This is a study of a ticket agent, his business methods and his contributions to the Broadway theatre. It contains elements of biography, economic history of the American stage and insights into the relationship between Broadway producers and the people who sold the tickets to their attractions. The book recounts a number of then-famous battles between powerful producers and the ticket agencies. It set the scene for readers not familiar with the period by giving ample background and then traces Read more...

Studio: Warner Bros. Digital Dist Release Date: 09/06/2011 Read more...

Kansas City, 1929: Myrtle and Jack Bennett sit down with another couple for an evening of bridge. As the game intensifies, Myrtle complains that Jack is a “bum bridge player.” For such insubordination, he slaps her hard in front of their stunned guests and announces he is leaving. Moments later, sobbing, with a Colt .32 pistol
in hand, Myrtle fires four shots, killing her husband.

The Roaring 1920s inspired nationwide fads–flagpole sitting, marathon dancing, swimming-pool enduran Read more...

Many of the people who work on Broadway keep scrapbooks of their experiences: photos, signed posters, ticket stubs, and, of course, Playbills. These are treasured keepsakes, to be savored over a lifetime and then passed on to friends and descendants. Playbill Books, a division of the iconic 125-year-old company that designs the programs for every show on Broadway, has expanded this idea into an annual project that is becoming a Broadway institution: The Playbill Broadway Yearbook. Taking the for Read more...

The most comprehensive and widely used Broadway reference book has been expanded and updated to include more than 300 of the most important and memorable productions of the American musical theatre. Chronologically arranged beginning with The Black Crook in 1866, this edition includes show entries up through the latest hits (Rent, Sunset Boulevard, Kiss of the Spider Woman, Victor/Victoria, Passion) and all the latest big revivals (Show Boat, How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, The Read more...