Theatre Advertising rules were recently changed in the UK so that critic quotes on posters had to reflect exactly what was originally written. In some cases, PR firms have responded by replacing well known wordsmiths with members of the social media class. Well. This New Yorker article about sleeping on subways includes a different, rather novel approach:
"A musical comedy called, simply “Subways Are for Sleeping”—one with impeccable pedigree, book and lyrics by Betty Comden and Adolph Green, music by Jule Styne, and starring Carol Lawrence—débuted on Broadway in 1961. (You can listen to the romantic song “Ride Through The Night.” above) The concept was that well-dressed homeless people, a self-chosen underground sect, secretly lived and loved on the subways. The show got so-so notices, and then produced one of the most notorious stunts in theatre history, when the incorrigible producer David Merrick placed an ad with quotes from all the leading newspaper critics of the day—it was a day when there were many—praising the show only for the world to discover that these were not the actual critics but fellow-New Yorkers with the same names: a sort of straphangers’ revolt against the professional reviewers. (Someone at Encores should revive the show for this New York moment. The score sounds terrific.)"
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