Playbill Shortage?
Playbill Shortage?
#1Playbill Shortage?
Posted: 12/6/11 at 12:01am
Last night at Priscilla, there was a shortage of playbills. One per group, no matter how big the group. I saw them give one playbill to a group of six, and I think that is atrocious. They were saying that the playbill truck either had an accident or was stuck in traffic somewhere, but everyone in the audience should be entitled to a playbill. Imagine, your first Broadway show and you don't get one of the signature programs?
I'm just wondering, were any other Sunday or Sunday night shows short on playbills? Luckily they had them today when I went back to the box office.
willep
Broadway Legend Joined: 9/20/08
#2Playbill Shortage?
Posted: 12/6/11 at 12:19amIn other countries you have to pay for any sort of program. We should be thankful we get any for free.
#2Playbill Shortage?
Posted: 12/6/11 at 12:32amI think "atrocious" is a bit strong. Shlt happens. The playbill truck didn't come. The people still got to see the show and if they wanted a playbill so bad, when it was over I'm sure they picked one of the thousand that had been left on the floor up, kissed it and held it against their hearts while thanking whichever God they believed in that they now had this glorious keepsake that only a few hours before had been wrongfully ripped out of their grasps.
bwayfan7000
Broadway Legend Joined: 3/28/09
#3Playbill Shortage?
Posted: 12/6/11 at 12:40amI love getting playbills so I would be disappointed if I couldn't have one. Though I would probably end up being the one person in my group who cares enough to get the one allotted to us anyway, so...
SondheimFan5
Broadway Legend Joined: 6/20/10
#4Playbill Shortage?
Posted: 12/6/11 at 12:43ameven if you didn't get one at the beginning, i'm sure there'd be at least a hundred on the floor after the performance
#5Playbill Shortage?
Posted: 12/6/11 at 12:44amI suppose those are tainted since they weren't given to "YOU".
dramamama611
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/4/07
#6Playbill Shortage?
Posted: 12/6/11 at 5:37am
Atrocious? Really?
If they didn't have what could they have done about it. That can't simply conjure them.
Grow up.
#7Playbill Shortage?
Posted: 12/6/11 at 5:40amI had to pay £7 ($10.96) for a programme in the West End last week. I wish we had them free!
#8Playbill Shortage?
Posted: 12/6/11 at 6:01amSo you saw Ghost. Outrageous, isn't it?
#9Playbill Shortage?
Posted: 12/6/11 at 6:42amI don't think it is, since West End programmes are of a much better quality than a playbill (especially the big ones at Ghost/Legally etc)
winston89
Broadway Legend Joined: 6/18/06
#10Playbill Shortage?
Posted: 12/6/11 at 8:57am
Are playbills nice to get? Sure they are. However, they aren't (at least in my opinion) needed. If I didn't get one for the reasons that the OP mentioned, it would be not that big a deal to me. After all, all the information that is about the show that you're about to see that is in a playbill can be found online.
And the last time I was in London it was 2005. And at the shows I saw (Les Miserables, Reduced Shakespeare Company and Blood Brothers) they has two different kinds of programs for sale. One was the same kind that is sold on Broadway. And the other one was smaller and was basically the London version of a playbill. Considering that they charge for them in London, I am glad that we can get ours for free here and not have to pay. With them being given away for free in pretty much every theater in America, I would not take that for granted. I woul be lucky when I do get one, and if I cannot for some reason then be lucky for all the times I have gotten one.
husk_charmer
Broadway Legend Joined: 10/19/06
#11Playbill Shortage?
Posted: 12/6/11 at 10:15amI ran into this when the national tour of Wicked was in Dallas last year (year before?) b/c Jayne Houdyshell was only temproarily filling in and very last minute and they didn't have enough inserts, so to make sure they could follow AEA policy they were giving out 1 per person.
#12Playbill Shortage?
Posted: 12/6/11 at 10:40amIs the Equity rule that there has to be notification in 2 of 3 ways (announcement, insert, board in the lobby)? If so, they don't follow that very frequently in Atlanta. Usually the only way you know if there is an understudy on is by looking at the cast board in the lobby. One of the few times I've seen an insert was when someone had taken over a lead role from whoever was listed in the program.
SondheimFan5
Broadway Legend Joined: 6/20/10
#13Playbill Shortage?
Posted: 12/6/11 at 11:34am
It is an AEA requirement that they must do 2 of 3 things: Announcement, Sign in the Lobby, Slip in the Playbill.
Do the London playbills have advertisements in them? Because advertising covers the costs here in the US
#14Playbill Shortage?
Posted: 12/6/11 at 12:04pmMy parents recycle theirs when they get home from shows. So, not everyone feels the same way about the playbills. And I agree that you could just pick them up off the floor of the theater afterwards. That's how I got flowers and a flyer from Hair.
#15Playbill Shortage?
Posted: 12/6/11 at 12:14pm
Yes, most London theatre programs do contain advertising. Some of the fringe theatres do not.
An interesting phenomenon in London is the use in some theatres - the Royal Court and the Young Vic spring to mind - of play texts as programs. These contain pages in the front with cast information and bios as per usual. But it's great to walk out of the theatre with the complete script of the play you've just seen.
#16Playbill Shortage?
Posted: 12/6/11 at 12:22pmWest End programs also often contain other supplementary info about the show- essays about the work itself or about the production, rehearsal photographs, etc.
#17Playbill Shortage?
Posted: 12/6/11 at 2:38pm
Alright, my word choice was a little dramatic (aren't we all?). I'm just saying, don't tell me to grow up, because the group of 85 year old ladies behind me were the biggest whiners of the night. I just happen to the person to bring up the point.
Anyways, I guess you are right in saying it is nice that we have them for free unlike the West End, but part of the ticket price goes to print them, where as the West End tickets do not cover the program costs.
Also, because of the shortage, there was not one playbill on the ground after the show. I glanced through all the rows I passed walking out and I was shocked, because we all know how the floor usually looks.
Updated On: 12/6/11 at 02:38 PM
#18Playbill Shortage?
Posted: 12/6/11 at 2:52pmThe point is, the incident in question was an aberration. It's not like there is a great Playbill shortage on Broadway. Trucks break down or get stuck in traffic or whatever. Accidents occur. I'm sure that the very next performance had the right amount of Playbills.
Ed_Mottershead
Broadway Legend Joined: 10/20/05
#19Playbill Shortage?
Posted: 12/6/11 at 3:56pmI saw both Lysistra Jones and Clear Day last weekend and at the end there were zillions all over the place. I have been a passionate program collector for over 60 years but appreciate that they don't mean all that much to everybody in the audience. It's unfortunate about the screwup with the truck, but I am POSITIVE that there were some left by people that just don't consider them worth keeping once the show is over.
#20Playbill Shortage?
Posted: 12/6/11 at 4:02pm
I took this picture just a little while ago down the street. It seems the Playbill truck is back in business so no more virgin theater goers will go home crying that they couldn't pick a playbill off the ground.
#21Playbill Shortage?
Posted: 12/6/11 at 4:24pm
It's not like there is a great Playbill shortage on Broadway.
Ah, yes. I remember the Great Playbill Shortage of 2011. Those were hard times.
#22Playbill Shortage?
Posted: 12/6/11 at 5:29pmI have a Playbill from every Broadway show I've seen over the last 30 years. I also buy the Playbill annual (now up to number 7) every year, but, if you don't get a Playbill or lose one there is a fabulous new website - www.playbillvault.com, with a searchable database of Playbills. I bet it will soon be one of my most visited websites.
gypsy4
Broadway Legend Joined: 8/14/07
#23Playbill Shortage?
Posted: 12/6/11 at 9:27pmI remember receiving a Playbill from the west end from a friend who had seen Mary Poppins. Pretty cool than what we use in the US it even featured a Picture from "anything can happen if you let it" on the front cover.
#24Playbill Shortage?
Posted: 12/6/11 at 9:48pm
"...but part of the ticket price goes to print them, where as the West End tickets do not cover the program costs."
No sorry, this is not true. Ticket prices do not include the cost of producing, printing, and distributing Playbills. Neither the producers or theatre owners pay for Playbill service. The Playbills are provided free of charge. Playbill covers the costs with the advertisements in the books.
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