This volume serves as a comprehensive archival record of the 1989-1990 theatrical season, documenting the productions, performers, and creative teams that defined the period. John M. Willis, a long-standing chronicler of the American stage, compiles extensive data to provide a permanent reference for theater historians and enthusiasts. The work functions as a systematic catalog, capturing the ephemeral nature of live performance through detailed credits and statistical summaries.

The Theatre World series is widely regarded as a standard reference tool for researchers and historians documenting the evolution of the American stage. Its systematic approach to archiving production data provides a reliable, objective record of a specific historical window in theatrical history.