Simon Talks Broadway 'PROMISES, PROMISES' Revival To Variety

[EddieVarley]

Posted: 7/28/09 at 10:21am

Click Here to Read Simon Talks Broadway 'PROMISES, PROMISES' Revival To Variety
https://www.broadwayworld.com/article/Simon_Talks_Broadway_PROMISES_PROMISES_Revival_To_Variety_20090728

[yay_gerb]

Posted: 7/28/09 at 10:28am

yes, please.

[chiuptown]

Posted: 7/28/09 at 11:32am

I sooooo want this to happen!!

[Jon]

Posted: 7/28/09 at 11:35am

Only if they use Bennett's original choreography for Turkey Lurkey Time!

[ACL2006]

Posted: 7/28/09 at 11:42am

YES!!! And I second the use of Bennett's choreography for Turkey Lurkey Time!

[TalkinLoud]

Posted: 7/28/09 at 12:04pm

While I would have loved to see Hathaway in this, Deschanel would be great!

[Borstalboy]

Posted: 7/28/09 at 12:17pm

Sean Hayes? Oh, Jee-zus!

[CurtainPullDowner]

Posted: 7/28/09 at 12:48pm

Unfortunately I can't take anything Neil or his wife say seriously.

[Gothampc]

Posted: 7/28/09 at 1:09pm

I saw this at Encores several years ago. I think it's too dated for a serious Broadway run.

[ray-andallthatjazz86]

Posted: 7/28/09 at 1:36pm

I don't get Zooey Deschanel, I've only seen her play the same exact role, with the same exact expressions, and the same exact tone in everything I've seen her in.
I would love for Anne Hathaway to play the part, it's a shame they are no longer pursuing her (I imagine her film schedule is keeping her from committing to any sort of serious run on Broadway). Of all possible replacements, I can't imagine why they'd want to go for Deschanel, especially for this material.

[Roscoe]

Posted: 7/28/09 at 2:55pm

Sean Hayes? Shouldn't the actor playing the lead be able to convincingly portray heterosexuality? That would kind of include Sean out.

Don't get me wrong, he's a very talented guy. But believable as a straight male? Never in a million years.

[fflagg]

Posted: 7/28/09 at 3:49pm

Zooey is the right age and can project vulnerability as seen in her fine new film. Why not get her costar to be the male lead?

Patricia Clarkson should play the female bit who sings "A Fact Can Be A Beautiful Thing" and would win a Tony.

Alas, Elaine Joyce may play that part!!

Go away, Sean; you are as butch as the still closeted Michael Urie. How YOU doin'?

[BobbyBubby]

Posted: 7/28/09 at 3:53pm

Why not Neil Patrick Harris?

[ray-andallthatjazz86]

Posted: 7/28/09 at 4:05pm

Bobby, I think Neil Patrick Harris is a perfect cast suggestion, you're so right. I think he'd be brilliant in the part.
Sean Hayes apparently was really good in the reading with Anne Hathaway from what I have heard/read, so it's not really him I'm concerned with. It's the idea of Zooey Deschanel playing this wonderful part that makes me roll my eyes.

[uncageg]

Posted: 7/28/09 at 4:18pm

BobbyBubby, I would assume Neil Patrick Harris isn't available.

[sparrman]

Posted: 7/28/09 at 4:23pm

While Sean Hayes will never bowl us over with an overwhelming dose of machismo and testosterone, he has played "straight" convincingly several times, by my judgment at least. His Jerry Lewis and his "Scrubs" appearance come to mind.

[jewishboy]

Posted: 7/28/09 at 5:36pm

Ray, it pains me that you don't like Zooey Deschanel. Have you seen her in Weeds and (500) Days of Summer? She still retains her offbeat/crazy sense of humor, but also seems more real. She acts so well with her face, so the only question I have is if she would be big enough for the stage.

[ray-andallthatjazz86]

Posted: 7/28/09 at 6:08pm

Jewishboy, I really liked her in WEEDS. But really, I feel like she plays every role the exact same way and I think that WEEDS just fitted well with that style, which I don't find particularly right for the beautiful score from PROMISES, PROMISES. I have not seen (500) DAYS OF SUMMER so maybe that will change my mind? (I still heart Marin Mazzie and Debbie Gravitte so hopefully I'm still on your cool list :-P )
I also think Deschanel's acting--much like say Mary-Louise Parker's--is rather contemporary and I feel PROMISES, PROMISES has a very period feeling to it.
I'd much prefer to see someone like Jennifer Garner (too old I imagine) or Emily Blunt (can she sing?).

Updated On: 7/28/09 at 06:08 PM

[yay_gerb]

Posted: 7/28/09 at 6:58pm

she does play the exact same role over and over again and i hate it because i'd love to see her try somethign different on the other hand, she plays that character very well and i don't mind seeing it in different movies. 500 days of summer is a really great movie you should check it out, but she plays the same character in that as well.

[jewishboy]

Posted: 7/28/09 at 7:34pm

Don't forget Donna Murphy, Ray! Jennifer Garner is interesting. I wonder if Rachel McAdams can sing? Didn't she audition for the Mamma Mia movie?

[BobbyBubby]

Posted: 7/28/09 at 8:27pm

I don't think her singing voice sounds contemporary at all. And she certainly looks the part in the last of these videos.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FkzRyHa9a6g

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qvmia-mHYq8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nU4IZW4h_h8&feature=related

[BobbyBubby]

Posted: 7/28/09 at 8:52pm

Some more great performances:

You Really Got a Hold on Me
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YAvnOWc5uD0&feature=related

Dream a Little Dream of Me
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ThRVUcmSa0&feature=related
Updated On: 7/28/09 at 08:52 PM

[TimesSquareRegular]

Posted: 7/28/09 at 9:03pm

Huh ... coincidence that just yesterday I listened to the OBC recording for the first time in several years, and my reaction was: wow, is this thing DATED!

When you think that this opened the same year as HAIR, and a decade after WEST SIDE STORY .... and both those scores are still as fresh and vibrant as when they were heard for the first time ... but PROMISES, once considered bubbly, has gone flat.

[BobbyBubby]

Posted: 7/28/09 at 9:05pm

Bacharach's songs will always have appeal. And I'm sure Rob Marshall could breath new life into it. I don't think playing it as a nostalgia piece with top performances and great direction/choreography would elicit the dated response.

[dayao]

Posted: 7/28/09 at 9:26pm

If dated means that unlike most of the musicals in the last 20 years or so, Promises, Promises has a score consisting of actual songs instead of dialogue extensions with music underscore, then perhaps that is indeed so. Seriously though the show would only be dated if they try to update the time line of the story which should remain in the late 1960's as the period piece it has now become. Bacharach's music is almost timeless and his score is actually really good and one song from Promises, Promises (I'll Never Fall in Love Again") is a genuine standard.

I think Anne Hathaway would be a terrible choice for Fran. Although she is a decent actress, her weak squeaky soprano is vocally all wrong for the Bacharach music. My choice would be Tammy Blanchard, who would be fabulous in the role, in my opinion. Although she is maybe a little too old for the part, I for one would like to see the fantastic Debbie Gravitte in this or any role on Broadway. Unfortunately, there is not one actor-singer currently working on Broadway today who could even come close to the brilliance of Jerry Orbach's Chuck Baxter. That would be the biggest problem of casting a revival.