many more. So I dropped my subscription to the actual magazine.

Now the big annoyance is that playbill.com sends at least one email every single day. When I'm not going to New York for the better part of the year, these are really annoying. Yet the only way not to get them is to drop your free membership in their "club" and then you are not elegible for the discounts.

[adamgreer]

Posted: 12/8/08 at 10:06am

Everything in the print magazine is available for free online.

[Ed_Mottershead]

Posted: 12/8/08 at 10:12am

A friend gave me a subscription the year that it started (1981 or 1982, I believe) and I've renewed ever since. Yes, they include all the articles that are in the Playbill you get in theatre, but there are other features (London reviews, more Off-Broadway news, etc.). Although they're posted on the Internet, I find flipping through the old issues fun -- particularly for the earlier years. The cost is nominal ($24/year) and, IMO, well worth the expense. Just my thoughts.

[jaystarr]

Posted: 12/8/08 at 10:18am

NO.

BrodyFosse is right. same playbill they gave at each Broadway show. He gave you the best answer! This just my opinion- magazine is kinda a thing in the past. You will get more news, stories and features and even drama (LOL!) in the internet! like bww.

At this economy- you should save all the money you can. Plus I really dont see the point of buying CD or magazine where you can download it on the internet or read it online. For me its more ecological friendly (less waste and less trees to cut) and that's just me~ I am not big into collecting things anymore of "physically- holding" them. I find it useless!

Edit: At the state of our planet- WE OUGHTA BE THINKING what is the best for our environment "FIRST" than our collection~which more likely you will get tired of it in the future. In my case- I live in the Northeast- space is an important issue for me. I burned all my 400 plus OBCR and donated all it to my local Library. I NEVER buy anymore physical CD. I always download it via internet. I would rather have some o kid benefit from it thru the library and discover the music of Broadway than collect dust at my shelves! Fyi- your CD and its package is a NON- BIO DEGRADABLE product. Most likely your plastic CD will outlive you...and pollute our planet!

THINK WISE and BE RESPONSIBLE!

J*


Updated On: 12/8/08 at 10:18 AM

[BrodyFosse123]

Posted: 12/8/08 at 10:51am

I agree with Jaystarr on the whole 'pack rat' routine. For years I kept every single Playbill I came across (dating from my grandparent's collection starting in the 1940's), plus tons of old magazines and clippings just about everything. I had boxes full of stuff in storage that I NEVER even looked at -- for years. One day, I just blindly dumped all those boxes (over 20) that were just sitting in storage into a recylcling dumpster. That was 2 years ago and I've never regretted it one bit. The only theatre material I've kept were the hundreds of souvenir program books. Everything else -- gone.