The Battle of the Bills: Playbill vs. Stagebill

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For years, Playbill reigned supreme as the go-to provider for Broadway programs. But in 1997, a scrappy competitor named Stagebill tried to change that.
This is the story of a cutthroat power struggle between two publishing powerhouses.
This is Playbill vs. Stagebill
Works cited: tinyurl.com/witwplaybill
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27 фев 2024

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Комментарии : 148

@WaitintheWings 5 месяцев назад

We can't make these docs without you! Enjoy our Patreon community and get access to our year long live virtual speaker series with past WitW Interviewees for less than a single Broadway ticket: www.patreon.com/witw

@utubrGaming 5 месяцев назад

Thanks for the documentary! I'm just wondering, would you be able to create a video about Frank Wildhorn, and why he's basically despised by American critics, but beloved in Japan, Korea and Germany? Or how theatre could be made financially viable? It's not really a secret out there that the economics of making a profit for a Broadway show are... Pretty well stacked against them. A few hundred consecutive shows, minimum to turn a profit, and you damn well either be an adaptation of a pop culture work, or a Tony winner to last a run long enough to get there, and a dozen or so new musicals per year, and a score or so of new plays, all fighting for limited stage real estate. And when shows lose money, they BLEED it to the tune of thousands per week, or a total loss of six to seven digits at the end of run. So the question is - HOW should the economics of theatre change to make it not only more profitable, but also potentially more quantitatively accessible?

@brennanmcduffee57 5 месяцев назад

I love that Brendon has graduated to full Defunctland levels of making great videos about incredibly niche topics. Complete with a Michael Eisner jump scare and everything!

@Bowling_Dude 5 месяцев назад

I wish Kevin would make a random appearance here. he is a patreon afterall.

@andibrimi 5 месяцев назад

that's literally what I thought 😭

@Paper-dust 5 месяцев назад

As somebody who's a West End theatregoer, Playbills aren't even a thing there. Instead, the theatre programs are made by the owners of the theatres, and aren't free, meaning that all of them are unique. The profits go back to the theatre. EDIT: It really is a trade-off as they aren't free, but it also means more creative freedom goes into them. It also means they only advertise anything from the production companies, theatre companies and/or sponsors, and very few other ads.

@Nadia1989 5 месяцев назад

Yes! I collect programs and I love each theatre's design, and how they change through the years.

@strawhatsmanager 5 месяцев назад

yesss when i was visiting we went to see wicked and i was shocked the programs were paid but when we got them i fully understood why and i think that i prefer it to the american ones

@williams_a_i7764 5 месяцев назад

Pretty much the same here in Australia. The sell for between $10-$50 depending on the show/company. The richer/bigger the theatre company, the fancier the programme.

@TheDimensionDweller 5 месяцев назад

It hurts to pay for them but I have to agree that the creative freedom and quality this allows them is striking. I have a program for The Play That Goes Wrong from the West End and from the American Touring production and the extra gags and pictures in the West End program are marvelous

@memorian8472 5 месяцев назад

That actually sounds pretty cool

@ryanschwartz4959 5 месяцев назад

You know, some Playbills apparently allow for a certain level of customization in the show-specific section. For example: -The original production of Spamalot had an entire fake program for a Finnish "moosical" before the real program begins. -Noises Off, The Play That Goes Wrong, and Peter Pan Goes Wrong had fictional programs for the shows within the shows. -Six had a section with a brief biography for each Queen.

@protomenfan200x 5 месяцев назад

I loved what they did for the Broadway version of Hedwig and the Angry Inch! The program was for “Hurt Locker: the Musical,” the fake (shuttered) show that was used to justify why Hedwig was performing on Broadway. The actual credits were hidden in the middle of the booklet, after a whole collection of fake bios and ads. (The lead of the fake show was Adele Dazeem’s sister, for example lol.) And rather than handing them out as you walked in, they were just scattered all over the floor and chairs, as if they’d been left behind when the opening night audience walked out en masse. It was so clever!!

@clc00711 2 месяца назад

I think Book of Mormon had actual ads from the LDS church saying “You've seen the play, now read the book”... Nothing if not great marketers, those Mormons!

@belle132 5 месяцев назад

The gasp I gusped when Playbill got the Lincoln Center contract! The drama of it all

@KevimationYT 5 месяцев назад

I now need a musical that is the history of this rivalry. Imagine the musical number as playbill wins over these major clients. Or even better yet when they convince tinder to join playbill!!!!! And the set could have huge chunks of playbill the playbill hanging all over it. Anyways great video!

@froginaclog 5 месяцев назад

AND THE PLAYBILL COULD BE OF A HALF PLAYBILL HALF STAGEBILL. I love this idea so much omllll

@nikkimirhosseyni9535 5 месяцев назад

Title: Top Billing

@froginaclog 5 месяцев назад

@@nikkimirhosseyni9535 that’s so smart!

@daaesviolin 5 месяцев назад

I’m an archivist who works with theatre collections a lot and we handle playbills all the time. This video is truly helpful to contextualize these materials! Thank you!

@tedioustotoro4885 5 месяцев назад

As a UK theatre fan, I didn’t even know Playbills were free and weren’t custom to the show. UK theatre programs are closer to Stagebills and Showbillls with the ads, if there are any, being only for things by the theatre company, the production company, or the sponsors. Of the programs from the six shows I saw last year, the only ads I can find for big companies not related to the theatre/show are a couple of alcohol ads in the back of my Groundhog Day program.

@NeonFraction 4 месяца назад

"Theater pamphlets? I'll probably switch to watching something else halfway through." 17 minutes later I'm glued to the edge of my seat. What a video! Amazing work!

@ccuda480 5 месяцев назад

I had wondered why my Harry Potter program is a showbill not playbill….the more you know.

@ryanschwartz4959 5 месяцев назад

23:43 That... would explain why many UK theatres, especially on London's West End, charge theatregoers for their custom programs.

@marquisehebbler9471 5 месяцев назад

This is why “non-compete” clauses are necessary 😂 omg what a ride!

@vattenflaska 5 месяцев назад

Can I be open & honest & vulnerable in these youtube comments tonight? I'm not from an English speaking country and I just assumed playbill was the English word for a theatre program lol

@tiffanyb543 5 месяцев назад

I actually AM from an English speaking country and I still thought so😂🤦🏼‍♀️

@Sindosis 4 месяца назад

it’s both actually

@minecat1839 2 месяца назад

The Kleenex/QTip/BandAid effect is in full swing

@JustWandering 2 месяца назад

I am from an English speaking country and I also assumed this. 😭

@haydenoneverything2002 5 месяцев назад

Quick mention of the show "Thoughts of a Colored Man" at 6:44. An alumni from my university wrote that show (Keenan Scott II)! Thought it was cool to see it in the video!

@machna 5 месяцев назад

NGL that was the best SquareSpace ad I've ever seen. I actually watched it. Kudos to Mr. McBaskeball for a fine performance.

@alouise 5 месяцев назад

As someone not from NYC (though Ive visited a few times) I didn't even know there was once a rival to Playbill. This was a great video.

@caitlynskiff2001 5 месяцев назад

Say what you will about Michael Eisner, dude is very polarizing in the Disney fan community, but he really did do a lot of things right. And honestly if it wasn't for him and the Disney company, New York and Broadway would be so different. Great video, ever would have thought about learning the history of Playbill.

@BriarMB13 5 месяцев назад

Hi just a 1:30 into the video and you've rocked my world. What do you MEAN playbill is a company and not just like....a name for the booklet we give out before shows??? Hello??? I've done theatre for years, HELLO????

@TheFilmguy450 4 месяца назад

I thought I was the only one to have just discovered this! Wild, right?

@MM-jf1me 4 месяца назад

Same, same, same! Had to look it up -- Playbill selected the perfect company name as theatre programs have been called playbills for hundreds of years -- if they were a newspaper, their name would be Newspaper. Finding this out helped me regain a bit of my equilibrium. 😅

@mijavera 5 месяцев назад

This is the kind of stuff I love!!! Musicals - check! Marketing history - check!! Great research - double check!!!!!

@robotmary121 5 месяцев назад

Thank you for this😂 Ya’ll cant even imagine the horror that i faced as an annoying 14-year-old broadway fan when i finally got to see my first broadway show and the nice usher at the New Amsterdam Theater handed me a “Showbill” instead of a Playbill…

@hothotheat3000 5 месяцев назад

Playbill is so iconic. It’s the ultimate souvenir for me.

@JodiesSideEye 5 месяцев назад

Brendon, this was so good! For a second I thought this was a Defunctland doc, especially when Eisner showed up.

@langleymneely 5 месяцев назад

I love how flexible and resourceful the channel has become since you all moved to NYC. It’s wonderful to see the success of creators I genuinely enjoy! Cheers to you all!❤

@anikumin4201 5 месяцев назад

The monopolly pieces really sells it

@KAYoLEE 5 месяцев назад

This makes me appreciate my binders of them a little more :)

@oliviapilson 5 месяцев назад

As an American who now lives in the UK I was shocked that theatres here didn’t just give out playbills (I didn’t realize playbill itself was a company). I do always for up the £10 for a show book when I see musical though. So far the collection consists of Phantom, Hamilton, and… 💨Rebecca 💨

@telephonewyre 5 месяцев назад

Wow, just wow. The visuals you've made for this video are great, the colored overlays on the map? Outstanding. I love watching this channel get bigger and bigger and the videos getting even better every upload

@strawhatsmanager 5 месяцев назад

i love the different “scenes” in this video it’s super fun !!

@Aaron_J_Theater 5 месяцев назад

I'm very grateful for this video! I always was curious why I had a Ragtime showbill, but everything else were playbills

@20erzet00 5 месяцев назад

I like how you showed the rivalry on a physical map!

@rsjury 4 месяца назад

Great Doc! I used to watch the history channel, when it was still good, and love finding these channels that produce just as good or even better docs! Thank You!

@GeekNotice 5 месяцев назад

Wow, what a fascinating deep dive into the world of Broadway programs! 🎭 It's incredible to learn about the rivalry between Playbill and Stagebill and how it shaped the landscape of theater publications. The behind-the-scenes drama and competition make for such an intriguing story.

@jc_jc_jc_jc_jc 5 месяцев назад

Thanks for answering one of my long-time questions, with such a well-researched and well-produced video! You got a new fan.

@movieMasterU 4 месяца назад

Great doc! You did a brilliant job with this subject matter as you always do. Please keep up with your exceptional informative and entertaining work!

@coasterfreakawesome 5 месяцев назад

This is one of your best videos in a long time! Great work.

@rickwilson4077 5 месяцев назад

Thank you!! I loved this video, Brendon. I think that I do prefer the less uniform Stagebills now. I want to know more about the actual show that I’m seeing!

@amylaneio 4 месяца назад

In literal terms, chaff is the light papery covering that grows on wheat crops. When the wheat is processed, it's shaken about to separate the wheat from the chaff (another common phrase), which works becuase the wheat is heavier and sinks to the bottom. So in essence, "all wheat, no chaff" means the magazine contains only useful or good content. In other words, none of the arbitrary fluff that playbills contain in the "wrapper" section.

@jocaz4931 5 месяцев назад

Amazing content and great storytelling! I found this fascinating.

@sondersighs 5 месяцев назад

Oh, how I would adore and love documentaries on the history of each professional theater. If thats possible

@MildMisanthropeMaybeMassive 4 месяца назад

I did not even realize Playbill was a company. I thought it was just a generic industry wide term for a program booklet.

@yankee04 5 месяцев назад

Fascinating! Thank you! Very much appreciate this history. Well done.

@beejls 5 месяцев назад

Excellent video, from the writing to the script. Well done, you made what could have been a very dry topic interesting.

@ellieparker8919 5 месяцев назад

Loved learning about this!! I’ve always wondered

@ThexImperfectionist 2 месяца назад

One benefit of Playbill's dominance in the American theater scene... pretty much all theater programs conform to their look and dimension. Obviously they can't copy the header, but compared to the UK where I've seen the program dimensions vary by upwards of 50%, even regional American theater programs can usually fit in your playbill binder. I frame mine and hang them in a grid on my walls, and I can buy 8.5x11 frames in bulk (bc they're cheaper than the "official" ones) and all my playbills reliably fit.

@th3m00nstone Месяц назад

ive been wondering forever why my aladdin program said stagebill and FINALLY my question has been answered

@lilyhero1033 5 месяцев назад

I love your videos so much. I don't have anything else to say I just have so much fun watching these.

@JonHoche 4 месяца назад

Another fantastic episode

@VanessaDMusic 5 месяцев назад

I love this channel so much!

@MicheleKlinger 5 месяцев назад

This was such a fascinating watch. I’ve grown up seeing Broadway shows my whole life. I noticed when I had a Showbill and not a Playbill, but I never knew why that was the case when it was different.

@liamannegarner8083 5 месяцев назад

I was down at the New Amsterdam talking to this yellow haired girl, Mr. Jones strikes up a conversation with a black-haired flamenco dancer...

@amandastumpff5252 5 месяцев назад

Separating the wheat from the chaff is kind of an ancient term where they would hit the long wheat stocks so the wheat would be knocked loose and collected and the chaff would be blown away. It’s talked about in the Bible quite a bit, but I guess that’s what it means and it is also used to mean separating the cream of the crop out from the not so good.

@thedoctordonnaable 5 месяцев назад

This was so interesting!

@masterowen45 5 месяцев назад

So do showbills exist anymore… if all the ads are the same in Playbills and theatres don’t control them- the reason Playbill won the ‘battle’ has gone?!? Surely theatres would therefore be better off just making their own bills, and cashing in on ads and having full control?

@chillichillinchiles 5 месяцев назад

0:15 I SAW THE HTDIO PLAYBILL PLEASE LET THIS MEAN THERES GOING TO BE A VIDEO ON IT SOON I LOVE THAT SHOW SO MUCH🙏

@benjsmithproductions 4 месяца назад

Stagebill..... because every Coke needs their Pepsi

@aze4308 5 месяцев назад

great video

@UniqueDestinyCA 5 месяцев назад

11:36 never heard of this one before! Immediately gonna go listen!

@moonmannd7501 5 месяцев назад

Your next investigation should be about that classified that said they give away pedigreed dogs, because I'm curious what the catch was.

@Dr0p0fahat 4 месяца назад

Love the Impractical Jokers reference!!!

@171QA 5 месяцев назад

Great video.

@JackieWarner13 5 месяцев назад

I wish Australia had them but we have to buy programs if we want something close to it which is usually a lot of high quality photos of the cast, about team, cast. Don't think there's usually any adverts except last year wicked in Sydney had some which felt odd bc think they were sponsors but yeah we never really have adverts in our programs which are usually $20-$40AUD

@kniferaffe 5 месяцев назад

this video ruled!

@teddyfurstman1997 5 месяцев назад

I have some show bills when visiting each broadway or a Lincoln Center NY Phil Performances. These are such cool Theater Magazines.

@ryanschwartz4959 5 месяцев назад

I should probably note that as of this comment, in addition to the New Amsterdam, there's currently only one other Broadway theatre I know of that uses Showbills instead of Playbills: the Lyric (formerly the Ford Center for the Performing Arts)

@adamgreenspan4988 5 месяцев назад

As covered in the video, control over the ads was the main reason, Disney not wanting cigarette and booze ads, Ford not wanting other car brands. I guess they’re the only two because the other theaters aren’t owned/branded by major retail brands?

@adamgreenspan4988 5 месяцев назад

(The Lyric is no longer branded, but they are showing Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, so maybe they also don’t want cigarette and booze ads)

@ryanschwartz4959 5 месяцев назад

@eenspan4988Fair point, though from what I read, Playbill no longer prints tobacco ads in either publication. As for Harry Potter, I can see why the Broadway production went the Showbill route. It has custom color production credits, a recap of the story up to that point, articles relating specifically to the production, and ads for other Harry Potter-related media (games, audiobooks, and NYC attractions)

@jessylou2731993 4 месяца назад

Blew my mind to find out that you all just get Playbills for free. In Australia and NZ you have to purchase programs. It’s like Merch almost. Looks like we might get better quality programs because of this though. Normally our show programs are filled with cast and company information as well as lots of stunning images from the show. Not full with ads. Such an interesting video!

@minecat1839 2 месяца назад

The Aladdin 10th Anniversary Playbill has very few ads for things which are not pther shows or restaurants. All of the articles are Disney related, but it is a PLAYbill. Not sure what is going on here

@20erzet00 5 месяцев назад

Very interesting!

@timlatenser6268 5 месяцев назад

Brendan doesn't appear to be "extremely nervous" to be handling a 150 year old Theater Programme - he's not wearing conservators gloves.

@WaitintheWings 5 месяцев назад

Gloves are more damaging to paper materials 👏👏👏

@sheriyl 5 месяцев назад

Now I am going to pull out my old “playbills” to see what I have 😂

@WhatShallEyeDo4U 4 месяца назад

Can you do a video about the evolution of mic technology?

@MarcusMartn 5 месяцев назад

I love this I think I have an old stagebill of when I saw The Lion King also what clip was that 13:52 ?

@realityblooms 4 месяца назад

I’m here intensely watching a video on ad books

@parkerbaritone 5 месяцев назад

could you PLEASEEEEE do a review of Tuck Everlasting???

@Themoushtaceleague96 5 месяцев назад

Michael Dammann Eisner enters into the WITW universe

@iam9991000 5 месяцев назад

The real lesson is the old business maxim, if you're not expanding you're dying.

@GeekyNerdism 5 месяцев назад

I like when Brendon is on location

@alexandravalentina4854 5 месяцев назад

I always love Michael Eisner popping up in videos about the entertainment industry LOL.

@AKMorehouse 5 месяцев назад

I wonder how the stagebill v playbill formats impacted more regional theaters. Most of the regional theaters I go use the playbill format with one book of ads and articles for the season with a center insert specific to the show and some doing a show specific cover… but most of the regional theaters I go to are in the northeastern US so emulating what they see when they go to a Broadway theater makes sense. Do those in the Chicago area or other areas where stagebill developed a legacy see more of a stagebill influence in their regional theaters program set up?

@sondersighs 5 месяцев назад

In graphic design Paula Schuler had redesign things for the public theater to center it around the theater instead of the shows itself to get people to come.

@Yourfavoriteblackactor 5 месяцев назад

you should talk about the wild party (lippa)

@LynnHermione 5 месяцев назад

and this, children, is how a monopoly is created.

@AlessandroCecconi 5 месяцев назад

hi, Italian here, so I am no expert at all in theatre programs, I only have those from UK shows and international tours of UK shows, what I understand from this video is that Stagebill was way better than Playbill but Playbill was a big villain and they crushed them lol

@moviencartoons2 5 месяцев назад

Are you planning to do a video of how “The Lion King” went to from the screen to the stage?

@calebwells9838 5 месяцев назад

Here come Michael Eisner somebody call Kevin from defunctland

@northstarpokeshipper2148 4 месяца назад

1:32 Your cat is named Cranjis McBasketball?! Fellow Impractical Jokers fan?

@Bowling_Dude 5 месяцев назад

here in Jacksonville we have something called a Marquee instead of a playbill

@void-highlighter 5 месяцев назад

I didnt even know others existed

@MortexBerri 5 месяцев назад

Im interested

@prestonfuntime6944 4 месяца назад

Damn you algorithm! Another weird video I like

@TheDimensionDweller 5 месяцев назад

Limited Stagebill tier for the next Kickstarter? 👀

@gemtachataj6119 4 месяца назад

Who prints the small sheets that they put in Playbills that tell you when the cast on for that specific performance is different to the one actually on the playbill? Playbill them selves or the company in that theatre?

@MM-jf1me 4 месяца назад

Great question! I'm curious, too -- maybe someone who knows will tell us one day.

@carlosdiaz3103 5 месяцев назад

Loved that Impractical Jokers reference

@langleymneely 5 месяцев назад

Where’s my Broadway show about the (fictional) violent, mafia like war for the soul of B’ways pre show entertainment! A decades long battle of warring families and ideologies!? “Hey Birch, ya know what they do with beaten up birch wood playbills where Im from? They cut it up to make ’TINDER’!” - Clifford ‘Blowback’ Tinder, Media Don and first play producer on the moon (gotta have a 3rd act twist!😜)

@tremorsfan 5 месяцев назад

I always thought playbill was just a generic term. Also, I'm nervous about how close that tea is to those antique magazines.

@DJWhovian 5 месяцев назад

I think it's a shame Stagebill went down. I'm glad we have dedicated show programmes in the West End, it feels like more of an investment in that show and venue.

@MsGigglesluv 5 месяцев назад

You saw How to Dance in Ohio? Oh my god how was it

@EForrest88 4 месяца назад

Well it's an interesting if very silly story of greedy business practices, I wonder how many jobs evaporated when Stagebill went bust. In the UK you buy your programme. There's three types of programme, Venue, Professional & Amateur. Venue are produced by the big groups like Ambassadors for any production in their network of theatres - amateur or professional, but are not mandatory for either, they will typically only have adverts for other performances in the same theatre that season (unless it's in London). Professional is your glossy overpriced deal, typically for a professional tour or established London show. Again, very few adverts, if any. Amateur, as you can imagine, is open season for quality and content type, but will typically be ad-supported by local businesses as a fundraiser for the performing group.