Delicious 'PROMISES, PROMISES'

Well kiddies, It's no secret to those who know me well, that the mere mention of the word musical sends moisture running down my thighs like a butter-based frosting dripping down a triple layer cake on a hot, summer day. (How vivid!)

One of the best muscials of the late 1960s was PROMISES, PROMISES by Burt Bacharach, Hal David and Neil Simon. Promises, Promises is a musical adaptation of Billy Wilder's popular film, The Apartment, about a corporate shlub named Chuck Baxter, who earns promotions by lending his pad out to executives for sexual liaisons. Things get complicated when Chuck falls for one of the office women, Fran, who is invited to the flat by an exec.

The musical spawned the memorable pop hits "I'll Never Fall in Love Again" and "Promises, Promises," both popularly recorded by Dionne Warwick.

Neil Simon penned the original book and revised it for the popular Encores! concert revival at City Center in 1997. In that revival, a "new" song, "You've Got It All Wrong," was interpolated. The score also includes "Knowing When to Leave" (which got radio airplay), "Where Can You Take a Girl?," "You'll Think of Someone," "Turkey Lurkey Time," "It's Our Little Secret," "A Fact Can Be a Beautiful Thing," "Wanting Things," "Whoever You Are, I Love You," "Half As Big As Life," "She Likes Basketball," "Upstairs," "A Young Pretty Girl Like You."

Jerry Orbach won the 1969 Tony Award for his work in the original staging, which was produced by David Merrick. The musical also received nominations for A. Larry Haine (Featured Actor in a Musical), Edward Winter (Featured Actor in a Musical), Jill O'Hara (Actress in a Musical), Marian Mercer (Featured Actress in a Musical), Michael Bennett (Choreographer), Robert Moore (Director) and Best Musical. Promises, Promises ran 1,281 performances and was one of the first mainstream Broadway musicals to offer a commercial pop sound in its score.

FOR EXTRA FUN:
Follow this link to YouTube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_qsEY9xw_D8 and watch the fantastic Broadway company perform the showstopping Act One closer "Turkey Lurkey Time". It's amazing!

AND
Here's a YouTube video of "Turkey Lurkey Time" at the December 2008 Burt Bacharach event in NYC. The evening's choreographer (Adam Cates) re-created the original production's choreography by Michael Bennett. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aukNN8J7EIY