Playbill Stealing- Page 3

[BobbyBubby]

Posted: 11/14/09 at 12:16am

Chita can take as many as he/she wants. Playbills belong to no one. They're "of the people".

I hope my kid never asks me where Playbills come from. That's going to be one awkward talk.

[Fosse76]

Posted: 11/14/09 at 12:49am

"Didn't you see what Emma wrote? Nobody owns them! They're public property."

No, they're not. You people are delusional to think that you have a right to take as many Playbills as you want, or that by grabbing them from the usher's stack that you aren't stealing. The Playbills are the property of the theater that passes them out until a staff member of that theater actually hands one to you. All you people who take handfuls of Playbills can actually contribute to Playbill shortages. There are several instances where a show (Cat on A Hot Tin Roof, All My Sons, Equus, Hamlet, and yes, A Steady Rain, to name a few) have all had Playbill shortages because people like you think you can take as many as you want. Playbill doesn't send an endless supply to the theater, they send little more than the equivalent of a week's performances to each theater.

What is left over (if any) is used the next week. The only time Playbills are discarded is when there is a cast change in the program that can't be inserted (point of fact: Playbill has to pay the theater/ushers extra if an insert is required for cast changes...even understudies).

[Marquise]

Posted: 11/14/09 at 12:50am

I'd never acquire the 710 Playbills that I currently have if I didn't do this!

Wow! I'm impressed!!!






/sarcasm

[Toowylde]

Posted: 11/14/09 at 1:50am

I usually ask for an extra (did so tonight at The Addams Family) and usually receive one. I rarely take more than one in addition to the one I am "entitled" to.

I have, on occasion, wanted to get autographs after a show I didn't attend and have gone into the theater when people were leaving and asked for one. I have always received one with no problem.

At one of the closing nights of 9 to 5 the security guard at the stage door had some to give to anyone who needed it for an autograph. Of course the show was closing the next day so they knew that had extra.

I do think the outrage that was displayed about taking extras is a bit over the top. If I want more than the 2 given to me on my way in, I usually grab ones left on top of people's seats when walking out. It is unlikely (and I've been an usher) that these will be put back into "the pile".

I don't usually feel the need to ever walk out with more than 3 Playbills for any show - two for me to get signed and one "spare". My impression (again, from being an usher) is that the theaters order at least twice the house capacity... which says to me that taking 2 is always okay.

[orangeskittles]

Posted: 11/14/09 at 1:58am

Theres nothing wrong with taking extra because they're never gonna do anything with those programs anyway.

They're going to give them out to people the next night! Pick up the discarded ones from off the floor if you must have 5 for whatever ridiculous purposes they serve for you.

[Aswatrowinkenbo]

Posted: 11/14/09 at 2:27am

In Seattle we don't even get Playbills. We get a locally made thing called an Encore Arts program. They're twice the size of a Playbill so there's plenty of room for signatures. I've got a nice pile of those from various shows. I only take extras on occasion because everyone in my family gets one and then just gives it to me afterwards. I usually only get one signed and add the rest to my growing collection. I think I only have 6 actual Playbills.

[winston89]

Posted: 11/14/09 at 2:45am

Hey Eris, I can be insulting with pictures too!!! And at least semi comical

Enjoy

Updated On: 11/14/09 at 02:45 AM

[ljay889]

Posted: 11/14/09 at 2:48am

Holy Crap.

[blaxx]

Posted: 11/14/09 at 2:48am

Whoa, Winston! You're gonna get banned! I recommend you find another image to get your point across before the mods notice.

[ljay889]

Posted: 11/14/09 at 2:56am

Wow. Were blaxx and I the only ones to see Winston's original picture?

[blaxx]

Posted: 11/14/09 at 3:02am

I think that image won for the most disturbing post I've ever seen around here.

[ljay889]

Posted: 11/14/09 at 3:23am

Extremely disturbing.

Posted: 11/14/09 at 3:51am

I always take at least 5 Playbills and use them to wallpaper every room in my house.

Posted: 11/14/09 at 4:11am

""You guys in America are very lucky to get free Playbills, in the West End we have to buy Theatre Programmes and they cost anything between $6 - $14, but they do have a lot more info in them an some have production photos
"

I think they are different though. US have programs that cost money too, with photos etc.. and Info.

Playbills are like, advertising with a cast list and some biographies, aren't they? (I.e. programs in the UK aren't equivalent).

Without music the world would Bb."

I haven't been to London since 2000 but there is a difference. Ibelieve even then we had to pay for the regular ones--and then certain shows would have the big souvenir programs too--the musicals etc. I usually always buy one but since I ended up seeing 12 shows in 6 days in London and had no money I made do with just buying the regular ones. But it is a different situation than N AMerica (and most of the plays I saw the program came with the entire script...)

What a revelatory thread

[millie_dillmount]

Posted: 11/14/09 at 9:30am

blaxx/ljay, what was the original picture?

I might have taken an extra playbill before (after the show) - I don't even remember - but I don't really because I don't see the point. I already have too many Playbills. If I want an extra one, I'll ask.

Besides, whoever says they don't use them, they need to have enough to hand out to other patrons!

[SNAFU]

Posted: 11/14/09 at 5:26pm

I will take an extra off the floor, specially if it has the ass dent of the person who sat on it after leaving on their chair at intermission.

[tommigyrl5]

Posted: 11/14/09 at 5:38pm

if I have worked in the theater before and know it well, I usually take one from the stack and go to my seat without waiting to be seated.

[Fosse76]

Posted: 11/16/09 at 12:21am

"I do think the outrage that was displayed about taking extras is a bit over the top. If I want more than the 2 given to me on my way in, I usually grab ones left on top of people's seats when walking out. It is unlikely (and I've been an usher) that these will be put back into "the pile"."

That's not the same thing, though, as taking Playbills from bundled stacks or from the usher's pile. Playbills left behind are not reused, so it's perfectly fine to take those.

"My impression (again, from being an usher) is that the theaters order at least twice the house capacity... which says to me that taking 2 is always okay."

No, they don't. Some shows may have an advance shipment of Playbills, but they aren't "extras." During the Queens blackout a few years ago, Hairspray actually had an advance shipment of Playbills, but they couldn't be distributed because they reflected cast changes that had not yet occurred. Theaters don't order Playbills in the typical sense of ordering, since they are actually paid by Playbill to distribute them.

[Eris0303]

Posted: 11/16/09 at 12:35am

1) Why would you ever need more than one copy of a playbill for the same exact show? Really. I actually don't get it. One is more than enough.

Various reasons. Some people like to frame one with the window card and keep one to look at. Sometimes people grab one for a friend who can't see the show. I've asked for an extra on a few occasions. Usually because someone who lives out of town and asked for one.

I hope my kid never asks me where Playbills come from. That's going to be one awkward talk.

Just tell them about the stork

I was called a hippie...I'm crying.

Updated On: 11/16/09 at 12:35 AM

[trombonist]

Posted: 11/16/09 at 5:56am

While I rarely take more than the one I was given unless a friend specifically asked for one, I could maybe see picking up an extra or two the first time you see a show for the reasons eris mentioned. But I know people who grab a handful no matter how many times they've seen a show. (One of them at least admits it's a compulsion - which really only makes me want to put myself between him and the stack when we see shows together.) That is what I think is ridiculous.

[iflip4musicals]

Posted: 11/16/09 at 11:56am

I always grab an extra one for my sister, and she does the same for me. I just ask the ushers and they've always obliged. There was one show (I can't remember which, I think Mary Stuart) where they just asked me to wait til intermission to make sure they had enough.

re producers paying for color playbills, the producers pay for b&w ones as well, they are just cheaper, if that hasn't already been discussed.

and re the stage door guy at the Marquis giving out extras after 9 to 5, they'll do that for any show at any performance.

[Fosse76]

Posted: 11/16/09 at 12:19pm

"re producers paying for color playbills, the producers pay for b&w ones as well, they are just cheaper, if that hasn't already been discussed."

No, they don't. Paybill pays the theater owners to distribute the Playbills. The only time a producer pays is when they want the covers to be in color. If there is a cast correction insert, Playbill pays an additional fee to the ushers.

"and re the stage door guy at the Marquis giving out extras after 9 to 5, they'll do that for any show at any performance."

That's not always true. Most stagedoors don't have Playbills. And many shows with high-profile stars will ban its staff from distributing extra Playbills, even when asked (though it is ultimately up to the staff member to decide whether or not to give out an extra Playbill).

[Ed_Mottershead]

Posted: 11/16/09 at 12:28pm

I have been collecting Playbills since I started going to the NY theatre -- and that was 1955. I, too, always try to grab several, BUT only those that were left behind by some other theatregoer and are lying on the floor in the seating area. I don't feel guilty because these "used" Playbills will be discarded anyway.

[iflip4musicals]

Posted: 11/16/09 at 12:31pm

Fosse, I was under the impression that the producers still had to pay some sort of fee for the playbills regardless of color, but I guess that was wrong.
I was also just talking about at the Marquis. Every time I've been at the stage door there (Drowsy Chaperone on), they always offer playbills to those who don't have them.

[jeffmiele]

Posted: 11/16/09 at 3:03pm

http://www.youtube.com/user/rorygilmo5#p/a/u/0/iDKspuSp-U0

watch the first 60 seconds.. absolutely rediculous