After two previews, the
Broadway production, directed and
choreographed by
Michael Kidd, opened on December 27, 1961 at the
St. James Theatre, where it ran for 205 performances. The cast included
Orson Bean,
Sydney Chaplin,
Carol Lawrence,
Gordon Connell, Grayson Hall, and Green's wife
Phyllis Newman (whose costume, consisting solely of a towel, was probably
Freddy Wittop's easiest design in his distinguished career), with newcomers
Michael Bennett and
Valerie Harper in the chorus.
Subways Are for Sleeping opened to mostly negative reviews. The show already was hampered by a lack of publicity, since the
New York City Transit Authority refused to post advertisements on the city's buses and in subway trains and stations for fear they would be perceived as officially sanctioning the right of vagrants to use these facilities as overnight accommodations. Producer
David Merrick and press agent
Harvey Sabinson decided to invite individuals with the same names as prominent theatre critics (such as
Walter Kerr,
Richard Watts Jr. and
Howard Taubman) to see the show, and afterwards used their favorable comments in print ads. Thanks to photographs of the seven "critics" accompanying their blurbs (the well-known real Richard Watts was not
African American), the ad was discovered to be a deception. It was pulled from most newspapers, but not before running in an early edition of the
New York Herald Tribune. However, the clever
publicity stunt allowed the musical to continue to run and it eventually turned a small profit. Newman won the
Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical, and nominations went to Bean for Best Featured Actor and Kidd's choreography. An
original cast recording was released by
Columbia Records. A revival production was briefly mounted in 2009. ==Songs==