Retro Playbill Covers to be distributed at every Broadway show in October, for company's 140th anniversary

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 9/24/24 at 11:05am

This is very cool! Can't wait to see them.



Playbill is getting ready to celebrate our 140th anniversary in style—retro style. Playbill, the leading theatre resource and memento since our founding in 1884, has worked with every Broadway show to create a special set of Playbill Legacy Covers that will be handed out to theatregoers throughout the month of October. Attendees will get one of four special, commemorative Legacy covers, each paying tribute to the different historical eras of Playbill and Broadway. The custom artwork will be a separate wrap-around to the show's regular Playbill, giving theatregoers and collectors a two-for-one memento.

The covers themselves will be unveiled October 1 here at Playbill.com. Stay tuned.

The Playbill design eras used for inspiration on the retro covers include 1934's Merrily We Roll Along (the play that inspired the Stephen Sondheim-George Furth musical), 1955's Damn Yankees, 1966's Mame, and 1973's A Little Night Music. Playbill has worked closely with each show to develop four new custom covers, each that imagines what its Playbill might have looked like had the show played the Main Stem decades ago.

https://playbill.com/article/playbill-is-going-retro-to-celebrate-our-140th-anniversary-in-october

Updated On: 9/24/24 at 11:05 AM

[EDSOSLO858]

Posted: 9/24/24 at 11:07am

This looks AWESOME!!!

[steven22]

Posted: 9/24/24 at 11:18am

This is awesome!

[Kad]

Posted: 9/24/24 at 11:24am

What a great idea. Looking forward to seeing each show's designs!

[Huss417]

Posted: 9/24/24 at 12:37pm

Can't wait to see what they all look like as I won't be back in the city till beginning of November.

[EDSOSLO858]

Posted: 10/1/24 at 10:04am

Full October collection:

https://playbill.com/140-anniversary-playbills

[TotallyEffed]

Posted: 10/1/24 at 10:09am

Very nice!

[DCDrama2]

Posted: 10/1/24 at 10:14am

It's glaringly obvious which shows put effort into this and those that did not.

[BrodyFosse123]

Posted: 10/1/24 at 10:15am

Have to say it - the ones for OH, MARY and THE OUTSIDERS are beyond fantastic. 

[Kad]

Posted: 10/1/24 at 10:16am

Interesting to see which productions put time and thought into this and which didn't. Chicago and Oh, Mary nailed the assignment, unsurprisingly (I need that Oh, Mary Playbill parodying Bette!)

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 10/1/24 at 10:54am

DCDrama2 said: "It's glaringly obvious which shows put effort into this and those that did not."

Some of these are truly awful (and, in some cases, it's the shows with the worst key art to begin with, like Our Town and Left on Tenth). But I suppose Playbill cannot prescribe that shows conform to, for example, the second design era (B&W production photo, sans serif title).

Love MJ, Outsiders, Oh Mary, Chicago, Stereo, Mattress, Moulin, and the simplicity of the LCT one.

A few others have at least one good design (Hills of Cali, Hamilton, Job, Htown, Water for Elephants, Wicked).

Also interesting to see which ones work well with barely any adaptation (Cabaret, Lion King, Wonderful World).

[raddersons]

Posted: 10/1/24 at 11:13am

That Oh Mary / Bette Midler playbill is outstanding

[TheSassySam]

Posted: 10/1/24 at 11:21am

I love the Tammy Faye one of her singing! 

[ardiem]

Posted: 10/1/24 at 11:29am

Anyone have any sense of how will these be distributed? I suppose we'll find out soon but I'm curious if it's one design per performance, all available each performance but given out randomly, or if there's some choice involved.

[Danasi]

Posted: 10/1/24 at 11:40am

ardiem said: "Anyone have any sense of how will these be distributed? I suppose we'll find out soon but I'm curious if it's one design per performance, all available each performance but given out randomly, or if there's some choice involved."

I was wondering that too.  At first I thought it would be one design per week but the original announcement on Playbill said "Playbill is encouraging audience members to take one special Playbill per visit, and to strike up conversations with seat neighbors to share their own Broadway history and trade covers. "  which sounds like there will be multiple designs at a performance.  Coincidentally I'm going to & Juliet tonight, so I guess I'll see first hand

[MemorableUserName]

Posted: 10/1/24 at 11:58am

It's interesting that the McNeal covers are all shots of Lincoln Center instead of the show. They didn't phone it in since they obviously went to the effort of producing four separate images that match the individual themes. A matter of the theater being willing to participate but not the show? McNeal having secrets they didn't want to reveal (I haven't seen it)? Or following a history of showing Lincoln Center on their programs instead of the show (if there's one I'm not remembering)?

[MaddieBB12]

Posted: 10/1/24 at 12:53pm

My favorites are The Book of Mormon, Oh, Mary!, Once Upon a Mattress, Suffs (the BUTTONS! but I wish they had changed the font on the second one), and Wicked!

[Fosse76]

Posted: 10/1/24 at 12:54pm

ardiem said: "Anyone have any sense of how will these be distributed? I suppose we'll find out soon but I'm curious if it's one design per performance, all available each performance but given out randomly, or if there's some choice involved."

The designs are mixed together in the stacks sent to the theater. The usher hands you one from the stack. Done. They have been told not to rifle through stacks to look for specific designs,  you get what you get. (That doesn't mean there aren't ushers who won't accommodate you, but it's not something they are required to do).

EDIT

Each bundle of Playbills will have only one design,  and the ushers are not going to be required to distribute different versions (i.e., they can grab three bundles of the same design for distribution).

Updated On: 10/1/24 at 12:54 PM

[jkcohen626]

Posted: 10/1/24 at 12:54pm

TheSassySam said: "I love the Tammy Faye one of her singing!"

I really respect Tammy Faye for putting the effort in even though they only have 12 days on broadway during October. 

[jkcohen626]

Posted: 10/1/24 at 1:19pm

Oh Mary definitely wins this one. Absolutely no notes. They nailed the assignment. 

After Oh Mary are Outsiders, Little Shop, Moulin Rouge, Chicago, Hamilton, MJ, Job, and Hills of California. 

I wish Stereophonic wasn't just one picture, but I think they did a great job of making that picture look like each decade it's supposed to represent. 

I really love all four of Hadestown's designs. But, there's 60s production photo one just doesn't look very 60s. I'd love to see it done in full color as a special edition Playbill another time Hadestown wants to do one though. They really understood the assignment for the other three though. 

I think the Suffs 70s buttons Playbill might be my overall favorite single one though. It's just so perfect for that show! 

[Danasi]

Posted: 10/1/24 at 10:22pm

At &Juliet tonight, it looked like my usher had multiple designs. I heard a couple people mention the new, anniversary covers but didn't notice if anyone tried asking for more.

 

The anniversary cover is just placed over the standard, modern one, with a blurb about how they're doing the different covers this month for the anniversary on the inside.

[Ptero2]

Posted: 10/1/24 at 10:25pm

Can confirm ushers had multiple designs at Hills of California tonight. My friend and I received different covers.

[VintageSnarker]

Posted: 10/2/24 at 1:30am

I'm tempted to see Gatsby in October just for the playbills. The ones I really want are Chicago with Bebe, Wicked with Idina and Kristen, and the Suffs cover with Inez on the horse. The MJ and Little Shop covers are also really well done but I don't need to own them. I wonder if there'll be any of these anniversary covers floating around at future flea markets.

As of now, my only plans are to see Water For Elephants and Hadestown. Maybe I can trade with someone.

[ChrisTyler1288]

Posted: 10/2/24 at 6:16am

If Playbill was smart, they’d offer these for purchase online similar to their Opening Night Playbills. 

[lopside]

Posted: 10/2/24 at 7:49am

They're not selling playbills yet, but they do have posters with all the covers.