One Playbill per person please.......one or one-hundred- Page 4

[Mealz1042]

Posted: 6/2/07 at 10:00pm

antonijan wow, thats a great idea!

[Fosse76]

Posted: 6/2/07 at 11:56pm

"I agree - it's not stealing, afterall how can you steal something that is already free? Everything costs money to produce."

I don't care if you agree or not. It is stealing, and that IS a fact. Just because you receive the first one free when you are seated does not entitle you to take as many as you want. The show pays money for these programs. Just because they don't charge you for one doesn't mean it is free. Its cost is part of your ticket.

I used to take 10-15 after a show, for god knows what reason, but because of space have recently changed my philosophy. Now, at most I go home with two.

"As for Playbill, my understanding is that they do deliver as many playbills as there are seats in the house -- but will revise that based on attendance records. So if you're seeing JOURNEY'S END, what's the harm of taking 15 extra playbills? There were probably 15 empty seats behind you. But at WICKED, maybe you want to take just a few. "

The harm is you are STEALING from the production. Do you know whether or not they received enough programs for the week? As I said, the house staff are not permitted to use the following week's shipment if they run out. It is up to the show to order the correct number of programs.

"And if the ushers are so worried about people taking extra's, then they should lock up the playbills elsewhere in the theatre when the show starts to prevent people from grabbing from their stacks."

And how are they supposed to pass out Playbill's to latecomers if they've locked them away? But that's not the point. You shouldn't take what doesn't belong to you. You are handed ONE program. There is this overwhelming sense of entitlement on this board that is disturbing. And let me reiterate again. The Playbill's are NOT free. They are technically part of your ticket, since the production (not the theatre) actually pays for them. I hope one day you go see a show when the theatre has run out of programs. Then maybe then you'll understand how frustrating it can be for others not to receive programs.

Just my two cents.

[BDavis0092]

Posted: 6/3/07 at 12:26am

Oh chill out Fosse. Didn't you know there's a $2.43 playbill fee for each ticket which entitles you to at least 3 playbills...okay I made that up. But it's about as ridiculous as the theatre restoration fee.

But seriously, there's nothing wrong with taking another playbill. Because seriously, most people leave them in a theatre, throw them in the trash, or leave them on the subway after a show. For the few people who like to keep them and collect them, let them take another one.

[myManCape]

Posted: 6/3/07 at 12:29am

This past summer when the mayor advised everyone to conserve electricity for fear of a blackout Playbill did as well and did not print as many copies as they normally would have, which caused theatres to conserve. Les Miz had a very strict one playbill per person rule that week and the user even asked if people in the same party were willing to share.

Secondly some theatres do lock them away. The Hilton comes to mind as the primary example where they will leave about 5 on a table at the back of the orchestra for people who lose/forget theirs, but the stacks are locked away.

Thirdly, while I don’t doubt what Fosse is saying is true, I do know that the management often ignores these rules. I cant tell you how many times I’ve gotten the past months edition a week or two into the new month, similarly Opening night playbills are given out for the entire week of opening and there has been more then one occasion where I’ve gotten a playbill listing a cast member that has left the show within the past few weeks and an insert saying “[Show title] Welcomes [name] to the Company”

I know its wrong but I have to go along with most of the people in this thread and say that I usually grab an additional one for stage dooring. If they are opening night maybe I’ll take more than one (don’t you wish you grabbed a bunch at the Carrie opening night?).

[TheActr97J]

Posted: 6/3/07 at 12:59am

And how are they supposed to pass out Playbill's to latecomers if they've locked them away?

Now there's an idea! Maybe it would stop people from showing up late and acting like loud, rambunctious ***holes while taking their seats.

[B3TA07]

Posted: 6/3/07 at 1:02am

I don't think they like you taking extras at The Pirate Queen. They literally HID them after the start of the show and I was walking around the theatre looking for the stack and the usher gave me this "I know what you're doing and it's not gonna work" bitchy look. UGH. What a queen.

[Mealz1042]

Posted: 6/3/07 at 1:07am

"But seriously, there's nothing wrong with taking another playbill. Because seriously, most people leave them in a theatre, throw them in the trash, or leave them on the subway after a show. For the few people who like to keep them and collect them, let them take another one. "

yeah i dont see anything wrong with taking ONE other but not 15, thats just ridiculous.

Plus even though people leave them these people are taking the fresh ones. If you want extra, pick them up from the floor.

[SpellingBeeFan4Ever]

Posted: 1/21/08 at 9:41pm

Bumping

I counted 53 after a show once. This was 5 years ago when I was 9 and took as many as possible.

[SpellingBeeFan4Ever]

Posted: 1/21/08 at 9:41pm

Now I take 10-15.

Updated On: 1/21/08 at 09:41 PM

[Wanna Be A Foster]

Posted: 1/21/08 at 10:39pm

The show pays money for these programs.

WRONG.

Playbills are provided to productions for FREE, unless the producers request to have the Playbills printed in color, in which case they have to pay a fee.

The cost to produce Playbills is funded by the advertisers inside the Playbill, NOT by the productions of the shows.

Without the existence of the shows, there would be no reason for the advertisers to pay for the making of Playbills.

[Jane2]

Posted: 1/21/08 at 10:55pm

We have ours counted out to the size of the house that night, plus a few extra. That's why we would prefer not to give extras before the show. After the show, it makes sense to take those left by other patrons.

[MaronaDavies]

Posted: 1/21/08 at 10:56pm

The productions also have to pay every time they have a cast, photo or staff change (which can be every single week, in the case of many musicals). There are also labor costs involved with all the people who have to stack the Playbills, carry them to the aisles, stuff them with the cast change slips, etc. So no, they're not "free" to the production.

I don't get why people feel the need to take from the ushers' stacks without asking. It's just rude. Is it really that much trouble to be polite and ASK instead of just grabbing whatever you want?

I was at Chicago once when I saw someone snatch a Playbill from the usher's stack. He ended up toppling them all over and all the little pieces of paper that had been stuffed in the programs went flying all over the place. Did the guy stop and pick everything up? No, he shrugged and walked on. What did it matter, he had his Playbill. And in the meantime, the usher looked as though he was going to cry, because he had to stop seating people to clean up the mess. My friend and I helped him pick everything up. Sometimes there's a real reason they ask you not to take from the stacks.

[COOOOLkid]

Posted: 1/21/08 at 11:43pm

I don't understand people who take 10+ playbills. Even if you take one 'clean' one and one for stagedooring, what are you going to do with those two playbills? Are you going to frame both of them up on your wall?

[Lorelai]

Posted: 1/21/08 at 11:48pm

Well, for what it's worth I usually ask for an extra one first and if they won't give me one I'll grab a couple off the stack at the top of the row at intermission or, if the usher is mean about it, I'll grab it while they are ushering other people. I usually pay full price for a ticket so I don't think grabbing one or two extra copies is too bad. But that's just me. I wouldn't judge anyone who took more or less.

[COOOOLkid]

Posted: 1/21/08 at 11:52pm

^ That's like saying, "I bought a meal at McDonald's so I'm sure I can take as many ketchup packets as I want, and save it to use some at home. It's free so I'm sure it's okay."

You should only take however much you need. Playbill is something you read; it isn't given to the patrons so they have something that the cast can sign or to decorate your room.

[Robos89]

Posted: 1/22/08 at 1:35am

I usually take 2. Those are for me to keep. I have two of every Playbill.

When I see Playbills in good condition left behind by patrons I don't hesitate to take those as well, but those are simply for my friends who also like to have some Playbills for their collection.

[fnyboi88]

Posted: 1/22/08 at 1:41am

When I saw Spring Awakening, I sat in the isle seat of the first row of the rear mezz., and under my seat is where the usher kept her stash of playbills. So I took one to get signed.

[Chrissy*J]

Posted: 1/22/08 at 3:22am

When I went to the Gershwin this past weekend to pick up a Wicked playbill for a friend who lives in CA, I asked someone that was standing on the stairs, checking tickets after intermission. He informed me that the box office has stacks of them, so I was able to get 2 playbills without even seeing the show.

[LifeofTheParty2]

Posted: 1/22/08 at 3:28am

I'm still not getting why everyone seems so completely opposed to JUST ASKING the usher or house staff. Does it feel like more of a victory if you are able to take the Playbill from the stack yourself?

Personally, I usually had extra and would gladly oblige to anyone who asked for one or two more. But there was nothing worse than having a group of latecomers show up and not having enough Playbills to hand them because someone "figured out" where I kept them and helped themselves.

[masb19872]

Posted: 1/22/08 at 8:57am

I usually ask for extras, or take some on my way out. Which is why I have 75 playbills from Company's closing show. I usually take five or six, so I have one for signatures, one to label and keep pretty, and then extras either to give to friends, or in case the labelled one gets destroyed. And why should people feel bad about taking more than one? If you walk by theatre's dumpsters after whenever they change their playbills, there are usually hundreds of extras still tied up.
Updated On: 1/22/08 at 08:57 AM

[Jane2]

Posted: 1/22/08 at 9:32am

"Which is why I have 75 playbills from Company's closing show. "

May I ask why you need three stacks of playbills from one show? Are you saying that none of those ended up in the garbage?
I don't know, that just sounds wrong.

[husk_charmer]

Posted: 1/22/08 at 10:20am

I usually take no more than 3, the only time I didn't was at the revival of SLY FOX, when the bitchy usher just sort of pointed generically at our seats...so all of us swiped 5 or 6.

[AngActing]

Posted: 1/22/08 at 2:20pm

The people who take 15 or 20, I have found, sell them on eBay a lot of the time; for profit.

Personally, I take 2 to 5 of those left behind when everyone leaves -- as someone pointed out; they would've been taken anyway by the patron who left it behind. I take a few as I have some scrapbooks for different pictures, etc., keep one whole one for my collection and to give away others for friends who don't live here and are fans.

I used to usher Broadway shows, too -- and those stacks at the end of rows, etc. is where we stored them for each show. Daily, though, they gave us boxes and boxes of them. I'm sure they still do. Now sure how much money it costs the theatre's, though.

It is sort of shameful, though, if people profit on eBay from the extra copies as, technically, it is stealing for profit and most likely illegal. Of course, Broadway sells bunches of them at the "Broadway Flea Market" and donate that money to a great cause -- Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS

[LimelightMike]

Posted: 1/22/08 at 2:37pm

Re: THe Pirate Queen

When I went to see it on April the 12th, leaving the theatre, my friend (who knows I'm BIG into collecting, blah, blah, blah) and I went up the asile, scowering about the ones that were left behind. That's what they get when I win tickets, front row center, and there are 29 rows in the orchestra alone. Haha! Needless to say, I have about 20-someodd kept away. PQ and Beauty..., I have many of those, too! I don't take them from the back, though, I find them lying there -- the ones in good condition, I snag 'cause nobody's there anymore to pick them up, etc., etc. Just my two cents!

Best,
- Mike

[orangeskittles]

Posted: 1/22/08 at 2:53pm

What the hell do you people do with 10 extra Playbills? I barely have room to store the 1 per show; I can't imagine what I would do with the thousands of repeat Playbills if I did the same thing.