Has There Ever Been a Score Quite Like Promises, Promises?- Page 2

[Marquise]

Posted: 6/21/10 at 8:54pm

Just too good of a comeback not to utilize.

But, I digress....

Updated On: 6/21/10 at 08:54 PM

[bwayfan7000]

Posted: 6/21/10 at 11:24pm

Having listened to the recording, I actually really like it. I think Hayes' vocal performance helps me buy the fact that Chuck is sort of a pushover. And I am not hearing the slower tempo in Knowing When to Leave after the very beginning.

[alterego]

Posted: 6/22/10 at 9:36am

I love this score but have to confess my favourite recording of it is the Original London Cast. Yes, I have to agree that Sean Hayes performance does seem lazy, but I thought that in all the clips I saw of the current revival. There is just no energy there.

[Scripps2]

Posted: 6/23/10 at 9:37am

I love the new recording but particularly the orchestra, which sounds fantastic and this version of Where Can You Take A Girl.

The latter song has similarities with Company's Have I Got A Girl For You in as much that they are both about middle aged men fantasising about a bit of nookie.

[CurtainPullDowner]

Posted: 6/23/10 at 2:20pm

I agree with most of the comments here, it is a real pleasure to have a new recording of this terrific score. It sounds as fresh and exciting (except for the male leads) as it did 40 years ago, and that's saying a lot.
One other thing it does, is point out some of the mistakes Ashford and his team made including two songs not written for the show, I don't mind using other songs by the writers as long as they are somewhat appropriate to the plot and characters,
I SAY A LITTLE PRAYER is written as a mostly optimistic, positive love tune about a person with high hopes and good feelings towards their paramour. It is almost the complete opposite of KNOWING WHEN TO LEAVE, which is what Fran is actually feeling. Also singing it with the secretaries seems way off to me also. I feel Fran would not be friends with those women as she works in the cafeteria and they would most likely know she is having an affair with a married man and one of their bosses. They would hardly be skipping around with her singing about that.
A HOUSE IS NOT A HOME is also specific in it's lyric, David has written a scenerio about two people who have been living together
and have had a fight or some other riff and one of them has moved out, leaving the other alone. This is not Fran's story at all.
I would bet Ashford feels he is telling us more about Fran and Sheldrake's affair, but these songs have nothing to do with their situation.
That said, both songs are very well delivered by Ms. Chenoweth. Many have said the songs don't fit her voice but I disagree, she sounds very lighthearted in PRAYER... her clear diction and playfullness are perfect and she even gets a little down with her bad self in the final section.
I find A HOUSE.... to be one of her finest recordings of her career. Bacharach's romantic, longing melody and Tunick's lush orchestration meld beautifully with the warm side of her voice.
I was moved by it in the theatre, but taken alone on the CD it brought me to tears and is just as moving on several listenings.
I understand why these two 'popular' songs were added for audience recognition but themematically they are just wrong.
But I am still glad to have and enjoy them.

Updated On: 6/23/10 at 02:20 PM

[Famebroadway2]

Posted: 6/23/10 at 2:51pm

Can someone PM me. I am dying to hear this. I didn't think it came off well at all in the Theater. I am hoping it's better mixed on the cd.

[jpbran]

Posted: 6/23/10 at 4:05pm

I'm more concerned about Gary being "SEPTICAL" than about his all-caps abuse...

And even on the recording, Hayes was more "unbelievable playing straight" than lazy.

So kidding.

[MrMidwest]

Posted: 6/25/10 at 3:11pm

Betty Buckley - Knowing When to Leave

[twinbelters]

Posted: 6/25/10 at 3:56pm

Yum. Thanks!

[AudreyTwoTwo]

Posted: 6/25/10 at 5:37pm

I love it too! I'm going to buy it, definitely.

[TimesSquared]

Posted: 6/26/10 at 9:14pm

I love Jill O'Hara on the OBCR, but Buckley has it over her in vocal power, especially in her head voice. I love the way she scoops the word "just" at 1:15 in the clip MrMidwest linked above.

[iflip4musicals]

Posted: 6/26/10 at 10:05pm

I haven't seen the show, and I'm very new to the score (not really sure how that happened), but "I'll Never Fall in Love Again" from the revival CR has been on repeat since yesterday. I can't stop listening to it!

[invisiblegirl]

Posted: 6/27/10 at 11:12am

Will the OLCR ever be released on CD?

[morosco]

Posted: 6/27/10 at 11:18am

^ bk says that he has the master tapes of the London recording but has been unable to do anything with them because the legal papers from that recording cannot be found at present. I hope they show up eventually. He's interested in releasing it but can't due to red tape.

[Jim3]

Posted: 6/27/10 at 4:35pm

Was it 1968 when I bought the OBC album of Promises, Promises? After hearing it, I decided that NYC would be the place where I would live. It changed my life. Truly mean that.