Playbill at 140

Playbill at 140 

In this age of everything going digital, it seems unlikely a print magazine would still have a place in popular culture. And yet, Playbill endures. Now, it is celebrating its 140th birthday! Check it all out HERE.

I make no secret of my personal love for the brand - I've often shared my collection, not just of the booklets, but posters, binders, framed opening night versions, and my much loved trading cards. 

 

My 1st Playbill: Mame (1983)

My most recent Playbill: Once Upon a Mattress (2024)

I love every single one of my Playbills, and it is still something I look forward to getting every time I see a show. It never gets old. The one time I didn't get one as I sat down - the 1997 revival of Cabaret, I felt somehow a bit lost without it! Personally, I will be heartbroken if and when the day comes that they go the way of printed tickets...

If you are still on Twitter or Instagram, you'll see some really nifty tributes by the casts of the current Broadway shows as they show off each of the four new special editions created by the company. Of course, you know I want one of each of them from every show!

Here are my favorites from each style:

This is my favorite whole set, from The Outsiders:

Congratulations, Playbill! Here's to another 140 years!

Broadway Collections: Playbill Cards

Somewhere between the baseball card boom and the advent of Lights of Broadway cards, Playbill gave us their version to trade. 

Broadway Collections:

Playbill Cards

While cleaning off and rearranging my shelves the other day, I came across a huge 3-ring binder down in the lower corner. Hard to believe I kinda forgot it was even there. I opened the cover and there they were. Dozens and dozens of collector sleeves filled with Playbill Cards! It was like running into an old friend after many years - a chance encounter that made the memories come flooding back.

Oh, the days gone by when pre-matinee and between shows time was spent running from Broadway theater shop to shop and getting down on the floor to comb through baskets of the black, white and yellow treats. All four of the merch shops kept them in baskets on the floor in corners of the room, and somehow it felt like those of us who knew they were there were in a special secret club.

Who knew there would be so much history on these pages?

The Phantom of the Opera and Into the Woods?

Patti LuPone's triumphant return to Broadway in Anything Goes?

Joel Grey's final Broadway turn as the Emcee in Cabaret?

Each season of Playbills were in a separate bag - you got the whole season at once, not packs of 5 where you had to buy dozens to get the whole set (not to mention a zillion repeats!). I'm pretty sure there were 31 sets altogether, ending with the 2007-08 season, and it nagged at me for years that I didn't find them all!  For the record, I have the 1977-78 & 1983-84 sets, then every set from 1987 on.

This page brings me back to where it all started - Mame 1983!

Getting a new set brought me such joy. I'd carefully handle each card (no fingerprints or bent corners!!) and slide them into the special card pages. Then I'd devour each one, taking the cover art work, then turning them over to read and reread each and every credit on the Opening Night title page. I know some other collectors (we'd met on the floor of the old store that used to be at the Marriott) arranged their cards alphabetically, but I arranged mine by opening night date.

Playbill didn't discriminate - even flops got their due.

This page has 3 of my favorite flops are on this page: 

Side Show, Triumph of Love and The Scarlet Pimpernel!

Now that I have them out, I think I'll re-devour each one, and all of the memories I have of shows, seen, missed, loved, hated. Sure, I can see the same thing and more online at the Playbill Vault, and get the details from a number of sources. But there is something wonderful about the simplicity and tangible nature of each 2x3 inch cardboard gem.

I would love to hear from any of you that have these, too! Leave a comment or email at jkstheatrescene@yahoo.com.

UPDATE: We're Almost Back!

Dear friends and JKTS fans, 

Here's an update about our impending return!

Already, our new Playbill sales page is up and ready for you to browse! (Click the tab above!) We have Playbills that go back into the nineties and all the way through THIS SEASON, we have special collections honoring the late Dame Angela Lansbury and Stephen Sondheim, as well as our monthly spotlight collection - this month featuring Patti LuPone! Literally hundreds of titles to choose from, some as low as $1! And as of right now, the next 3 of you who order will get an additional 20% off your entire order! Add to your own collection, or buy for your favorite theater fan - the holidays are coming up!

In the same vein, we have MANY Lights of Broadway cards for sale as well - including the special Beetlejuice cards. (Click the tab above!) Fill in the holes of your own collection, get the theater fans in your life started, or collect cards related to your favorite shows and actors!

And, while the site itself won't be running at full strength until right after Christmas, we will be back on Friday, November 11th with our review of Kimberly Akimbo, Wednesday, November 16th with our review of Almost Famous, Monday, November 21st with our review of K-Pop, and Monday, December 12th with our review of Some Like It Hot!

We are so excited to be back full-time starting Monday, December 26th, with regular columns every Monday, Wednesday and Friday!

Finally, we want to express our sincerest gratitude to all of you who have reached out to check on us, support us and to ask for us to come back. It means so much.

Here's to the joy and excitement of live theater!

Jeff

📸: LOB Cards artwork by "Squigs" Robertson

Broadway Games: How Well Do You Know Your Flop Playbills Covers

BROADWAY GAMES:

How Well Do You Know

Your Flop Playbill Covers?

Can you recognize these shows from their Playbill covers - just the banner and a little bit of the logo? Good luck!

1. 

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10. 

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Answers to Last Week's Game:

Broadway Games:

Sondheim Lyrics

1. "And are you beautiful and pale

With yellow hair

Like her?

I'd want you beautiful and pale

The way I've dreamed you were...

And if you're beautiful, what then

With yellow hair

Like wheat?

I think we shall not meet again

My little dove

My sweet..."

Song Title: "Johanna (reprise)"     Sondheim Show: Sweeney Todd

2. "Feel how it quivers

On the brink

What?

Everything

Gives you the shivers

Makes you think

There's so much stuff to sing

And you and me

We'll be singing it like the birds

Me with music and you the words

Tell 'em things they don't know

Up to us, pal, to show 'em"

Song Title: "Our Time"       Sondheim Show: Merrily We Roll Along

3. "I was younger then...

I saw everything...

I was hidden all the time...

It was easier to climb...

I was younger then...

I saw everything...

Where they came and where they went

I was part of the event!"

Song Title: "Someone in a Tree"     Sondheim Show: Pacific Overtures

4. "There are mouths to be kissed

Before mouths to be fed

And there's many a tryst

And there's many a bed

To be sampled and seen

In the meanwhile

And a girl has to celebrate what passes by..."

Song Title: "The Miller's Son"      Sondheim Show: A Little Night Music

5. "I thought I knew what love was

I wish we could have met so much sooner

I thought I knew what love was

I thought I knew how much I could feel

I thought I knew what love was

But now I do

It's what I feel with you"

Song Title: "Happiness"      Sondheim Show: Passion

CONTEST: Broadway Collections Photos (CANCELLED)

UNFORTUNATELY, WE HAVE HAD TO CANCEL THIS CONTEST AT THIS TIME. CHECK BACK SOON!

If you're a regular reader of this site, you know we are big time collectors of all things Broadway. We are pretty sure many of you are, too. Perhaps, like me, you collect Playbills and window cards. Or cast recordings on vinyl, books, scripts...magnets, key chains, mugs or t-shirts. On the other hand, maybe you collect everything you can get your hands on from your favorite shows. In any case, there's a ton of memorabilia out there to keep any collector busy.

So, we'd like to share some of our collections with you, and see some of yours in return! And you might win something!

Broadway Collections Contest

First, some of our collections:

Here are but a few of my window cards and special Playbills, and my quilt made from some of my t-shirt collection. As you can see, my collections cover a lot of Broadway shows.

Mike has collections from his favorite shows, Avenue Q and Fun Home!

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The Friday 5: 5 Broadway Things We've Done to Pass the Time

Empty 44th Street

Sigh. Here we all are. It's a nightmare if you think about it too much, really. But, and I'm not surprised, whenever there's a crisis, who can we turn to? The Broadway community! This time around, it's a little more difficult since Broadway is shut down for the foreseeable future. Necessity is the mother of invention, and we are forced to be even more creative!

In our corner of the world, we are coping in several ways and reaping the benefits of the community's ingenuity. None of this week's Friday 5 is revolutionary, and you probably are already doing most of these, or you've at least heard about them. Mostly, we want the therapy writing all of this down will provide.

Finally, we would love to hear what "Broadway stuff" is getting you through. Please Tweet or email (see above on the title bar).

The Friday 5:

5 Broadway Things We've Done to Pass the Time

In no particular order...

Reliving fond memories of Broadway through my Playbill Collection.
Regular readers know about my obsession with all things Playbill. Well, this is the perfect time to go through them! I have nearly 600 of them, which I found out when I cataloged them in my new Playbill collection spreadsheet. In the process, I've had the chance to look at them closely. I've discovered some great things - people I miss seeing in shows, people who were in the ensemble years ago who are now award-winning Broadway celebrities. Each one has holds a special memory, and it has been a nice way to balance the horror of reality.

Dusting off original cast recordings.
I have hundreds of these, too. And I am reacquainting myself with shows I haven't even thought of in ages. Recent re-discoveries include Floyd Collins, The Wild Party, the Debbie Allen Sweet Charity (man I love that version of the title tune, sung by Tony-winner Michael Rupert) and Barnum. Soon, I'll be delving into flops and super oldies. I've got my eye on Henry, Sweet Henry and The Canterbury Tales.

Seeing Broadway stars in their homes!
Thank you, Seth Rudetsky and Rosie O'Donnell! Bringing us awesome content and doing fundraising for The Actor's Fund. Listening to Ragtime stories straight from Audra and Stokes, listening to Audra, Kelli and Darren sing... and if you haven't had the chance you must check out Patti LuPone's basement series! She'a a little crazy, totally candid, and funny as hell! Then there is the Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber/Lin-Manuel Miranda dueling piano thing. What joy they bring with their talent and their warm humor. Did any of you see Betty Buckley's road trip home to Texas from New York? Fantastic!

Recreating the theater experience through video.
So far, I've enjoyed the Jesus Christ Superstar video from 2000 and the "ladies in red" sequence from the Sondheim Birthday Celebration. I'm thinking of combining the cast recording, video recording and book experience for each Sondheim show. Can't think of a better way to celebrate the great man's 90th birthday!

Theater books!
As many of you probably do, I have a pretty decent sized collection of Broadway books gathering dust. And so, I've begun (actually, re-begun) the two Sondheim books, Finishing the Hat and Look, I Made a Hat. Here's my plan: read the chapter about each show, play the CDs, and, if there is one, watch the video. That should hold me over until I finally get to see the Company revival, right?

Also, I recently bought a copy of Anastasia's Mark MacKillop's Room XIV, a collection of artistic NSFW photos from his world travels (underwear, mostly), including a personalized inscription, and a nice forward by Billy Porter. He sells them himself, supplementing his income - which he really needs now. To order, contact him via Twitter @mark_mackillop . He accepts Venmo and PayPal. It is a really wonderful book.

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