Ten Things in Every Theater Gift Shop, and the Two Worth Buying

Every theater gift shop is a small, optimistic museum of the same ten objects. Knowing which ones are keepsakes and which are souvenirs-of-convenience will save you money and shelf space.

• TheaterMania lists ten standard theater merch items: programs, logo T-shirts, sweatshirts, magnets, coffee mugs, window posters, keychains, tote bags, lapel pins and phone accessories ^[1].
• Producers have borrowed from rock-concert merchandising since the early 1970s ^[1].
• Posters came first: Broadway’s first theater poster shop, the Triton Gallery, opened in October 1965 ^[2].
• Since 2008, merchandise has moved from plain logo items toward fashion-forward pieces and bespoke opening-night gifts ^[2].

The standard ten

TheaterMania identifies the usual inventory: programs, logo T-shirts, sweatshirts, magnets, coffee mugs, window posters, keychains, tote bags, lapel pins and phone accessories ^[1]. The recipe goes back to the early 1970s, when producers copied rock-concert merchandising with lobby booths and hand-stapled shirts ^[1]. The retail shelf began with posters: the Triton Gallery on West 44th Street became Broadway’s first theater poster shop in October 1965 after customers kept asking to buy the show posters ^[2].

What holds value

• The poster. It is the original merchandise, it is tied to a specific production and run, and it looks good on a wall without explanation.
• The program. It is cheap, it lists the cast and creative team, and it is the easiest item to keep flat and safe.

What gathers dust

The magnet, the keychain and the mug are pleasant and easy to replace. They are not worthless, but they are what you buy when you want something small to carry out of the building. The same goes for phone accessories, which expire when your phone does.

Where the items came from

TheaterMania’s history traces specific products. Shuffle Along produced a handheld game in 1922 to mark its first anniversary; South Pacific licensed items such as a “Knucklehead Nellie” doll, linens, an engraved mirror compact and a cigarette case; and Cats (1981), under producer Cameron Mackintosh, turned merchandising into marketing, its yellow-eyes logo shirt becoming the second most popular T-shirt of the 1980s after the Hard Rock Café’s ^[1]. The company Platypus Merchandise began designing programs in 1958 and later moved into tailoring full merchandise lines to each production ^[1].

Recent examples show the shift toward pieces with a story. The 2017 revival of Sunset Boulevard sold high-end jewelry to patrons, including pieces styled after Norma Desmond’s jewels; Six has character-specific merchandise lines; and Moulin Rouge! built an elaborately designed merchandise display ^[1]. The article also notes that tote bags have replaced baseball caps as a popular piece, and that lapel pins and stuffed animals have grown in popularity over the last decade ^[1]. The gift shop is a small museum of what each era thought audiences wanted to carry home.

The new wave: wearable and one-off

Creative Goods’ Peter Milano says merchandise has “evolved so much” in the years since 2008, moving from simple logo items to fashion-forward designs and specialized opening-night gifts, such as charm bracelets for Dear Evan Hansen, North Face vests for The Elephant Man and custom skateboards for West Side Story ^[2]. Those are the pieces to look for: made with a point of view and, usually, in short supply.

One shopping rule applies at every gift shop: ask whether you will use it in a month. If the answer is yes, buy it. If not, take a photo and walk on.

Questions readers ask

What are the most common theater merchandise items?

TheaterMania lists ten staples: programs, logo T-shirts, sweatshirts, magnets, coffee mugs, window posters, keychains, tote bags, lapel pins and phone accessories ^[1].

When did Broadway get its first poster shop?

The Triton Gallery on West 44th Street opened in October 1965 as Broadway’s first theater poster shop ^[2].