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[[image - photograph]]
[[caption]] Peter LeDonne (l.) of Ash/LeDonne directs Bill Hutton (r.) in the commercial for Joseph...[[/caption]]

COMMERCIAL SUCCESSES

Plotting the Broadway ad campaign has become as important as finding a star, a theatre, and a friendly critic

Strictly speaking, Broadway and Madison Avenue do not intersect.  Geography aside, however, the major interests - theatre and advertising - which are evoked by these two street names, have never before been so intertwined.  With producers spending a record high of 15% of their budgets on selling their shows, advertisements have become as essential to a Broadway production as costumes and scenery.

Promotion, of course, has been a part of show biz since man first learned he could sing for his supper - provided enough people showed up to listen.  Troubadours carrying colorful poster-size tapestries roamed the streets of medieval towns drumming up business for mystery plays.  In Shakespeare's day handbills were dispersed through town announcing a new drama at the Globe (since few theatregoers could read during Elizabethan times, graphics had to say it all).  And those who saw last season's Nicholas Nickleby were treated to an amusing view of how producers ballyhooed their show in the 1800s.  Nicholas, upon joining an acting troupe in Portsmouth, was commanded to write a play overnight and then to canvass prominent townsfolk to generate box office.  (Not even Neil Simon goes from typewriter to talk circuit that quickly).  Then when it came time for Nicholas to leave the troupe, his inimitable manager, Mr. Crummles, came up with this publicity ploy to promote the young actor: "We'll have posters out first thing in the morning," Crummles decides.  "We can have positively your last appearance on Thursday, reengagement for one night on Friday - and yielding to the wishes of numerous

By Jack Curry

6



[[advertisement]
[[image - photograph of the interior of a Datsun 280-ZX]]

TAKE YOUR SEAT. THE PERFORMANCE IS ABOUT TO BEGIN.

[[image - photograph of a Datsun 280-ZX]]

DATSUN 280-ZX

Slip into something comfortable: a multi-adjustable bucket seat you fine-tune to the perfect position.

A quick systems checkout assures you all is in readiness: computer sensors report on lights and vital fluids; a vocalized system alerts you if doors are open, fuel level low, parking brake on.

Remote-control mirrors?  Check.  Four-speaker stereo/cassette?  Check.  Power windows?  Check.

Now, unleash the fuel-injected, computer-controlled powerplant.  As energy surges effortlessly, a tingle travels down your spine.  No wonder Z-cars have won national racing championships 11 of the past 12 years.

The 1982 Datsun 280-ZX and Turbo-ZX.  Now both models are available in 2-seater and 2+2.

Come see the four newest faces of "awesome."

DATSUN 
WE ARE DRIVEN

(c) 1982 NMC - USA
Product of NISSAN

[[image - Nissan logo]]