Cabaret giving Playbills AFTER the show?

[satisfiied]

Posted: 12/13/17 at 8:01pm

I just heard that Cabaret handed out playbills after the show, not before, why was this? I'm really curious and can't seem to find a reason online.

[HogansHero]

Posted: 12/13/17 at 8:08pm

To the extent it is supposed to be an "immersive" experience, that's fairly common. Some other shows also do it because there is something in there they do not want you to know. (Wishful thinking nowadays, I would say.)

[maxkko]

Posted: 12/13/17 at 8:09pm

To make the "Cabaret" experience more realistic. 

[The Other One]

Posted: 12/13/17 at 8:32pm

Blackbird did that as well, to hide the fact that there would be a third character in the play's final scene. (I think it was the final scene.  If it wasn't, it was close to it.)

[bfreak]

Posted: 12/13/17 at 8:38pm

Blackbird gave out playbills at the beginning of the show, but passed out understudy-like flyers at the end crediting the surprise third character.

[irishgator1]

Posted: 12/13/17 at 9:17pm

Sweeney Todd also gives programs out after the show.

[WestCoastActor/Director]

Posted: 12/13/17 at 10:04pm

I had on stage seating for Xanadu on Broadway. They gave them out after to the people on stage at least. Probably so they wouldn’t drop it and have the actors break a leg while they were skating. The original male lead did break his leg during previews.

Seems to me that on stage seating for Spring Awakening also gave you the programs after the show.

[teh_pretty]

Posted: 12/13/17 at 10:07pm

"Blackbird gave out playbills at the beginning of the show, but passed out understudy-like flyers at the end crediting the surprise third character."

 

Oh god, how gutting.

[LxGstv]

Posted: 12/13/17 at 11:38pm

Small Mouth Sounds off broadway also handed out playbills after the show.

[jbird5]

Posted: 12/14/17 at 7:42am

Evening at the Talkhouse gave them out after the show to keep people from reading them during Matthew Broderick’s opening monologue.

[HogansHero]

Posted: 12/14/17 at 9:01am

jbird5 said: "Evening at the Talkhouse gave them out after the show to keep people from reading them during Matthew Broderick’s opening monologue."

This is a feature of other Wallace Shawn plays as well. 

 

[Call_me_jorge]

Posted: 12/14/17 at 9:17am

I remember reading they used showbills. Was that the case for both Alan cumming runs?

[HogansHero]

Posted: 12/14/17 at 10:46am

Call_me_jorge said: "I remember reading they used showbills. Was that the case for both Alan cumming runs?"

At the time of the original production at Studio 54, the Roundabout was using a Playbill-produced program with the header "On Stage," not Showbill (another Playbill imprint). By the time of the revival it was a normal Playbill. 

[jkstheatrescene]

Posted: 12/14/17 at 6:05pm

Not exactly.  See this article about when it was at Henry Miller's Theatre.  The caption under the Playbill image says it all..

http://www.playbill.com/article/playbill-cabaret-reach-agreement-on-programs-com-329306

[east side story]

Posted: 12/14/17 at 9:23pm

jkstheatrescene said: "Not exactly. See this article about when it was at Henry Miller's Theatre. The caption under the Playbill image says it all..

http://www.playbill.com/article/playbill-cabaret-reach-agreement-on-programs-com-329306"

 

Except that it doesn’t. Studio 54 used Stagebill in the early millennium. It was around the time that Brooke Shields was playing Sally.

[HogansHero]

Posted: 12/14/17 at 10:05pm

east side story said: "Except that it doesn’t. Studio 54 used Stagebill in the early millennium. It was around the time that Brooke Shields was playing Sally."

On Stage, not Stagebill or Showbill.

[mailhandler777]

Posted: 12/14/17 at 10:13pm

Murder Ballad did that when it was in DC a few years ago. Actually they just had them sitting on a table as you left the theatre.

[Call_me_jorge]

Posted: 12/15/17 at 8:45am

“And this brings us to Cabaret. There's been a lot of bruhaha over the distribution of Playbills for the Roundabout production. It seems that the artistic team behind the production only wish to issue the programs as patrons of the Kit Kat Klub are leaving. Well, that didn't sit right with Playbill and I don't blame them for pulling the plug by providing them with free Playbills. They were essentially denying Playbill's advertisers exposure.  Cabaret is being presented in an environmental setting and the creative team want patrons to feel as if they are in a sleazy night club in Germany in 1930. To me, it's a bit silly, this whole issue of the program. I, for one, want my Playbill when I enter the theater, night club or not. I know where I am when I go to the theater, and I love to sip my drink while perusing the cast list or burning my brain for three seconds. To have their complete environmental setting, Roundabout will have their way by opting for a "Showbill" to the tune of $1300.00 a week. Pretty hefty for a production company like Roundabout which hardly has a cache of money lying around. However, that's their business and I see Playbill's point of view and agree wholeheartedly with them even though my collecting habits are in disarray.”

https://www.talkinbroadway.com/page/rialto/past/1998/3_19_98.html

[east side story]

Posted: 12/15/17 at 2:13pm

HogansHero said: "east side story said: "Except that it doesn’t. Studio 54 used Stagebill in the early millennium. It was around the time that Brooke Shields was playing Sally."

On Stage, not Stagebill or Showbill."

Do a Google image search for “Brooke Shields Cabaret.” They certainly used Stagebill at one time.

 

[upinlights]

Posted: 12/16/17 at 1:26am

They are doing this at Bedlam's Peter Pan as well, at least at the performance I saw. I thought it helped with the immersion, and I wasn't flipping through my playbill to see who's who the whole time.

[annang]

Posted: 12/16/17 at 2:56am

Sweeney Todd at Barrow Street does the same (or at least, they did when I was there in June). It’s to avoid interrupting the immersive experience.