Robert Viagas

The Playbill Broadway Yearbook Robert Viagas

Many of the people who work on Broadway keep scrapbooks of their experiences: photos, signed posters, ticket stubs, and, of course the Playbills. Playbill Books, a division of the iconic 127-year-old company that designs the programs for every show on Broadway, has expanded this idea into an annual project that has become a Broadway institution: The Playbill Broadway Yearbook. Taking the form of a college yearbook, the seventh edition is packed with photos - more than 4 000 of them, many in color - and memorabilia from the entire 2010-2011 Broadway season, including headshots of all the actors, and photos of producers, writers, designers, stage managers, stagehands, musicians - even the ushers! A new feature this year is plot summaries of each of the shows, as well as stats, Playbill covers, and inside stories that only Playbill can get. It includes chapters on nearly 80 Broadway shows - not just new shows such as Spider-man: Turn Off the Dark, Warhorse, The Book of Mormon, and Catch Me If You Can, but also the season's long-running ones, such as Billy Elliot, Mamma Mia! and Wicked. Also included is a wealth of photos from Broadway insider events, including "Gypsy of the Year " "Broadway Bare " and the annual Broadway League softball championship. The authors have once again asked each production to supply a member of the cast or crew to serve as correspondent, to report on things that only those who worked backstage would know: opening night presents, embarrassing moments, memorable ad-libs, who got the Gypsy Robe, daily rituals, celebrity visits, favorite health tips and regimens, and so on. Correspondents range from dressers and stage doormen to stage managers, dancers, featured players, and, in some cases, the star of the show.