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Martin Denton · May 15, 2009

Friends, Metropolitan Playhouse has outdone itself! This fine indie theater company regularly trawls the annals of lesser-known American dramas from a century ago or more, and comes up with fascinating plays that are worth the second look. But with It Pays to Advertise, artistic director Alex Roe and his collaborators have unearthed a genuine lost treasure. Not only is this piece—which was first seen on Broadway back in 1914—delightfully clever and funny and startlingly up-to-date; it also feels to me like the forerunner of a couple of authentically American comic genres, namely the screwball comedy and the fast-talking sophisticated smart comedies that flowed from the pens of the likes of Kaufman & Hart and Hecht & MacArthur.

I don't want to oversell It Pays to Advertise, of course. But let me say this: It may not be Once in a Lifetime or The Front Page, but without it, I wonder if those other plays would have happened along when they did. I'm telling you, this piece feels seminal.

Ok, let me backtrack and tell you something about the story. Rodney Martin is a charming if somewhat callow young man, the son of a great soap tycoon, Cyrus Martin. Rodney has decided that since his father went to so much trouble to earn a fortune, he will happily live on it and spend it without following his parent's example of running himself ragged by working. However, Cyrus will have none of that: he is determined to get Rodney to earn his own living. Mary Grayson, who is Rodney's fiancée and Cyrus's personal secretary, shares Cyrus's opinion. I don't want to give too much away here, but by the end of Act I Rodney has become determined to make a success of himself in the business world. And his new-found pal Ambrose Peale, a public relations wiz, helps him hit on a can't-miss scheme to get rich quick. Again, I don't want to divulge surprises; suffice to say that the scheme involves advertising the heck out of a product that hasn't actually been manufactured.

Playwrights Roi Cooper Megrue and Walter C. Hackett engineer their plot shrewdly, making their play at once a satire on the gullibility of American consumers and the supposed power of advertising and also a paean to publicity. It is, additionally, a knockabout farce with lots of unexpected twists, and a love story about a couple of young people (Rodney and Mary) who are a pleasure to root for.

One of the neatest things about It Pays to Advertise is that it treats its female characters with lots of respect. Mary and La Comtesse de Beaurien, who is the other principal woman in the play, are smart and interesting and more than able to take care of themselves; no need for a man to define or support either one. (We still don't see female characters like this often enough in plays, even 95 years later.)

In just about every way, the quick comedy of this play feels fresh and invigorating. Director Michael Hardart does a splendid job moving the story briskly and sunnily, never giving us too much time to ponder the increasingly outlandish goings-on. In Scott Kerns and Brian Cooper, who play Rodney and Ambrose, respectively, we have a pair of top-notch leading actors who wholeheartedly embrace their roles; together they have the timing, when they need to, of a great comic duo. Nalina Mann as La Comtesse gives a performance that also feels flawless. Maire-Rose Pike's Mary and George C. Hosmer's Cyrus don't feel quite as fully realized yet; this will likely improve as the run progresses. Robert Leeds, Aaron Gaines, and Sarah Levine demonstrate their versatility by playing everyone else in the story.

The design, as is the norm for a Metropolitan production, is excellent. Heather Wolensky's set includes some clever touches that transform it from the Martins' library to the spanking new offices of Rodney and Ambrose's new company (and back again) with real wit. Rebecca Lustig has supplied costumes that reflect period and character informatively. And Maryvel Bergen's lighting is fully effective.

I had a blast at It Pays to Advertise. Not only did I spend a couple of hours in the company of some very engaging actors and characters, but I also made the acquaintance of a classic American play that deserves a much more prominent spot within the canon than it apparently has. Bravo to Metropolitan Playhouse for helping us sort out our American dramatic history.

 
New Theatre Corps

Reviewed by Amanda Halkiotis

It Pays to Advertise is a rollicking story of an entrepreneur who gets fooled into thinking he wants success. Rodney Martin (Scott Kerns) is son of soap baron Cyrus (George H. Hosmer) but has no interest in the business. Instead, he leads an aimless, blissfully uncomplicated life, sponging off his father’s hard work. He proceeds to push his luck even further when he declares his love for his father’s secretary, Mary Grayson (Maire-Rose Pike): he’s cut off without a cent. In truth, Mary’s working with Cyrus: if she can turn Rodney into a successful businessman before the end of the year, Cyrus will give her a raise and a commission of Rodney’s net profit.

The show is filled with good chemistry, starting with Rodney’s first hire, his old college buddy, Ambrose Peale (Brian Cooper). They make a flawless team: their arguing and scheming is lightning speed comedy. When he’s not acting, Cooper must freelance in the marketing sector, for he believes in and relishes his lines with a passion that would make any used-car dealer jealous. This captivating duo is all the more appealing with Pike’s brilliant portrayal of Mary. In equal measures, we get Rodney’s sweet and encouraging fiancée and the shrewd businesswoman hell-bent on winning a bet. Her perfectly-drawn duplicity even dupes the audience, nobody knowing when to gauge her onstage persona as superficial or sincere.

The madcap comedy keeps flowing with the arrival of principal characters, specifically Ellery Clark (Aaron Gaines) and the Comtesse de Beaurien (Nalina Mann). While quite forgettable as Cyrus’s butler Johnson, Gaines gets a shot at redemption when he reenters as the son of a rival soap manufacturer, the artsy and impressionable Ellery Clark. At first swindled by Ambrose and Rodney to back their phony enterprise, Clark then falls for the Comtesse, a charming con artist. Spending the first half of the play speaking only French, The Comtesse de Beaurien comes on the scene to strike an international investment deal in the soap industry. During her dealings she upstages all others with her ringer performance, even almost convincing the foolproof Ambrose. She never quite achieves her ulterior agenda, but her elegant sex appeal and hard-boiled street smarts makes it an enjoyable effort to watch. In addition, her delicious 1930s slang adds a little film noir to this overall the screwball production.

The play’s detailed sets and costumes also tightly follow the script’s historical context, making for an uncompromising production. Heather Wolensky’s use of dark, masculine furniture and red velvet drapery provokes a serious business atmosphere—chock full o’ rubber stamps, checkbooks, and cigars—that meshes well with the less serious comedy. Rebecca Lustig’s vibrant costumes also add to the old-fashioned charm, with men in three-piece plaid suits and matching ties, and ladies with gloves and hats at all times.

This revival at Metropolitan Theater makes an insightful statement on the power of suggestion, the idea of a product versus its actual quality, and how investing in advertising is the best way to make money talk. A world in which one snobbish quip from Sideways can slash merlot sales and boost pinot noir purchases validates the show’s statement that 97% of the public believe what they hear when making expenditure decisions. If this extends to the theater, as the former Broadway press agent Peale tells Rodney, then allow me to help you and your friends make up your mind: it pays to see It Pays to Advertise.

Theatre scene

By: Victor Gluck

With “Ponzi schemes,” “Mad Men” and “Enron” among the current buzz words, the 1914 comedy, It Pays to Advertise, has become pertinent all over again. Metropolitan Playhouse which specializes in plays from America’s rich literary past has rediscovered this delightful satire of business and advertising. According to the program notes all of the advertising statistics quotes in the play are absolutely true – for 1914. It seems that even before World War I, Madison Avenue pitchmen were already the hidden persuaders of American commerce.

It Pays to Advertise is collaboration between Roi Cooper Megrue (1883 – 1927) and Walter C. Hackett (1876 – 1944). Although their names have been forgotten today, in their own era they were prolific playwrights. Megrue’s play Seven Chances (1916) was remade as the Renée Zellweger/Chris O’Donnell comedy, The Bachelor in 1999. As a director, Megrue piloted Jesse Lynch Williams’ Why Marry? to the first Pulitzer Prize in Drama. Hackett wrote or co-wrote many plays that went on to become Hollywood movies including TheWhite Sister which was filmed three times. It Pays to Advertise, their only collaboration, proved so popular after its year run on Broadway that it was novelized in 1915, and filmed five times, including two television productions.

It Pays to Advertise is a classic well-made farce. Cyrus Martin, the Soap King, is tired of his ne’er-do-well son Rodney living as a man about town with no employment since his graduation from Harvard. Martin and his secretary Mary Grayson (with who Rodney is secretly in love) come up with a plan to force Rodney to get a job. Rodney, however, has been reunited with his college chum Ambrose Peale, a fast-talking pitchman now working for a Broadway flop.

Together Rodney and Ambrose hatch a scheme to promote a non-existent product through advertising and then sell the successful company before anyone guesses their swindle. But just as in Mel Brooks’ The Producers, nothing goes as planned for either Rodney or his father. However, there is a happy ending and both father and son end up proving that it pays to advertise. The play takes a good many comic swipes at business ethics, capitalism and, of course, advertising. It is quite remarkable how many of the advertising slogans from 1914 are still recognizable today.

Although this is old-fashioned dramaturgy, director Michael Hardart keeps the pace bubbling along and the fine cast is in sync with the play’s rhythms. Scott Kerns is quite charming as the playboy hero who discovers the romance of business in order to win his girl. As the slick pitchman, Brian Cooper runs him a close second. Maire-Rose Pike is all efficiency and cheerfulness as the secretary who is playing a double game. In the Edward Arnold role as the conservative father, George C. Hosmer brings a great deal of authority.

Nalina Mann is delightful as a phony countess with a terrific French accent who sees the new entrepreneurs as an easy touch. Aaron Gaines as the effete son of one of Mr. Martin’s competitors creates a comic portrait of a man of leisure, while his butler Johnson is all stuffy hauteur. Robert Leeds and Sarah Levine also demonstrate versatility in multiple roles. Set designer Heather Wolensky has made a clever use of the black box space with entrances for the actors on four sides. Rebecca Lustig has created an attractive collection of 1914 fashions.

In reviving It Pays to Advertise, Metropolitan Playhouse is living up to its mission of unearthing worthy plays from America’s theatrical past. After almost a century, It Pays to Advertise continues to be a delightful comedy, as well as extremely prescient and topical in our current world. Michael Hardart’s entertaining production mines the play for all its comic potential.