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Under successive changes in ownership, Playbill has evolved into a slick magazine of 44 to 60 pages, with an editorial content deliberately big enough—sometimes 20 pages—to frustrate quick consumption between acts. The diet is varied: an article by Wall Street Broker Gerald Loeb on theatrical investment, one by New York Times Art Critic John Canaday on the high cost of old and new masters, a disingenuous appraisal by Editor Mee of the coming season ("There will still be shows produced this year according to the old formula: What will please the audience, what will fool the critics, what will be Good Box Office'').
But Playbill's"success is solidly based on the playgoer himself, who seems thankful for it wherever it appears—as Playbill discovered when it invaded Los Angeles last January. Now installed in eight of Los Angeles' 36 legitimate theaters, the magazine hopes to do even better there, and in its new outlets. It is convinced that the stage is not dying but growing. Says Publisher Steinfeld: "We don't believe this stuff about the theater being a 'fabulous invalid.' It's booming in every major city."