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| Pat Hingle, Barbara Barrie. (Photo: Martha Swope.) |
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| Pat Hingle. |
Plagued by preshow problems,
including the departure of director Robert H. Livingston and book writer Stuart
Hample, and their replacement by lyricist Jack O’Brien—as well as a lawsuit
brought by Joe McGinniss claiming that the producers, heavily backed by someone
connected with a pesticide company, had inserted commercials for their product
into the show’s TV format—The Selling of
the President couldn’t sell enough seats to last even a week. Of course,
reviews like Walter Kerr’s, accusing the show of “staggering ineptitude,” weren’t
very helpful.
This musical was based on a popular 1968 book about how President
Nixon’s campaign first campaign had been manipulated by the media. The show, however, fictionalized the story by moving the action forward to 1976, calling the
candidate George Mason (Pat Hingle), and setting the entire action within the
confines of a TV studio from which Mason never departs during his entire
successful campaign. Nixon was still in office when the show opened.
Cast members of note included Barbara Barrie, Karen
Morrow, and TV personality Johnny Olson (as himself). And co-librettist/lyricist Jack O'Brien would find a more distinguished career helming instead of writing shows.
According to Clive Barnes, “the book is too weak, emasculated
and inane to draw the political blood needed for it to survive.” The music was
of similar quality. There was a smooth and effective use of multimedia
techniques, including film, video, and projections, but, wrote Julius Novick “the
show suffered from a lack of courage . . . , imagination and wit.”