Promises, Promises, the revival of a show first on Broadway over 40 years ago, well, promises a delightful evening. From the inventive beginning of the musical, with great usage of portable coat racks intertwined with solid choreography by Rob Ashford, also the show's director, Promises, Promises keeps you engaged, and the story line is certainly a timeless one.
Even though this Burt Bacharach and Hal David musical hasn't been on Broadway for four decades, the theme of business men who are burning with desire to bed their assistants, (and in this story line's case utilize the hapless Sean Hayes' apartment to accomplish this), can be as au courant as today's news.
No wonder, Neil Simon wrote the book and his lines deliver.
Promises, Promises is based on the 1960 Oscar winning film The Apartment that starred Jack Lemmon and Shirley MacLaine. This musical tells the story of the Consolidated Life Insurance Company and one of their young, guileless employees, Chuck Baxter, played by Sean Hayes in his Broadway debut. As he attempts to advance his career, Chuck looks the other way and lends his apartment to executives looking to have a place to go for their romantic liaisons. Things go awry when Chuck, who is head over heels in love with Fran Kubelik (played by Kristin Chenoweth) discovers that the object of his affection is involved with one of the executives.
The score is pretty fabulous with such Bacharach-David hits as Promises, Promises, of course, I Say A Little Prayer, and my personal favorite, A House is Not a Home.
Hayes and Chenoweth make a sweet couple, although Mr. Hayes is more actor than singer in this role, and Ms. Chenoweth seems a bit subdued, for some reason. I still like them together and found their relationship adorable.
Dick Latessa as Chuck's confused next door neighbor, Dr. Dreyfuss, certainly looks the part, but struggled a bit with his lines. But Katie Finneran, as Marge MacDougall, who appears as Chuck's
seductress in the 2nd act, clearly steals the show. There's nothing but Tony all the way for Katie. Promise.
For a fun evening out, get to Promises, Promises at the Broadway Theatre. www.promisespromisesbroadway.com
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