The Playbill Broadway Yearbook: June 2008 - May 2009

The Playbill Broadway Yearbook: June 2008 - May 2009 (Fifth Annual Edition). Edited by Robert Viagas. Applause Books. Hardcover. 470 pages. Published by Applause Books.

Many of the people who work on Broadway keep scrapbooks of their experiences: photos, signed posters, ticket stubs, and, of course the Playbills. These are treasured keepsakes, something 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 book that has become a Broadway institution: The Playbill Broadway Yearbook. Taking the form of a high school yearbook, the fifth edition is packed with photos and memorabilia from the entire 2008-2009 Broadway season.

The new edition includes chapters on 78 Broadway shows, which is every show that ran during the season – not just the new shows like Billy Elliot * God of Carnage * Shrek * and Rock of Ages, but the long-running ones from seasons past, like Phantom of the Opera * The Lion King * and Wicked. This year's roster is expected to top 9,000 names.