One of the most iconic remaining pieces of physical media can be found eight times a week in Midtown, Manhattan. But is it here to stay? We’re talking about the posterobviously, and more precisely of the presentation leaflet, often hastily printed, which is found inside.
The history of posters
The long tradition of posters began way back 1884when Frank Vance Strauss began creating the revue-style theater program in New York. The programs have been a landmark on Broadway and a memorable memory for generations. They are informative, decorative and so little New Yorkers.
The tradition recently celebrated a milestone. Last year, for the 140th anniversary by Playbill, the covers of each show have returned to vintage versions of the beloved catalogs. The bright, bold colors were replaced by muted black and white covers that reminded viewers how long this tradition is.
On a completely different note, physical media appears to be disappearing visibly, and while playbills are here to stay, the long-standing tradition of understudy slips and inserts could be Broadway’s next casualty, potentially replaced by QR codes that link to digital cast announcements.
The rise of QR codes
I QR codes are increasingly present in daily life, transforming restaurant menus, ticketing systems and even art exhibitions. Now they’re potentially getting into one of the most important aspects of Broadway: understudies.
In October it was officially approved a new production contract betweenActors’ Equity Association (the union of actors and stage managers) and the Broadway League (representing producers and theater owners).
The contract, which will remain in force until September 2028, provides salary increases for actors and stage managers, an increase in employer contributions to health funds e improvements to programming and sustainable working conditions.
Among these major changes, however, is a clause that makes poster inserts optional, officially allowing the shows to replace physical adverts for substitutes with digital alternatives accessible via QR codes.
Substitute ads, or “stuffers,” have long been the humble heroes of poster art. Hidden between the pages, they announce last-minute cast changes or the appearance of a replacement. For artists, seeing your name on one can be a career milestone. For collectors and fans, these slips are unique markers of a particular show that may never happen the same way again.
For some, this change represents a progress in reducing paper waste, simplifying communication and aligning with a technology-conscious audience. For others, however, it seems like the slow erasure of something sacred.
Without these posters, the rapid cast changes could pass unobserved and an ephemeral but beloved part of the Broadway experience may be quietly disappearing.
So while playbills continue to hold their place as the quintessential Broadway souvenir, the inserts that accompany them may soon become part of the theater’s history themselves. And for an art form that lives by traditionthis change may be harder to accept than a simple page change.