PROMISES, PROMISES marquee being put up today- Page 2

[madbrian]

Posted: 1/6/10 at 11:31am

"If only so that I can rub one or two of the noses of the naysayers on this thread in the mud they have been spewing."

I am a naysayer, though I don't think I am a mud spewer. That said, I would never wish anything but success to this (or any other) endeavor, and I would love to be proved wrong.

[fakemyway2thetop]

Posted: 1/6/10 at 1:03pm

In such a terrible economy, it would be nice to have a successful musical to employ lots of musical theater folk. Unfortunately, IN MY OWN OPINION, nothing about this revival seems appealing.

[Fanb]

Posted: 1/6/10 at 6:52pm

I have only seen one production of "Promises, Promises" - in L.A. at the Reprise Concert Series. I have to say it is a really fun show with a fantastic Burt Bacharach sound (I too hope the orchestrations remain similar.
As for the cast, I am not 100% sure that I want to hear Sean Hayes sing that score, but am definitely willing to give it a try.
As for Kristin Chenoweth - She is going to sound GORGEOUS singing "What Do You Get When You Fall In Love"

[miss pennywise]

Posted: 1/6/10 at 7:41pm

I saw the original production on Broadway when I was a kid, and I loved it. I can still picture much of it in my mind...and I only saw it once, a long, long, long time ago.

[luvbrdway]

Posted: 1/6/10 at 7:46pm

Last summer, I planned a trip to NYC in the spring to see Shrek, Finnian's Rainbow, Ragtime, and Bye Bye Birdie. Heavy sigh . . . . So, starting a new list and Promises, Promises is on it.

[allofmylife]

Posted: 1/7/10 at 6:44am

Miss Pennywise, I can still close my eyes and put myself in the Shubert. We had great seats and this was one show BOTH my parents really wanted to see. I can still remember having the weight of all the programs on my lap (I have ALWAYS appropriated a 1 inch pile of Playbills at intermission and that's why I have so many duplicates of great shows.

The thing I remember most about the show (besides TurkeyLurky Time which drew gasps from the audience) was the amazing orchestrations. They were so utterly modern at the time and I felt so adult and sophisticated watching the show.

Remember this show predates "Company" by almost two years and although the male/female office stuff seems dated now, back then it was all still pretty daring.

I also remember how amazingly tall and thin the chorus boys were. We're talking muscular swans here - something Bennett used to great effect in Turkey. Those guys could kick like Rockettes and during the cross-over at the end of the number, people were again gasping that nobody accidentally castrated one another.

Jerry Orbach sprayed on us (I told you we had good seats) while he was singing.

Both my parents like the show although my dad did say he, too, would have clobbered CC Baxter for messing around with his sister (and the guy who did that was Ken Howard, wasn't it?)

I hope they do a good job because I'm planning to fly in to see it.

[onesongglory2]

Posted: 1/7/10 at 8:44am

I'm curious how long Chenoweth and Hayes are contracted to be with the show. Right now, Telecharge is selling tickets through December 26 and there's no note saying when they are leaving.

I thought most actors sign year contracts but since they are bigger names, maybe they signed up for less?

[somethingwicked]

Posted: 1/7/10 at 12:45pm

Chenoweth said in a recent interview that she's only contracted six months through the end of September, which is one of the reasons she chose to do PROMISES, PROMISES over MINSKY'S (which wanted her to commit for a year.)

[perfectlymarvelous]

Posted: 1/7/10 at 12:59pm

I still have high hopes for this...I love Kristin Chenoweth and I thought Sean Hayes was great in the Encores! Damn Yankees.

[Auggie27]

Posted: 1/7/10 at 1:01pm

Curious, the original wasn't exactly cast with exemplary voices. Orbach's performance on the OBC is infamous for being so pitchy. Seriously pitchy. (I have a friend who was in the show, and said as beloved as he was, everyone knew how off the voice was.) And Jill O'Hara, while unique, had a rasp that didn't exactly sound like the usual power-belter. I loved O'Hara, the look, the temperament -- they found a musical equivalent of Shirley McL., and it worked.

On that score, "score" aside (!), the sunny, far, far older Chenoweth will have to bring something else to the role. Which may be difficult, since the self-sabotaging, indeed self-destructive MO of the character, suggests a far more damaged woman if she's 35-40. We understand the capricious nature of youth -- for a 37ish woman who's a doormat -- well, that could play pitifully. I have this theory that Marge will come off as the girl Chuck oughta end up with. She's self-supporting, resourceful, a good time, and she's out, not holed up with a married loser feeling sorry for herself. Poor Fran -- she's so pitiful, so devoid of humor (Simon didn't do her any favors), she may play as a real drag.

To my thinking, Fran could use a dose of Anne Tyler, some quirks that remove her from the whitebread cliche of pretty girl with Big Issues. She's so devoid of ambition, drive, and without resources. To quote Marsha Norman, an audience loses patience with a character who refuses to take action on his own behalf. This strange waif Fran, so enamored of a paper-thin married loser, needs a jolt of character detail. And for Chenoweth to play a gal who needs a protective older brother (how old will Karl be here, 45?) ... ugh. Fran is one of those roles that cannot be young enough. She even ha lines about wanting to look like "Joan Crawford, older and wiser..."

Updated On: 1/7/10 at 01:01 PM

[SonofRobbieJ]

Posted: 1/7/10 at 2:54pm

I don't know. I have no idea how Hayes will play the role, but I think there could be a lot to mine between a middle-aged 'bachelor' and a woman past her prime who keeps making terrible romantic choices. Played correctly, it would be less about 'romance' and more a statement on lonliness.

This may sound silly, but Chenoweth's work on GLEE this past fall made a very persuasive case that she can pull it off. And, frankly, I thought her performance in The Apple Tree was terribly underrated.

[Fanb]

Posted: 1/7/10 at 3:52pm

"I thought her performance in The Apple Tree was terribly underrated."

While she did not receive a Tony nomination, the critics gave her rave reviews.

[Auggie27]

Posted: 1/7/10 at 6:55pm

The question really isn't whether she has the depth of the chops; the issue is a 40 year old worldly woman playing a 22 year old ingenue. Part of Fran's problem is her lack of worldliness -- she says that thing about wanting to be Joan Crawford, older and wiser when she smokes. That's possibly charming in a young woman; in a late 30 something, it's arrested development. Chenoweth's issue with this role will be to resist turning herinto a Chenoweth ingenue that she would've played a decade ago (when she was actually more right for the part). Now she'll have to tap into that bruised innocence, but it will be in an older, sophisticated package. People talk about Mary Martin being too old for Maria. This is more problemmatic than that.

[allofmylife]

Posted: 1/8/10 at 4:13am

Maybe she and Sean Hayes will just do what actors have been doing for centuries - give great performances. Nobody complained when Leslie Howard played Romeo in his 40s. Hell, up until this century, Juliet was always played by a dude.

And after the first cast left, I'll bet a great number of the guys playing Jets and Sharks in WSS had to shave real close.

This is, after all, theater. Not the gossip industry. No matter what turds like Riedel can spew, no matter how much dung the critics will fling and certainly despite any venom sprayed here, that cute little woman from Wicked who was on Pushing Up Daisies and the funny guy from Will and Grace are about to star in a Broadway show. That will put asses in the seats that Norbert Leo Butz can only dream about.

Maybe they'll just play the roles. If you don't like it, there are two dozen other shows to buy tickets for.

Updated On: 1/8/10 at 04:13 AM

[AnythingGoes2]

Posted: 1/8/10 at 9:05am

Think this theatre is way too huge for this revival.. but I'm eager to see!

Why won't they change the name of this theatre to the "Merman Theatre" ...

[SonofRobbieJ]

Posted: 1/8/10 at 10:55am

I think, Auggie, that I fundamentally disagree that they can't use Chenoweth's actual age to their advantage. Same with her natural perkiness.

That said, I have no idea if that will happen. But I think it's possible to harness a very affecting performance out of the qualities you think are a hindrance.

[mywonderwa11]

Posted: 1/9/10 at 2:45pm

Here's a photo of the entire marquis that's up now. I took it from my phone, so sorry for the bad angle.

[GatorNY]

Posted: 1/9/10 at 3:19pm

I am more excited about seeing this than I am any of the other spring openings. Can't wait to see Ashford's choreography again.

[ACL2006]

Posted: 1/9/10 at 10:30pm

I just want to know who else is in the cast. Rehearsals are likely starting within the next couple weeks, so they likely know who's in it by now.

[mywonderwa11]

Posted: 1/10/10 at 4:07am

Sean Hayes - Chuck
Kristin Chenoweth - Fran
Brooks Ashmanskas - Mr. Dobitch
Katie Finneran - Marge
Tony Goldwyn - J.D.

So far, I love the casting EXCEPT for the two leads. I can't wait to see who they cast as Vivien Della Hoya, Miss Wong, and Miss Polansky.

[Fanb]

Posted: 1/10/10 at 10:35am

"So far, I love the casting EXCEPT for the two leads. I can't wait to see who they cast as Vivien Della Hoya, Miss Wong, and Miss Polansky."

Without those two leads, you'd have a pretty empty theater come spring.

[allofmylife]

Posted: 1/10/10 at 1:26pm

We should all hope they succeed and succeed bigtime. A hit helps float all the boats. It will provide work for hundreds of people directly and thousands more in the affiliated industries in a tough time. It will amuse hundreds of thousands of patrons. It will keep the lights on in another theater when using the building as a parking lot is a very attractive alternative to landowners and it will help this site to stay the course.

Bitchiness has its attractions, but at a certain point, this IS a pro-Broadway site, is it not?

As I said, good luck to all involved.

[Fanb]

Posted: 1/10/10 at 1:38pm

I'm down with that, allofmylife.

[WiCkEDrOcKS]

Posted: 1/12/10 at 2:42pm

From PROMISES, PROMISES' Facebook fanpage
( http://www.facebook.com/pages/New-York-NY/Promises-Promises/177539124233 ):

[WiCkEDrOcKS]

Posted: 1/12/10 at 2:45pm

And https://www.broadwayworld.com/article/Photo_Coverage_PROMISES_PROMISES_Marquee_Revealed_Part_1_20100106

&

https://www.broadwayworld.com/article/Photos_PROMISES_PROMISES_Marquee_20100107

not sure if these were posted yet...