So I have a new project: Collecting old Playbills. But only those from shows I actually saw live. I’m TERRIBLE at saving things and didn’t have any Playbills from the many shows I’ve seen over the years EXCEPT for those I went to last year. So many lost. So many memories fading much too quickly. SO I took to the Internet and started researching.
There are plays I attended over the last five years that it feels like it will be impossible to find the Playbills…but I’ve been fortunate that I’ve been able to track down the first few shows I ever saw live from back in the 1970s and now have some of those Playbills in hand. (It’s also been pleasant to discover that this project isn’t crazily expensive. The most expensive Playbill I’ve purchased so far is the one I’ll write about in my next post: Dracula. And even this didn’t cost as much as one day of buying breakfast and lunch in Boston, so I’m happy!)
This was triggered by an email advertisement from Playbill online selling a binder to hold your Playbills. I mean, I KNOW you don’t need a special binder to keep Playbills…but I loved it and had to have it. My Christmas gift to me! So I bought the binder and realized that even though I had been to SO many shows (especially over the last few years) I have very few Playbills to show for it.
So I made a list of all the shows I’ve seen going back to my first show in 1977, Dracula. I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to find any but have had quite good luck. Right now I’m tracking down the Playbills (or Playbill-like program) specifically from the show I’ve seen. Meaning the year when and theater where I saw the show. (As an example, I’m really hot to get the Peter Pan Playbill from when I saw it in 1981 at the Metropolitan Center but I haven’t been able to find one yet. There are plenty of Playbills available from that show but not the Boston run so I’m waiting for a while to see if I can get the one I really want.)
My plan is to go through each show as I can with memories of the show, the time, whatever comes up. This is my own vanity project because it worries me a little how easily it has been for me to forget. So this is going to be a written history of my theatre viewing to help me remember. If it entertains anyone who happens upon it, that’ll be nice too.