Producers don’t have much regard for these “regards”

A Visa television commercial calculated to lure tourists back to Broadway is
likely to do just the opposite, a number of theatrical producers and press
agents have told the New York Post. The spot is a montage of numerous
behind-the-scenes images of theater life, accompanied by Judy Collins
plaintively singing “Give My Regards to Broadway,” in which she slightly
changes the closing line to : “Give my regards to Broadway/And tell them
I’ll be back before long.” (The original words, “And say that I’ll be there
e’er long.”) One publicist told the New York Post: “It’s like a
memorial service for Broadway. We’re trying to tell people we’re open for
business now, and this says, ‘We’ll be back soon.'” Another said: “It’s a
beautifully filmed dirge.”