#playbill selling

[youremysputnik]

i’m so upset i missed my chance to write to into the woods :(

[thats-ill-eagle]

She's getting more nervous and desperate by the day, huh.

Once again, Viv. You may get away with being an ass to your critics (like liking a tweet calling your critics subhumans), but you will only get so far by repeatedly fucking over, if not straight up scamming your fans.

I honestly have no idea how this didn't happen sooner, considering the playbills should have come to the buyers MONTHS ago.

Ignoring this problem and dropping new merch left and right (that is having trouble selling out) isn't gonna do anything. If you keep this up, dear Vivienne, it will pile up and eventually fuck you over big time, one way or another.

[lamphous]

this is from the garage sale at work (I work at a theater) with the boxes and boxes of playbills 1962-2007. girl I work with tried to claim it for no earthly reason and then I said well why do you want it and she couldn't answer so I told her all about my thesis and she had to give it to me. real big win for small people I gotta say

another great addition to the Obscure Projects by Working American Actors of the 80s to 2000s collection: I have acquired the pristine playbill for the 1981 production of Fifth of July starring richard thomas, aka ponytailed big bill, who you may also know as the head feeb in the americans. cost a single dollar, but also? priceless

[chaifootsteps]

Viv selling the playbills for $5 after people started getting the ones they ordered a year ago for $100 is like...cartoonishly evil. Like being weird and unlikeable is one thing, but how was this decision greenlit?? The more that happens this year with Viv, the more I begin to wonder how she's still got a job of any kind in the industry.

I sincerely want to know how much of this was Amazon and how much was Viv so we know where to point fingers, because fingers need to be pointed.

[bloody-teared-angel]

So.... I just saw the playbill..... I really didn't talk about since I didn't have the pre-order package (I don't own a single HH/HB thing) but...it sits so heavily on my mind.

What is that? I mean it, what is that?

It looks like something I can do in a word document in two hours max, copy and paste wiki excerpts, put different font and do those picture edits in PicsArt.

It looks so cheap....because perhaps it is cheap.

Vivienne is selling this playbills for 5$ dollars. 5

And people are cheering for it. They are praising it.

I don't think Vivienne cared about anything at this point. Only how much money her fanbase is going to give her.

I may seem cruel, but sometimes, truth is cruel. How can anyone be happy with this is beyond me.

Also, the playbill was supposed to be part of 'limited edition' pre-order package, why is it being sold as a stand alone?

[rosanna-writer]

Love at First Sight's for Suckers (2/5)

Summary: [A Feysand Newsies AU] Rhysand had a reputation. A big reputation. But fortunately for Feyre, a newsie selling papers on the streets of Velaris, tabloid gossip about the handsome, charismatic, hard-partying war-hero of a High Lord's heir means business is booming. That is, until the city's newspaper magnates get greedy, Feyre finds herself an unwitting labor leader at the center of a strike, and Rhys becomes an unexpected ally... Warnings: None

We're back with Feyre continuing to unwittingly make Rhys lose his mind in second part of my gift for @the-lonelybarricade for @acotargiftexchange! Thank you to @itsthedoodle for beta reading <3

Ch. 1 - Got a Feelin' 'bout the Headline | Ch. 2 - Beautiful. Smart. Independent.

You can read the second chapter Here on AO3 or under the readmore.

Feyre really didn't like the way that cop was looking at her. He'd already passed her corner once, and she'd forced herself to ignore him and just keep hawking papers. There were hundreds of lesser fae newsies just like her on the streets of Velaris—even though she was shouting headlines, she might as well have been invisible.

And when you were technically a fugitive, nothing less than invisible would do.

But something had made him turn around and come back. Lucien, at least, was long gone, back to his spot by the docks to finish work for the day. Feyre hoped he wouldn't come looking for her again; if she needed to bolt, Lucien couldn't travel through shadows, and Feyre would never, ever leave her best friend behind.

Recognition flickered in the policeman's eyes. He broke into a run, straight towards her. "Feyre Archeron!" he shouted.

Heads turned. Feyre's heart pounded. The faeries in the square turned their attention to her, putting it together that they had a criminal in their midst.

So Feyre became a shadow again.

To everyone else, it looked like she'd disappeared entirely. But Feyre had merely made herself impossible to grab, nothing more than a wisp of darkness, and she slid into the shadow that the nearby streetlight cast in the late afternoon sun.

She couldn't stay like this forever, so like a ghost, she passed through the solid walls and doors of the Rainbow. Feyre tried to ignore the pang of longing at the workshops and art galleries—there was no time to linger. The Rainbow had always been a safe haven, but there was one place in particular she knew she wouldn't be found.

Once she was backstage at Ressina's theater, Feyre let herself become corporeal again…only to be greeted by an ear-piercing shriek.

"High Lady! " Ressina cried. "Do you really have to do that right in the middle of my dressing room?"

"Sorry. Had a bit of an emergency, Mind if I hide out here for a while?" Feyre said.

Ressina smiled. "My favorite scenic designer can stay here as long as she likes."

Feyre leaned in and kissed the air just above both of Ressina's cheeks, careful not to touch the actress's heavy stage makeup. If Ressina hadn't been wearing an elaborate sequined costume, complete with feathered hat perched precariously on her head, Feyre would have given the female a hug.

"Painting a few trees hardly makes me a scenic designer."

"I made sure you're credited as one in the playbill. And we've been getting such good reviews, I can finally pay instead of owing you a favor. Rhysand and Morrigan are even in the audience tonight."

"Rhysand is…here?" Feyre almost didn't believe she'd heard correctly. As far as she knew, the prince spent his free time at parties and pleasure halls—not in small, lesser fae-run playhouses in out-of-the-way corners of the city.

Cauldron, did he even like musicals?

"Probably some arts patronage thing. Morrigan is on the board of damn near every charity in Velaris."

That made a bit more sense, Feyre supposed. It was common knowledge that Rhys and his cousin were close; perhaps she'd dragged him here. And regardless of why, the buzz from the prince's attendance would do wonders for ticket sales, and Ressina deserved that. In addition to performing, she owned the place, having built the business from the ground up herself. "That's fantastic news."

Ressina shrugged. "We'll see if anything actually comes of it. I don't count my dragons before they hatch. Intermission is almost over, but feel free to stay and watch the rest."

And with that, Ressina left. From previous experience, Feyre knew that backstage in the middle of a show was a busy place, so she crept up to the front of the house and hoped she could find an empty seat.

As she passed one of the private boxes, a familiar voice drifted through the open door. Feyre did her best to ignore the way her heart gave a traitorous little flip at the sound.

"Mor, are you positive that your contacts at the food bank will be prepared for the increased demand?" Rhys was saying.

That was…odd. Whatever this was about, he sounded deadly serious, not at all like a person who was out to enjoy a night at the theater. Feyre froze and strained to listen for Mor's reply, telling herself that obviously the matter was something of political importance if more people in Velaris were suddenly going to need assistance.

Yes, definitely that and not just her own inherent nosiness.

But Mor's reply never came. And neither did the chance to fade back into the shadows. When Rhys's voice drifted out from the open door again, his purr was unmistakably aimed at her. "Hello Feyre darling.

If he wasn't accusing her of anything, Feyre certainly wasn't about to apologize. "Twice in one day. Think it's fate?" she said evenly, letting her voice carry to him.

He materialized in front of her, leaning against the doorframe. At some point since that morning, he'd changed into a formal black tunic embroidered with silver swirls. Feyre found herself wondering idly if the design matched the Illyrian tattoos she'd never seen for herself—the Herald ran plenty of headlines about Rhys in compromising positions, but tragically, a picture of him completely shirtless had never made the front page.

But of course, Feyre was only thinking about that because the plunging neckline he'd worn last Starfall had sold out papers in record time.

"If it is, then I'm the luckiest male in the world." Something in Rhys's smile was just a bit too knowing. Feyre didn't like it.

But still, there was something comfortingly familiar about hearing more of his teasing. "It's nice to see you, too."

His voice floated into her head, which nearly made her jump out of her skin. Rhys had never used his daemati abilities on her before. You shouldn't be out here, not with the police still after you. The box is secluded enough to hide, and there's an extra seat. Join me.

For a long moment, Feyre just stared at him, blinking in surprise. She'd merely stolen a loaf of bread for Lucien in a moment of desperation when he'd spent several days too sick to work and her own earnings hadn't been enough to support them both. Avoiding arrest by fading into darkness hardly made her a notorious criminal, not when any other shadow-wraith could call upon the same abilities.

But Rhys knew. And Feyre couldn't fathom who might have told him or why he'd care. She didn't trust it. "You'll want something in return, won't you?"

"I might." He gave her another one of those annoying feline smiles. She scowled back.

"Fine. What do you want?"

"Draw something for me on the blank newsprint in your bag, and we'll call it even."

Feyre had never heard him sound so earnest, and his violet eyes had gone soft in a way she'd never seen from him before, either. She couldn't shake the feeling she was missing something. "I— What? Why would you want that?"

"My walls are looking a bit bare. What better way to fix that than with something you made?"

More teasing, then. They were back on familiar ground, and Feyre would have thrown a punch—mocking her art was a low blow—if Rhys hadn't praised her work before. When they'd met, she'd been sketching the skyline over the Sidra on a spare bit of newsprint leftover at the end of the day. He'd asked if she was selling newspapers to pay for art school, and she'd laughed in his face.

But after that, he'd returned to buy the paper from her every morning without fail.

"Alright. It's a bargain."

Magic crackled in the air as the bargain tattoo appeared on Feyre's arm, a swirling design that covered everything from the elbow to the fingertips of her left hand. She'd spent her whole life in the Night Court; she knew what bargain tattoos were. But by the Cauldron was this one elaborate. And beautiful.

Rhys was looking at her as if he could hear her thoughts. Feyre frantically double-checked that her shields were up—it was so easy to forget she was in the company of a daemati. "You have an artist's eye. I hope it's up to your standards."

"Bargains go both ways. Where's yours?"

"If you're that curious, undress me and find out."

It must be exhausting, Feyre supposed, to go through life unable to stop flirting for more than a few minutes at a time. But then again, Rhysand never looked tired. "Will you manage to keep quiet during the show? Or am I going to hear you blathering on about how my eyes are like stars the entire time?"

"That's something else you'll have to find out for yourself."

Before Feyre could get another word in, he took her hand and tugged her into the box. The door snicked shut behind her on a night-kissed wind.

A blonde female Feyre only recognized from newspaper photos turned and smiled at them. Morrigan, Feyre realized. She'd heard Rhys use his cousin's name, but after shouting so many headlines about her, Feyre was still caught off-guard by the sight of the Morrigan in the flesh.

"You must be Feyre Archeron. I'm Morrigan, but call me Mor. It's so nice to finally meet you," she was saying, holding out a hand for Feyre to shake.

"Oh. Um. Hello," Feyre said. There was an awkward beat of silence as she tugged her hand—which was still in Rhys's—back so she could shake Morrigan's. "Nice to meet you, too."

There was more uncomfortable silence as Rhys and Mor just stared at each other, and several different expressions cycled across their faces in quick succession. At first, Feyre didn't know what to make of it. But then she realized they must have been speaking about something mind-to-mind. Whatever the topic was, it seemed…contentious.

And that had almost distracted her enough not to notice that Mor had said nice to finally meet her. Feyre couldn't imagine who could possibly have been speaking about her to Mor so frequently.

Rhys indicated for her to sit, and Feyre did. He was right about the box being secluded; the seats were set far enough back that she'd be difficult to spot if someone came looking for her. It put her at ease.

"Do you need something to write with?" he asked, dropping into the seat next to her and stretching his long legs out in front of him.

Feyre always carried a pencil. She reached up under her cap and pulled it out of the messy bun it had been keeping in place all day. Her hair—light brown now that she was fully corporeal—tumbled down her shoulders. Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted Rhys staring at her, mouth slightly parted.

Before he had an opportunity to say something cutting, Feyre said, "You left a loophole, you know. I could just draw a line on the paper, and I'd keep my half of the bargain."

He shrugged. "Maybe I just wanted to see what you'd do."

Feyre had no idea what to say to that. But at that moment, the lights dimmed, and Mor took a seat on Rhys's other side. Musicians began to play the opening notes of the entr'acte. Feyre tuned it out; she'd heard it enough times when she'd been painting sets during rehearsals.

The bigger question was what she was going to draw for Rhys. As a shadow-wraith, she could see perfectly in the dark theater, so there was nothing stopping her from spending the next hour perfecting a sketch. And uninterrupted time to work on her art was vanishingly rare.

But still, it was Rhys, so the temptation to draw the outline of a cock just to spite him was strong.

Even stronger, though, was the urge to sketch his face. Rhysand was without a doubt the most beautiful male Feyre had ever seen, and since the day they'd met, she'd been eager to try her hand at capturing his strangely sensual-yet-swaggering demeanor on canvas. But a prince could have his portrait done by any artist he liked, and Feyre doubted that he'd agree if he asked him to model for her.

So even though it was against her better instincts to do something that might inflate his ego, Feyre wanted to sketch a portrait of Rhys. To her surprise, he kept quiet and still, actually paying attention to the show.

It was the longest Feyre had ever seen him go without smirking. His features were soft, and she did her best to capture that instead of the smug mask he presented to the world. Something told her moments where he looked this unguarded were rare.

She finished just as the show ended and the lights brightened again. Before Rhys could see what she'd drawn, Feyre rolled up the portrait and held it out for him with a pointed look, daring him to unroll it and examine it in front of her. The bargain tattoo on her hand faded.

Wisely, he merely thanked her and tucked it into a pocket dimension.

"Feyre, the sets you painted look like dreamscapes," Mor said, brown eyes bright. If Feyre wasn't mistaken, that was admiration.

Feyre shrugged. "The actors just needed something pretty to stand in front of while they sing."

Mor locked eyes with Rhysand again, probably having another wordless conversation. Feyre took it as her cue to leave—she could easily slip into the crowd headed for the exit, then find Ressina backstage. But Mor let out a decidedly unladylike snort, squeezed Rhys's shoulder, and winnowed away.

Rhys looked at her, and something in his eyes pinned Feyre to the spot. "Will you allow me to walk you home?" he said.

***

Rhys wasn't entirely sure he was breathing as he waited for Feyre to answer. Not that it was the point, but he wasn't sure his already-bruised ego would survive slinking back to the House of Wind alone after he'd just urged Mor to leave him alone with his mate.

"Why?" Feyre said. At least it wasn't a no.

He slid his hands into his pockets, hoping he looked nonchalant. "Because I'd like to see you get home safely, and no one will bother you if you're with me."

She nodded once. "Alright."

"I can meet you at the stage door once you've gotten your coat."

"I— I don't have one."

He was pulling his own off the back of his chair and wrapping it around her shoulders before he knew what he was doing. This late in the year, Velaris was cold after dark. And perhaps it was reckless, but the risk of a few headlines about Feyre taking him home was worth making sure she didn't freeze.

At least she'd put her arms through the sleeves while she'd scowled at him, though.

Rhys looped his arm through hers and winnowed them outside to the street. Without thinking about it, he started walking towards the tenement she shared with far too many newsies crammed into the small space. Hopefully she wouldn't ask why he knew exactly where it was.

For a while, they said nothing, but to Rhys's immense pleasure, Feyre didn't pull away from him. The silence was comfortable, and for a moment, Rhys just let himself imagine that they were walking home at the end of a proper night out.

But he'd gone to Ressina's in hopes of finding Feyre there for a reason, so Rhys broke the silence. "In a turn of events, I have news for you this evening."

"Do you?" Feyre raised her brows expectantly.

"Starting tomorrow, the owners of Velaris's newspapers will increase the price they charge the newsies. Sixty cents per hundred."

Her hand tightened on his arm as Feyre's entire body went stuff. Their mating bond was still unaccepted—and therefore, faint—but Feyre's anger surged down it anyway. The force of it was nearly enough to knock him off his feet.

When Feyre spoke again, her voice was low and deadly. "Who told you?"

"I was there when they petitioned my father for assistance today. He said no, so they moved on to another strategy."

"And why are you telling me?"

"Because if this develops the way I anticipate it will, then I want to make sure you're the first to know that I won't be buying the paper from a scab. I'd publicly support a strike."

Feyre went quiet, and to keep himself from succumbing to the temptation to read her thoughts, Rhys forced himself to focus on the lights reflected on the river in the distance. Her fingers on his arm never relaxed.

"We don't have a union," she said eventually.

"Then consider this a head start to remedy that." If anyone could form one in a matter of hours, it was Velaris's High Lady. Rhys was sure of it.

"Thank you."

They lapsed back into silence again. Even if Rhys weren't a daemati, he'd be able to see the wheels turning in her head, just from the determined set of her chin and the way a muscle ticked in her jaw. He wasn't sure he'd ever seen a more beautiful sight.

All too soon, they arrived at Feyre's stoop. Before Rhys had a chance to insist she keep the coat, she shrugged it off and handed it to him. "I'm not a charity case," she said, as if she could hear his thoughts.

Rhys took the coat but didn't slip it back on. "I know better than to suggest you are."

"Good." Despite the cold, Feyre made no move to step inside. Rhys was torn between urging her to go warm up and wishing that she'd stay out here with him forever. Something in her face softened, and Rhys could almost fool himself into believing she'd let him kiss her goodnight after a night at the theater as he courted her properly.

But Feyre, he reminded himself, didn't want him like that.

Rhys started to say goodbye, but Feyre added, a bit more softly, "For what it's worth, you're going to be one hell of a High Lord one day, Rhys."

Maybe Rhys didn't have Feyre Archeron's heart, but he did have her respect. And maybe that mattered more.

"My father's not a dreamer, and the Night Court suffers for it. Good luck tomorrow."

Rhys refused to waste any more of her time; unable to resist preening for her just a bit, he stretched his wings out wide, then launched himself into the air to return to the House of Wind.

When Feyre had shown up outside the box, he hadn't been able to avoid telling Mor exactly who she was to him. And now, Rhys could practically feel his cousin's mind vibrating with curiosity as he reached for it. She reassured him—not for the first time that day—that Velaris's charities were prepared to handle an influx of newsies in need, and Rhys pointedly ignored his cousin's request for updates on what she'd termed the moonlit stroll with his mate.

Alone in his bedroom with the door firmly locked behind him, Rhys finally pulled the newsprint out of the pocket dimension. And if Feyre's art hadn't been so precious, he would have dropped it in shock.

She'd sketched him. There was something soft about Feyre's portrait that had been missing from the stiff, official ones he'd sat through with his family. It gave Rhys the strangest feeling that Feyre had seen something soul-deep within him and recreated it with a pencil on a spare bit of newsprint.

If the next day weren't likely to be long and uncertain, he would have spent half the night staring at it.

When he woke early the next morning, Rhys could still feel Feyre's anger simmering in the back of his mind. He resisted the urge to tug on the bond for reassurance she was alright—the last thing he needed was for her to feel the pull just behind her ribs and realize what it meant. So all he did was keep alert as he dressed, ate, and made his way to his father's study.

And as if on cue, when the High Lord's daily briefing was barely through, Pulitzer himself burst into the study. Darkness swirled around Rhys's father, dimming the room, a clear warning that the interruption was unwelcome.

"My apologies, High Lord, but it's urgent," Pulitzer said, bowing politely.

"What, exactly, is urgent?" Rhys's father snapped.

"The newsies of Velaris are forming a union. They intend to strike, and I'm here on behalf of the city's newspaper owners to ask for your support with breaking the strike."

Rhys stilled. For a long moment, the study went silent. The slight deepening of his father's frown—and the fact that a tendril of darkness hadn't already thrown Pulitzer from the room—made it clear enough that the High Lord was weighing his options.

"Who's their leader?" Rhys said, though he suspected he already knew the answer.

"An upstart shadow-wraith named Feyre Archeron. They call her the High Lady," Pulitzer said with a sneer.

Rhys felt a warm glow of pride—despite the darkness that rolled off his father in waves. The High Lord jealously guarded his power, and it seemed that even a poor lesser-fae female couldn't get away with a nickname he took as a threat or a jibe.

"You can't possibly—" Rhys said.

The High Lord cut him off. "What sort of support?"

"Police, if you can spare them," Pulitzer said.

Rhys stood so quickly, he nearly knocked over his chair. "There is no reason at all this needs to escalate to violence."

"As my heir," the High Lord said coldly, "you need to learn that in situations like this, it's necessary. If we make an example of the newsies, the rest of Velaris will hesitate to disturb the peace going forward. Pulitzer, you have all the crown's resources you need."

Pulitzer was bowing again and thanking the High Lord for his support, but Rhys hardly noticed. He was already storming off towards the Rainbow.

[ealvara7]

So... I got some Beetlejuice Playbills! 🪲

I was originally gonna hold off on sharing these until I got everything in my new Beetlejuice collection altogether, but since I've got a couple of other things on there that I'd like to share in detail, I feel it's best to dedicate a post to the Playbills by themselves.

And boy, do I got an interesting story to share about these.

-

I took an interest in collecting some Playbills after I saw @mastersprogram's post sharing their own signed School of Rock Playbill. It made me realize that I wanted a Playbill that had Alex Brightman's signature as well.

I looked around eBay to see my options, and that's when I decided that I wanted at least one Playbill from the DC run, one Playbill from the Winter Garden (2019) run, and one Playbill from the Marquis Theatre (2022) run.

For the DC and Marquis Theatre Playbills, I got regular ones.

As for Winter Garden...?

I found a signed one.

I knew that I wanted a signed Playbill with the original Broadway cast, but I figured those would be more difficult to find, so I left myself open to getting a Playbill with the reopening cast as my second option.

I genuinely did not expect to find this one... and this is where I wanna share the story about my experience getting this signed Playbill-

-

Purchasing signed Playbills online can be a tricky thing to do because... some of them are forged.

I didn't even stop to consider this until after the fact. When I did, I was extremely nervous...

I started looking a bit into the seller I got the signed Playbill from and... it was a genuinely interesting find.

They had not only been selling the signed Playbill, but also a couple of other souvenirs that they got when they saw the musical back in May 2019.

They actually gave me a streamer they picked up from the show! They mentioned it in the listing, which was what interested me to buy the Playbill.

There was just something heartwarming to see what was essentially a story unfolding in their Beetlejuice listings. I may not be 100% certain about the signatures, but the fact that the seller went out of their way to show proof that they were there, makes me much more confident that what I got is legit.

That being said... I think I will just stick to regular Playbills from now on.

-

To close this off, I wanna share just a few more pics of the Playbills I got. This picture is from my Winter Garden Playbill, showing the original cast.

For the Marquis Theatre one, I actually got an extra slip showing some of the temporary cast changes that I imagine occurred for one of the performances.

This picture I took specifically for @stinkyhorsebitch, who has expressed an interest in this version of the bug man.

Also, I just realized after the fact that I got exactly three Beetlejuice Playbills-

"Three times in a row", indeed...

[normalaboutdntm]

Playbill Presents: Death Note: The Musical Panel at NYCC2023

As described on the NYCC site:

"Following acclaimed productions in Japan and Korea and after two star-studded sold-out concert engagements in London, DEATH NOTE: The Musical is coming to New York Comic Con. Playbill will present a panel about the show featuring stars from the recent London concert (cast to be announced) and will offer a sneak peek into the developing production. "Based on the best-selling Japanese manga series (60 million copies worldwide) of the same name by Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata / Shueisha, this groundbreaking musical (Winner Best Musical, Korea Musical Awards) has a score by Frank Wildhorn (Jekyll & Hyde, 4 years on Broadway, The Scarlet Pimpernel, Bonnie & Clyde) with lyrics by Jack Murphy, book by Ivan Menchell, and orchestrations and arrangements by Jason Howland."

And on Playbill.com:

"October 14's programming kicks off with a Death Note: The Musical panel at 10:30 AM. Set to appear are cast members Adam Pascal, Joaquin Pedro Valdes, and Dean John-Wilson; producers Yuzo Kajiyama and Jamie Chapman Dixon; and book writer Ivan Menchell, with producer Haley Swindal hosting."

For context, this was the earliest panel slot on the third day of a four-day con. Not quite prime territory (especially with the listening party as the last slot of the same day) but they still secured a really good turnout with a lot of cosplayers. Need I remind everyone, the manga is twenty years old, and the anime isn't much younger. So it's really a sign of DN's staying power and the love that people have for this show that congoers showed up in droves to check out this preview.

Unfortunately nothing of consequence was announced at this panel or at the listening party. I was hoping we'd get confirmation of the West End run or even a Broadway concert performance, but no such luck. I was also looking forward to the audience Q&A but tbh all the information we received was so fascinating that I'm glad Haley let the panelists talk instead of trying to keep time for that.

[ID: Adam Pascal, Joaquin Pedro Valdes, Dean John Wilson, Jamie Chapman Dizon, Ivan Menchell, a translator, and Yuzo Kajiyama sitting on stage at NYCC while Haley Swindal stands at a podium.]

After thanking sponsors and bringing everyone on stage, Haley opened by asking each guest a question, starting with Yuzo, the producer of the original Japanese production.

[everything here not in quotation marks is paraphrased]

Haley: Yuzo, what about Death Note inspired you to turn it into a musical, and what were the steps you took to get there?

Yuzo's translator: When he started at Horipro in 2006, at that time all the musicals were imported. He felt the need to produce original musical shows from within Japan. And that was when he had his eyes on Death Note. Horipro already had a relationship with Shueisha, the rightsholders, from the DN movie.

He had two things he felt were important in making this:

The content had to be something that was internationally popular.

Light Yagami’s actor would always get recognized when he went abroad.

It needed to have some kind of extraordinary element to fit with the spontaneous singing.

The concept of the comic, a person who has their name written and dies and the presence of the shinigami, he felt was a perfect fit for the musical.

He also knew that since Shonen Jump, the magazine Death Note originally appeared in, is sold for 2 dollars, the show therefore needs to be a low price.

So that’s when he went to Shueisha. He remembers the first words that they said were “Death Note is gonna be a musical show?" At that time there was only one manga-adaptation musical: The Prince of Tennis. He convinced the people at Shueisha that this would be a first-class show.

Yuzo knew the most important part of the production was the music. At the time Horipro was involved with the Japanese production of Jeykll & Hyde, which also had themes of justice. Yuzo approached Frank Wildhorn about DNtM, but Wildhorn turned it down because "it had to have a love story element, which he felt was the most important aspect" of a musical. Yuzo was impressed by this.

Wildhorn went back to the US and spoke to his son who was a big fan of Death Note, and his son told him he needed to take the job. [Everyone cheered.]

(continuing in reblogs)

[drmopp1966]

ohoho i found new stuff

this time it’s the playbill for the 1963 She Loves Me tryouts!! (parts of it at least)

There is a plethora of information in here, but the soundtrack is especially interesting

many of the songs present in the composer’s demo were still in the show at this point, but there are a few oddballs.

major changes (all comparisons are with the original 1963 broadway production and the 1963 demo recordings)

firstly, because ‘vanilla ice cream’ was not yet part of the show (at this point having its place taken by ‘the gift of magic’), the song reprised at the end of the show was instead ‘no more candy’. in the final version of the reprise, Georg recites Amalia’s letter from ‘ice cream’, revealing to her that he is Dear Friend. I wonder how this would have played out with ‘no more candy’ as the song being reprised?

there is also ‘seasonal pleasures’ which is present where ‘letters’ would eventually be. this song is not present in the demos, but i assume would probably have served the same purpose as ‘letters’, showing the passage of time and setting up Georg and Amalia’s upcoming date. there always seems to be another version of ‘letters’! (this brings the total to four!)

minor changes

the second reprise of ‘good morning, good day’ seems to have been cut by this point, but not the first one. huh.

‘days gone by’ comes before ‘sounds while selling’ for some reason.

‘will he like me?’ is directly after ‘i don’t know his name’, instead of after ‘goodbye georg’.

and i think that’s everything!

[dollarstoreartsupplies]

Starkid sell me a Cinderella’s castle playbill even tho I’m across the country and can’t see the show challenge

[nessie665]

Hi, I just found out someone is selling a whole bunch of YK Phantom playbills on Ebay. Where'd they even get them? Who knows!

(not all of them are this expensive.)

What an amazing finding! Truly remarkable, there are TONS of gems scattered all over.

Kristin Chenoweth is a very well recorded Christine - that as per the y/k standard where half of all the productions are loss media - meaning I deeply cherish the grainy recording and the exactly 3 photos I have of her

But all of that is from her Massachusetts run in 1994, this is the first tangible proof I have to show that she took part of the German tour to date other than dead-end articles cited on Wikipedia, so that's big news for me

I believe the listing of the playbill to be slightly misdated as other sources say Kristin was part of the tour in 1995, not 1994.

Another great gem is the mention of Ted Keegan pre-Alw's poto, if my previous assumption was correct; just months before being cast into production.

He was cast as part of the ensemble for what I believe was a very short stay, seeing I can't find any other sources linking him to the production apart from a throwaway sentence on his website.

I wonder how well know his participation in the show is in the phandom, performers being in both Y/K and ALW's phantoms are nothing new, but I personally don't recall ever hearing this fact

The last thing I want to talk about is this amazing photo of the original 1991 production, featuring what I'm fairly confident is Richard White and Patti Alison (who also reprised the role during the tour)

Thank you so much for sharing this with me <3

I will link the eBay listing to anyone who may be curious

[theliterarywolf]

So uh, what's the deal with spindlehorse and merch? Cause I didn't even know there was official merch for HH, I only knew about unofficial merch that fans would make in their spare time

So during the lead-up to the premiere of Hazbin Hotel, A24 and BentoBox (the studio that was brought on to help with production) put up some early-access bonuses people could buy.

They ranged from trading cards, keychains of the HH Key, enamel pins, an official playbill for the series and VAs, and early-access to the first two episodes.

And if you wanted to splurge, you could get the ultimate package that included all of that.

... I splurged on the ultimate package.

I still don't have my playbill.

Also, something something -- I had to pay extra for my access to the first two episodes even though I already paid??

But the series premiered proper and, as anyone who's in marketing would tell you, you would think that they would have had merchandise ready for people to purchase as viewership creeped up.

Well... The only official merch available throughout the entirety of S1 was Amazon offering crap-quality t-shirts, some crap-quality popsockets, and trading cards --

Wait, no. The trading cards have been on waitlist since January.

Meanwhile, people who want to support the show are disappointed because, well, they don't want the crappy merch on Amazon and there are some who feel like they're being punished for not knowing about the early-access bonuses.

So we actually didn't start hearing about anything in the way of better official merch until we were pretty much on the week of the finale's release. And even that wasn't a 'hey, you can buy this now' or even a 'coming soon to *insert store-chain*'. No, it was the Spindlehorse artists who have been assigned to handle to designs of the better merch posting on Twitter about how they're still finalizing designs. In addition to this, we got an official Instagram post talking about how they're still in discussion about what store-chains they want to collab with; though it seems like the bulk of this merch (whenever it releases) will be sold by Hot Topic.

Now, of course, in this bizarre in-between period, fans and entrepreneurs are going to do what fans and entrepreneurs are going to do. So we had an explosion of fans selling high-quality fan-merch. Typical stuff: get some good merch, rep your favorite blorbos, and support some independent artists while you're waiting for official merch to drop.

Well... Apparently, some Etsy store owners who specialize in HH fan merch have been reporting their stores getting taken down by Amazon. Now, while it's true that 'oh, people who sell fan-merch know that they either have to have their own independent sites or they have to use creative alternative names on places like Etsy (i.e.: 'Look at this cute Pikachu cloud pin -- I-I-I mean -- look at this cute 'electric yellow mouse sleeping on cloud' pin'), but it's shitty on Amazon and A24 to start doing this now when they're the reason that Spindlehorse can't sell HH merch on SharkRobot anymore unless it's of the pilot-designs of the characters.

[chaifootsteps]

Hey, Chai…

Viv is selling the playbills for $5

https://hazbinhotel.com/products/hazbin-hotel-playbill

WELP! Fuck you, everyone who paid $100 for them!

[markbbrooklyn]

Signed POTO Playbills - Ramin, Emilie

"Titanic", now being presented at NY City Centre, includes many POTO & Les Miz Broadway performers, including RK, EK, Judy Kuhn & Ali Ewoldt.

I waited at the" "stage door" before the show, and all of the "alumni" graciously signed one or more of my Playbills (including the Italy production and the closing night of Phantom, shown above) and a few even stopped to chat for a minute.

"Titanic" will close on Sunday June 23, so if you are in NYC during the upcoming days, you still have a chance to see the show ($45 nosebleed seats are available for most performances) and/or possibly get a few signatures. Be friendly, polite, patient and appreciative - that really helps. And be prepared for the possibility that some may not stop (especially not for photos) - that is their prerogative.

I do NOT sell or trade my autographed Playbills. But if you want any tips about "my process" (LOL), please let me know!

FYI - I did not go to Italy or to the final performance of Phantom - I get the majority of my Playbill collection on eBay, elsewhere on the internet, or at the Broadway Cares/Equity Fights Aids street fair which takes place on a Sunday in late September or early October.

[bespokeredmayne]

Cabaret’s biggest fan

Eddie Redmayne is masterful at selling the unique aspects of the production of Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club, opening April 1 on Broadway. We can’t wait to see if they’ve replicated the magic of the London production’s grotty basement entry + 1929 nightclub. (My stillframes from Playbill video)

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A post shared by BespokeRedmayne (@bespokeredmayne)

[every-single-day]

I wish they’d sale those limited addition playbills on the playbill store and not just a poster of them…. They usually do sell limited quantities of the playbills online but seems like this time they aren’t and just doing a poster

That’s what I’m saying 😭😭😭

Not living in NY is so unfair why would the universe make me a diehard theatre kid then place me in south Florida