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The "Subways" Hoax |
Editorial/July 2012 |
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This is David Merrick's
misleading ad that probably cost
Barbra Streisand a Tony. |
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Did David Merrick Cost
Barbra a Tony?
July
28,
2012 (EDITORIAL)
We
all know that Barbra Streisand lost her bid for a Tony award to
Phyllis Newman back in 1962.
But things could have turned out differently.
Barbra
Streisand might actually have come out a winner if not for a
shady move by her own producer, David Merrick.
David
Merrick produced both "Subways Are for
Sleeping" and "I Can Get It For You Wholesale." With Tony
nominations for their respective roles in these two Merrick shows,
Phyllis and Barbra became competitors in the same category on
Tony night.
"Wholesale," while not a huge hit, maintained a healthy box
office on the strength of Barbra's performance.
Merrick was happy. Barbra was filling seats at the Shubert
Theatre.
But across the street at the St. James Theatre, things were not
going as well for "Subways Are for Sleeping." Mediocre opening night
reviews had led to poor ticket sales at the box office.
Merrick was not happy, so he devised an infamous scheme
that, to this day, is still being talked about within Broadway
circles.
He perpetrated a hoax
by running a false and misleading ad.
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Merrick combed the New York City phone book and located people
who had the same names as some of the leading theatre critics of
the time. He invited these folks to see "Subways Are for
Sleeping," took them out to post theatre dinners and asked them
to say something nice about the show they had just seen. Having
secured their permission, Merrick crafted an ad that quoted
these people, not the actual theatre critics.
It was misleading to say the least. The ad was submitted to all
the New York papers. It actually ran in The New York Herald
Tribune before the other papers caught on and killed it.
After the stunt was exposed, Merrick received tons of ill-gotten
publicity for his show. Ticket sales suddenly spiked and
"Subways" was able to postpone its closing notices by several
months.
If "Subways Are for Sleeping" had closed earlier, it's quite
possible that Phyllis Newman's performance might not have been
seen by some of the Tony voters. The award might have gone to Barbra
Streisand instead.
But Merrick's stunt worked. The voters did get to see
Newman's performance and she won the Tony over Barbra. The irony, of course, is that both actresses
were on Merrick's payroll. |
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As Barbra leaves
the 1962 Tony
Awards, her look
of
disappointment
is captured
beautifully by
photojournalist
Santiago
Rodriguez.
(Source:
Barbra Through
the Lens). |
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