Theatre World to Launch 69th Volume at The Drama Book Shop This Friday

The Drama Book Shop will host celebrate the launch of Theatre World's 69th Volume - the only record of the American theatre season still in print. A book launch, signing, and panel discussion with the editors on "Theatre Print Media in the Age of the Internet" will be held at the Tony Award winning Book Shop on Friday, December 4, 2015, from 5-7p.m. It is free and open to the public.

According to Editor-in-Chief Ben Hodges, "For decades Theatre World has been the only comprehensive pictorial and statistical record of the American theatre, but as of 2015 Theatre World is now the only record of the American theatre season in print-including Broadway. The editors of Theatre World appreciate the added responsibility of being the definitive record of the theatre season and even though each volume is nearly 600 pages, over 1,000 photos, and a huge undertaking in every way, we will be releasing two upcoming volumes in 2016 to become as current as we are complete."

With 576 pages and over 1,000 photographs and 1,000 entries, Theatre World Volume 69: 2012-2013 is the ultimate resource for Broadway, Off-Broadway, Off-Off-Broadway, and regional theatre in America. Theatre World 69 includes seasonal overviews by Adam Feldman (Broadway); Linda Buchwald (Off-Broadway); Shay Gines (Off-Off-Broadway); and Diep Tran (regional theatre). Theatre World 69 also includes cast lists, producers, directors, authors, composers, opening and closing dates, song titles, plot synopses, obituaries, nominees and winners of major theatrical awards (including full coverage of the annual Theatre World Awards), the longest running shows On and Off-Broadway, a new national tour section, and an index. The amount of information and photographs found in Theatre World 69 cannot be found in print or online.

Theatre World 69 provides an extensive list of Broadway, Off-Broadway, Off-Off-Broadway, and regional theatre productions of the 2012-2013 season. Highlights include Cyndi Lauper and Harvey Fierstein's Tony-winning musical Kinky Boots and the successful London transfer of Roald Dahl's Matilda The Musical. Chicago's Steppenwolf Theatre scored Tonys for the revival of Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf and its star Tracy Letts, and Cicely Tyson became the oldest Tony winner in history for her rousing turn in the revival of Horton Foote's The Trip to Bountiful. Pippin won multiple Tonys for its first revival and stars Patina Miller, Billy Porter, and Andrea Martin, while David Byrne and Fat Boy Slim's Imelda Marcos concept musical Here Lies Love was an extended hit Off-Broadway at The Public Theater.

Ben Hodges is founder and president of Theatre World Media and editor-in-chief of Theatre World, editor of The Commercial Theater Institute Guide to Producing Plays and Musicals; The American Theatre Wing Presents The Play That Changed My Life: America's Foremost Playwrights on the Plays That Influenced Them; Forbidden Acts: Pioneering Gay & Lesbian, Plays of the Twentieth Century; and Outplays: Landmark Gay and Lesbian Plays of the Twentieth Century. He also produces the annual Fire Island Pines Literary and Theater Festival and practices law in New York City. Scott Denny is an actor, singer and former producer of the Theatre World Awards.

The Drama Book Shop is located at 250 West 40th Street between 7th and 8th Avenues. It is currently celebrating its 99th Anniversary.