The Selling of the President

In March of 1972, Trina appeared on Broadway in the musical, The Selling of the President. Although one source praised the cast's energy, the show closed after only five performances.

Click here to access the Internet Broadway Database entry for The Selling of the President.

Here's what John Bush Jones had to say about the production in his book, Our Musicals, Ourselves: A Social History of the American Musical Theater:

The fact that 1972 was an election year was relevant only to the first of four socially relevant flops to open that year in New York. . . . In March, during the primaries, Broadway briefly witnessed The Selling of the President (3/22/72), Jack O’Brien’s and Stuart Hample’s fictionalized musical recasting of Joe McGinniss’s book on Nixon’s first campaign, with lyrics by O’Brien and music by Bob James. Set in the near future of 1976, the show satirized a presidential campaign packaged by ad-men, pollsters, and TV executives, and peddled through hype, the media, and what a later-day would call spin-doctors. What seemed like a splendid idea for the time never realized its potential on stage, conceding defeat after five performances.


Back to the Trina Parks Tribute Page 1