The Show Must Go On: Philip Birsh
Philip Birsh purchased a small, but indispensable magazine serving Broadway 30 years ago. As President and CEO of Playbill, he transformed it into a force beyond the theater.
When Philip Birsh purchased the prestigious theater publication Playbill from his father in the early 1990s, he took the reins of a small, money-losing publication on the precipice of a transformation and with vast untapped potential.
"I was convinced that Playbill was not just a theater magazine, but it was a brand," says Birsh, Playbill President and CEO.
"We’ve tried to grow the company in ways that a modern businessperson would look at it as not just a magazine, but as a brand representing an extraordinarily active and well-heeled audience."
Playbill has long been synonymous with Broadway and famous for serving the theater community.
Generations of ushers have distributed the magazine at Broadway and off-Broadway shows, while its timeless design and must-read content – including interviews, actors’ biographies and listings – have formed an integral part of the experience for theatergoers.
"We’ve tried to grow the company in ways that a modern businessperson would look at it as not just a magazine."
The magazine dates to 1884, but Arthur T Birsh became the sole proprietor in 1973 and enmeshed it deeply in the theater community.
When the elder Birsh wanted to sell it in 1992, Phillip Birsh, who was working on Wall Street at the time, offered to help with the sale – to the chagrin of his father.
"He was very upset that I wasn’t wanting to purchase it," Birsh recalls. "He generously negotiated a sale where I and my two siblings would buy Playbill from him."
More Than a Magazine
Under Birsh’s leadership, Playbill has expanded and evolved, adapting to the digital age, expanding its distribution, and entering new lines of business.
"We decided that we would expand our company across the nation and take advantage of a larger audience than just New York," Birsh says.
"By hard work, and some bare-knuckle work, we were able to take over all the markets we wanted to across the country."
After expanding distribution, Birsh launched one of the first websites on Broadway in the mid-1990s. "We are now the biggest and still the best website on Broadway," he proudly claims.
He later opened a Playbill store for selling merchandise, and even debuted Playbill cruises, which proved to be a hit with theater fans.
"By hard work, and some bare-knuckle work, we were able to take over all the markets we wanted to across the country."
"Every night, they have beautiful Broadway concerts of Tony Award-winning talent," he says of the cruises.
"We expanded from a magazine to an internet company, to a merchandise company, to a travel company. And in the future, we’re moving forward and working into becoming a hospitality company."
The company is in discussions with potential partners to license its name for a Playbill Hotel in New York’s Times Square.
"All of this fits into the important theoretical idea that we are a brand representing a community, not just a magazine giving out important information for a show," Birsh says.
Protecting the Brand
Playbill has become part of the theater vernacular. But it’s also a valuable brand, which Birsh jealously protects.
"A brand is a very delicate thing, and you don’t want to make a serious error of judgment by doing something with your brand publicly that fails," he says.
Protecting the brand means sending cease-and-desist letters to those infringing on its trademarks – even high schools and community theaters, which can license the Playbill name through its PLAYBILLder program.
"You have to protect your trademark. And if you don’t, you lose it," Birsh says, calling it critical to a company’s future.
Valuing Partners & Employees
Another factor in Playbill’s enduring success has been Birsh’s emphasis on partnerships – which range from theater communities to suppliers such as Lindenmeyr Munroe, one of the country’s top independent paper, packaging, wide format and facility solutions providers.
"Relationships are not always at a point of a pencil, not always at the cheapest price," he says of supplier dealings.
"You have to establish a relationship and you must pay your bills first of the month, every month," he adds, explaining that it allowed for grace from suppliers during the COVID-19 pandemic, in which cash flow evaporated.
"If you give people good benefits, they will work hard, they will come up with excellent ideas, great solutions."
"If you buy everything at the cheapest price all the time, you will have no relationships. And when the world gets tight, when supply chains get screwed up, you’re out of business," he says.
Birsh’s emphasis on relationships extends to his employees, who are unionized and credited with the company’s profitability.
"The profit of our company is based on our ability to create the right margins, not screwing down employees, paying them less and less and less. If you give people good benefits, they will work hard, they will come up with excellent ideas, great solutions," Birsh says.
"There’s no subtle sabotage, quiet quitting, or anything else that people want to make up."
It comes down to a simple philosophy, he says. "Any company’s future is treating their employees as they should be valued."