It was a move purely for publicity purposes, based on the thinking that their show was critic-proof anyway. They don't care about the people who actually have to write the reviews and don't particularly care what they have to say, as long as Jackman stays healthy and continues to show up 8 times a week. If the reviews don't run the next day? Who cares? If the critic get their digs in because the rule? Who cares?
But people are talking about the production for one more reason now.
No production that needed to court critics or really cared what they had to say would ever dare try this.
