Stagebill
Stagebill was a monthly U.S. magazine for theatregoers. Most copies of the publication were printed for particular productions and distributed at the door as the show's program. It was launched as a direct rival to the highly successful monthly Playbill. But after five years of head-to-head competition with Playbill, Stagebill became insolvent and was acquired by its rival which also kept the Stagebill trademark.[1]
History
Stagebill was launched in 1927 as a direct competition to Playbill, a highly successful publication.[2] Playbill concentrated on Broadway and Off-Broadway theaters, while Stagebill positioned itself as a publication focused on concerts, opera, and dance in venues such as Lincoln Center and Carnegie Hall.[3][4]
B&B Enterprises, Inc. acquired Stagebill in 1969.[5] The company owned the magazine until 1994 when it was acquired by K-III Communications based in New York City.[6][7] In the 1990s Shira Kalish was the publisher of the magazine.[8] She was succeeded by Darcy Miller Donaldson in the post.[7]
However, by the late 1990s, Playbill was extremely profitable; Stagebill was not, losing millions of dollars annually by 1998.
With a more aggressive policy of acquiring publicity for more performing arts venues, Playbill broke from its typical format and began publishing completely customized programs in the vein of Stagebill.[11] This, coupled with continuing fiscal troubles of Stagebill, led to the end of it as a publishing entity. Stagebill became insolvent in summer 2002,[12] and in June 2002 it was acquired by its rival Playbill which also kept the Stagebill trademark.[13]
References
- ^ Hofler, Robert (9 June 2002). "Playbill corners legit market". Variety. variety.com. Retrieved November 14, 2013.
- ^ Philip Kennicott (21 July 2002). "Act II, Scene I: Stagebill Exits Limping". The Washington Post. Retrieved 15 June 2022.
- ^ a b Pincus-Roth, Zachary (18 October 2007). "Ask Playbill.com: Playbill® and Showbill®". Playbill. Archived from the original on 14 September 2013. Retrieved November 14, 2013.
- ^ Edward Rothstein (August 20, 1981). "Concert-Program Magazines Getting New Faces". The New York Times. Retrieved April 1, 2017.
- ^ Linda Winer (April 9, 1975). "Stagebill: Still in the wings". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved April 1, 2017.
- ^ "K-III acquires Stagebill". UPI. June 6, 1994. Retrieved April 1, 2017.
- ^ a b "K-III Appoints Darcy Miller Donaldson Publisher of Stagebill". PR Newswire. August 5, 1999. Retrieved April 1, 2017.
- ^ Patricia Riedman (April 19, 1999). "This magazine page is going, going, gone". AdvertisingAge. Retrieved April 1, 2017.
- ^ Jones, Chris (10 June 2002). "Stagebill is sold to rival Playbill". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved November 14, 2013.
- ^ a b Brodesser, Claude; Jones, Oliver (9 March 1999). "Melodrama at Met". Variety. Retrieved November 14, 2013.
- ^ a b Mandell, Jonathan (25 August 2002). "Theater's memory bank expands". The New York Times. Retrieved November 14, 2013.
- ^ Michael Phillips (August 27, 2002). "New play magazine fills Stagebill void". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved December 22, 2016.
- ^ Robert Simonson (June 7, 2002). "Playbill Acquires Publishing Rights to Rival Stagebill". Playbill. Retrieved December 22, 2016.