Playbill - colored vs. black and white

[secondstar2theright]

Posted: 9/27/12 at 11:17am

I was going through tumblr and noticed that some people had colored playbills. I just checked and the ones I have are pretty much all black and white? When do they give out colored playbills (I am referring to the cover)? Is it only for special performances like opening night, 100th performance, etc.?

[little_sally]

Posted: 9/27/12 at 11:19am

Colored playbills are generally given out early in shows' runs (unless it's Roundabout, whose playbills never seem to be colored). Shows switch to black and white eventually to save money.

[thommg]

Posted: 9/27/12 at 5:18pm

The producers pay to have a cover in color. Shows usually start with this as it give the perception that it is a big hit! Some big hits maintain the color covers while the show trying to get by switch to black and white to save money.

[winston89]

Posted: 9/27/12 at 7:09pm

Also, there are shows that, despite doing well, still switch to black and white just because it's a nice but not needed expense. An example of this is Billy Elliot.

[thetinymagic2]

Posted: 9/27/12 at 8:03pm

At first I thought, reading the thread title quickly, that this was a "racist" thread posted by Jim Colyer, White Supremacist.lol.

[little_sally]

Posted: 9/27/12 at 11:02pm

I saw Chaplin two weeks ago (a few days after it opened) and received a black and white playbill.

[AEA AGMA SM]

Posted: 9/27/12 at 11:27pm

I believe the Playbill cover for Chaplin was intentionally designed to be in black and white.

[secondstar2theright]

Posted: 9/28/12 at 12:44am

Ooh that makes sense. Thanks guys!

TheTinyMagic - haha that would've made this a much more interesting thread for sure!

[wexy]

Posted: 9/28/12 at 9:28am

tiny, I thought the same thing.....