Revival of Subways Are For Sleeping

[Jack King]

Posted: 12/1/08 at 7:57pm

This is the ideal time for a revival of Subways Are For Sleeping. Like the characters in this early 1960s musical, many people are homeless and just do the best they can under the circumstances. And there are personal reasons. When the show was playing on Broadway, the lady who would become my wife and I were young, didn't have much money and were living in lower Manhattan. The musical just resonated with us. Since then, we've come up with a musical of our own that's in tune with the times. (Oh!Bad pun.) :) And so, we'd like to get it produced. We've been very practical about production. Thus it can be read and sung simply, with the cast standing up by a music stand. Or it could be a full musical theater production.

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 12/1/08 at 10:05pm

As good as the score is, you generally do not revive a show that was a flop.

[D2]

Posted: 12/1/08 at 10:34pm

Of course not. That's why there haven't been any revivals of:

CANDIDE (twice)
FOLLIES
LITTLE ME (twice)
11O IN THE SHADE
PACIFIC OVERTURES (twice)
SHE LOVES ME
SUNDAY IN THE PARK WITH GEORGE
ZORBA

and a rumored MERRILY WE ROLL ALONG

Updated On: 12/1/08 at 10:34 PM

[PalJoey]

Posted: 12/1/08 at 10:39pm

I love, love LOVE "I Was a Shoo-In"!

[sondheimgeek]

Posted: 12/1/08 at 10:43pm

Subways are for Sleeping has a wonderful score, but now probably isn't the best time to revive it. As you said, many people are homeless, and the last thing we need to see is a musical about a few of the homeless. The show isn't meant to be depressing, but the subject matter isn't the best for this particular time.

Can you seriously imagine people flocking to see 'Subways are for Sleeping'? Sadly, it wouldn't be a big hit.

Updated On: 12/1/08 at 10:43 PM

[sondheimgeek]

Posted: 12/1/08 at 10:44pm

PalJoey, I also adore 'I Was a Shoo-in'! I adore the entire score!

[PalJoey]

Posted: 12/1/08 at 10:45pm

I looked on YouTube to see if there was anything (why would there be?), and this bizarre video of "Be a Santa" came up:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vGz9m2L0wsA

[nobodyhome]

Posted: 12/2/08 at 1:29am

"Of course not. That's why there haven't been any revivals of:

CANDIDE (twice)
FOLLIES
LITTLE ME (twice)
11O IN THE SHADE
PACIFIC OVERTURES (twice)
SHE LOVES ME
SUNDAY IN THE PARK WITH GEORGE
ZORBA

and a rumored MERRILY WE ROLL ALONG"

Of course, a number of flop musicals have been revived commercially and a few of them have been commercial successes in revival, though I think most were financial failures in revival as well. And a number were revived by nonprofits with varying degrees of success.

Btw, the original production of 110 in the Shade did pay off during the post-Broadway tour so Variety classified it as a hit.

One difference between the shows mentioned above and Subways Are For Sleeping is that the show's authors didn't think it was a good show. And that may be why it was never licensed. I think the most we can hope for is an Encores! or Musicals in Mufti presentation.

A thread on flops that have been revived can be found at
https://forum.broadwayworld.com/readmessage.cfm?thread=972257#3626745

[WOSQ]

Posted: 12/2/08 at 10:29am

What the Broadway dictionary says about Subways Are For Sleeping:

See "Barrel, Bottom of the"

[NB - Gee, I wish there was a Broadway dictionary.]

[doodlenyc]

Posted: 12/2/08 at 10:51am

Pacific Overtures was only revived once.

[D2]

Posted: 12/2/08 at 10:53am

Twice. York Theatre did a production in the mid-80s that transferred to the Promenade Theatre off-broadway. It was sensational, but alas, also flopped.

[doodlenyc]

Posted: 12/2/08 at 11:10am

Yes...didnt think you would count an off-bway revival...carry on.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 12/2/08 at 11:37am

Uptown by local
To Van Cortlandt Park
Get up, get out, go down,
Cross over, go up,
Get on again.
Be sure to get off at
The end of the line--
Or you'll wake up to
A FIFTY-DOLLAR FINE!

That was from memory. ;-}

[Gypsy9]

Posted: 12/2/08 at 2:31pm

LITTLE ME originally opened in November, 1962 during a newspaper strike. Even the brilliant Sid Caesar could not keep the show open past 275 performances, what with the strike keeping the reviews and advertising from the public. Reviews finally came out when the strike ended. Walter Kerr's review concluded: "Sum total: a blockbuster so genial it looks like a breeze." The show received 4 raves, 2 favorable and 1 unfavorable review. That's a flop?!!

The writers came up with a gem of a show. Music was by Cy Coleman, lyrics by the witty Carolyn Leigh, and the hilarious book was by Neil Simon. The co-direction and choreography was by Bob Fosse. This musical remains the funniest show I have ever seen. The failure of the revivals has to be due to the Sid Caesar replacements. I think James Coco was in one of them.

[givesmevoice]

Posted: 12/2/08 at 3:07pm

would anyone be able to match the great David Merrick's publicity stunt for Subways, though? think there's anyone else named Charles Isherwood out there?

[PiraguaGuy2]

Posted: 12/2/08 at 3:42pm

Amazing.
For those who don't know, Merrick (the producer) found seven Average Joes in the tri-state area who had the same names as the major NY theatre critics. He took them to the show, got some generic raves out of them, and plastered them on a poster for a show that had been eviscerated by the actual critics.

[nobodyhome]

Posted: 12/2/08 at 4:04pm

Gypsy9. I don't think you can blame the newspaper strike for Little Me failing to catch on and become a hit. What I find online says the strike started on Dec. 8, 1962, while Little Me opened on Nov. 17.

Oliver! opened during the strike and was a hit. It had Merrick, but Little Me had Sid Caesar. I'm sure Little Me had a healthy advance. It just didn't catch on with audiences. Doesn't mean it wasn't a great show. But it was a financial failure.

The first revival, which I didn't see, rather strangely divided the Caesar roles between Coco and Garber. Kind of misses the point.

The last revival was only intermittently entertaining. Comedy doesn't seem to be Rob Marshall's strong suit, and Martin Short could only make up for so much. It was misconceived in some crucial respects and the revisions were harmful rather than helpful.

[Jack King]

Posted: 12/2/08 at 5:31pm

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOH! I am absolutely overwhelmed at the response. Thank you all for your comments. Rather than reply individually, I'll make this an en masse "THANKS." We were here in the City when Merrick decorated the subway walls with SAFS posters. And the quotes from famous-name-alikes. And the backlash from the subway system folks, thinking the show would promote bums riding the subway line.

Despite all that. I STILL love the show. And now I'll share with you an absolutely strange-but-true story. The book upon which the show was based is by Edmund G. Love. And ya gotta read the book! It is rich in detail. The musical takes but a few of the stories in the book. Mr. Love was homeless but kept up appearances like the characters in the musical. I must say that I'm obsessed by the book. And here's why. The book appears to be obsessed with me as well. Ok now, here's the story.

I was stationed in the Army for a wonderful two years at Fort Jay, Governors Island in New York harbor, off the southern tip of Manhattan. Those were the days when guys were drafted. So after I was assigned to the medics, I actually got a choice: to be stationed in NYC. One of the guys came into my barracks room with the SAFS paperback and asked it anyone wanted to read this (expletive) book. I wasn't paying much attention. But when he started to rip in up, I asked for the book. And so I read and re-read it. So now let's have a calendar page fx skipping through to a warm summer night in 2007. Wife and I are the Village and going through the tons of used books at The Strand. My heart leaped from my body as I came upon--YES!!!--the SAFS paperback that was torn on the side. It WAS the same book! So then I said I WILL get SAFS--or a musical like it--on stage--if I had to make up my own musical.

So the wife and I did come up with a musical, but not about the homeless. It's about business. I will share with you the lyrics to one song. Alas! I can't sing and play it for you.

"That Lovely Winter In Manhattan
When the snow began to fall.
I saw here standing by the subway
near City Hall.

I only saw her for a moment.
But I loved her for all time.
That magic moment in Manhattan
on the subway line."

That's enough. And that is based on a true story. I had lost her addres where she was staying at 13th Sreet & 6th Avenue. But I did see her get into the subway at Union Square later. I yelled to her before she got on the train.

We plan to make a video out of our show and get it shown here on community cable, which is very big here in Minneapolis.

So that's where we are. :)

Any comments?

BTW we'll be in NYC in March on business.

[Jack King]

Posted: 12/2/08 at 6:08pm

My favorite song from the musical is "Girls Like Me" sung by Carol Lawrence. A drop-dead gorgeous song to soften the hardest of hearts. That reminded me so much of my wife when she was an editor. So that led us to do a movie "Danger In Romance" where the editor of a romance novel paperback company was so busy working on books that she had no time for a romance of her own. :)

Other songs I love very much.

Sidney Chaplin's "I'm Just Taking My Time." There are elements of that in a documentary video we did here recently on the homeless.

"Ride Through the Night" has so much energy.

"Swing Your Projects" is brilliant writing and superbly done. Hey, I wish I'd written that!

Mazel! Jack King

[dayao]

Posted: 12/2/08 at 10:38pm

And let's not forget "Comes Once in A Lifetime", one of musical theater's greatest songs. I can't think of any musical in the last 20 years that has as rich a score as "Subways".

[Jack King]

Posted: 12/3/08 at 5:02am

Yes indeed. Thanks for following up. :) After I posted my favorite songs, I realized I'd forgotten that song and also "Who Knows What Might Have Been?" It has bittersweet nature similar to my favorite "Girls Like Me." And also "I Said It And I'm Glad."

I've got the Broadway cast CD. As I recall, SAFS was the first Broadway show to be recorded in that new sound format of the time: stereo. :) And oof-dah, as the Swedes say here in Minnesota, the left/right channels are used a bit too much in some songs such as "I Said It And I'm Glad." So the guy is solely on one speaker and the gal on the other for most of the song. It was the novelty of the then new medium of stereo. My computer CD player doesn't allow me to matrix to mono. So I had to make a cassette tape of it on another machine. Then the channels are combined and I can hear the whole thing.

Have a great night and day. :) JK
Music is God'd greatest gift to us.

[Jack King]

Posted: 12/3/08 at 5:16am

Very good! That song reminds me of a similar song about NYC directions in "Wonderful Town." Can't exactly recall those lyrics.

"Swing Your Projects" in SAFS had extraordinary lyrics. And very well done by Sidney Chaplin.

Have a great night and day!
Music is God's greatest gift to we mortals. :)

[Smaxie]

Posted: 12/3/08 at 5:55am

Subways wasn't the first stereo cast recording. Columbia got there about five years earlier, around 1956/1957. Candide (1956) was recorded in stereo, although it was initially released in mono only. But Columbia's West Side Story (1957) and Capitol's The Music Man (1957) were early stereo releases. And Columbia also produced a London cast recording of My Fair Lady in 1958 with the same leads as their original Broadway recording in order to have a stereo version available.

[Jack King]

Posted: 12/3/08 at 8:15am

Ah! Thanks for the information. However there was some recording technique fact though about SAFS. Can't recall.

Speaking of "Candide" and of Bernstein, we sure could use his talents again. Bring back Lenny! I'm hoping someone comes up with another "Wonderful Town" type musical.

BTW is there a revival going of WT or is there one upcoming?

Have great nights and days!
To Life!

jk

[commasplice]

Posted: 12/3/08 at 8:54am

"BTW is there a revival going of WT or is there one upcoming?"

Doubtful -- it was revived in 2003 with Donna Murphy (and then when she left, Brooke Shields), and I'm pretty sure it was a flop.