The story Davy tells about Merrick inviting people with the same names as prominent reviewers wasn't for Oliver; it was for 1961's "Subways Are for Sleeping". (And it was done not because of the newspaper strike but because the play was a bomb).
To Merrick's credit, he didn't force these 7 folk to praise the show. But he treated them to dinner and a Broadway show; of course they were going to say good things.
Thanks for that. Now I'll *really* have to find that original audio from that day, if only just to see if I screwed up that story or if he "borrowed" it to liven up his story...like he really needed to do that!
The story Davy tells about Merrick inviting people with the same names as prominent reviewers wasn't for Oliver; it was for 1961's "Subways Are for Sleeping". (And it was done not because of the newspaper strike but because the play was a bomb).
Wiki link has the ad. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subways_Are_for_Sleeping
To Merrick's credit, he didn't force these 7 folk to praise the show. But he treated them to dinner and a Broadway show; of course they were going to say good things.
Thanks for that. Now I'll *really* have to find that original audio from that day, if only just to see if I screwed up that story or if he "borrowed" it to liven up his story...like he really needed to do that!
1) The idea wasn't Merrick's but the publicity man for "Subways".
2) Merrick wasn't trying to defraud _too_ much (He had photos of the actual people.) whereas Davy's story, Merrick is trying to defraud.
My suspicion, with all due respect to Davy Jones, is that he borrowed the story.
I'll throw in a plug for "Second Act Troubles" where I learned the "Subways" story.
https://www.amazon.com/Second-Act-Trouble-Broadways-Musical/dp/1557836310/