Sean Hayes Kristin Chenoweth Tony Goldwyn - Promises Promises (21 tracks) +Album Reviews

Buy the CD, See the Show!

R. P. Jones | Greenville, RI United States | 06/22/2010

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I saw this show on June 6 and was captivated on every level. The top-notch writing, music and production values are topped only by the magnificent performances, most notably the sensational Kristin Chenoweth.

I also have the original 1968 recording with Jerry Orbach and Jill O'Hara and I can say that Sean Hayes, Ms. Chenoweth and cast have more than done justice to the original. This recording also includes a few delightful tracks that were not on the original, particularly "Say a Little Prayer".

A very funny, very touching story about two decent, lonely people looking for real love in a cruelly casual world, "Promises, Promises" is just as relevant today as it was forty years ago. If you can get to New York this summer, don't miss this show at the Broadway Theater.

"

A Promises, Promises, Kept

D. Lebow | La Mirada, CA USA | 06/21/2010

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I have always loved this show and its music. For a long time there was no CD available and now both the original and a new cast recording are there for you. The Burt Bacharach and Hal David collaboration from the late 50s until their break-up in 1973 provided us with a decade of hit after hit. At the height of their powers, they joined with David Merrick in 1968 and produced Promises, Promises. Now, over forty years later, we finally have a new Broadway version. The rhythmic melodic score and story moving lyrics has been made even more exciting by the new orchestrations and expanded role of the vocalists in the pit. Additionally, two additional Bacharach-David hits, "I Say A Little Prayer" and "A House Is Not A Home" have been added to the show. However, the best things about this new album are Sean Hayes and Kristin Chenoweth

See my complete review at [...]"

SOFT-PEDALING PROMISES

Operaman! | Chicago, IL United States | 06/29/2010

(3 out of 5 stars)

"No, I haven't seen the revival. Yes, I'm familiar with the Original, Original Cast Album - it came out when I was a kid. All I can go on is what I'm hearing in this new B'way Cast Album, and unless this production tours with Hayes and Chenowith in the leads, I'm not likely to experience it in person.

The plight of revival cast albums is that the original version exists as comparison. On the other hand, the advantages of new recordings are the technical improvements of recording and time limitations. Older show albums had to cut a lot of music to accomodate a vinyl disc's side . . . and that was murder on shows like West Side Story, Follies or Nine that left a lot of second verses, incidental and dance music unrepresented. The new Promises expands on music missing in the original (The missing dance break in "Turkey Lurkey Time" always bothered me - you had to turn to the Ed Sullivan Show TV soundtrack of the Original Promises cast when they performed the number live to hear what you missed) Even two Bacharach-David songs not intended for the show are here.

Others have mentioned the constricted, passive sound, lack of reverb and theatrical space, and I think that's the problem. The 1969-ish boom-boom-bang of the Original Cast Album is sadly missing here. Sean Hayes' performance has already raised a lot of silly extra-theatrical noise, but that's not the issue here. What may have worked on stage doesn't communicate 'musical numbers only'. Despite good intonation, his vocals sound nasal, fluttery, raspy and lacking in punch. Kristin Chenoweth comes off far better, her phrasing more meaningful and with an expert understand of Bacharach's complex (yeah, I said, it) musical structure, but again, the recording makes her sound small-scaled as if this wouldn't "read" to the first balcony.

All-in-all, this Promises is a nice souvenir for those of you who got to see it live. My preference for the Original Cast Album with Jerry Orbach and Jill O'Hara remains."

"So it's not "South Pacific", "My Fair Lady", "Gypsy" or "Sw

Classic film buff | 07/06/2010

(5 out of 5 stars)

"My wife and I took our 20-year-old niece to the Saturday matinee performance on June 5 of "Promises, Promises". It was her first ever Broadway show, and she was slightly starry eyed and stage-struck during and after the performance and why not? This show is a good introduction to the world of Broadway musicals for teenagers and young adults. All the elements work starting with a very hummable pop score by Burt Bacharach with clever lyrics by his long time collaborator Hal David, plus a libretto by Neil Simon that is snappy and comic, but more lighthearted and not quite as stinging as it's original source material Billy Wilder's Oscar winning film "The Apartment". The story briefly is about an ambitious, unnoticed young man Chuck Baxter (Sean Hayes) working at a huge insurance company, Consolidated Life, in Manhanttan back in the year 1962. To climb the corporate ladder, he lends out his apartment to four older married managers on different evenings for their sexual needs in exchange for the promises of promotion. However when the head of personal Mr. Sheldrake (Tony Goldwyn) discovers this fact, he puts a stop to it, but only because he wants exclusive rights to the apartment for his affair with the young pretty employee Fran Kubelik (Kristin Chenowith). Chuck is in unrequited love with Fran and has no inkling at first that she is the woman that Sheldrake is bringing to his apartment. Meanwhile Chuck's disapproving neighbor Dr. Dreyfuss (Dick Latessa) thinks Chuck is a Lothario with unbelievable stamina, and the four ousted managers are suffering from withdrawal and are looking to get even with Chuck. Complicated, but rest assured all is resolved satisfactorily and happily.

Rob Ashford, who wears two hats for the first time as director as well as choreographer, proves with his fresh inventiveness he's a worthy successor to such past theatre giants as Jerome Robbins, Bob Fosse, Gower Champion and Tommy Tune. The masterful orchestrations are by Broadway veteran Jonathan Tunick, who incidentally also did the original 1968 production. There are bright, colorful sets and costumes that work well theatrically yet remain basically true to the period of the early 1960's by Scott Pask and Bruce Pask respectively. Finally, consider the performances, Kristin Chenowith shines with her usual luster which is no surprise, and brings a bruised vulnerability to Fran, but Sean Hayes is astonishing fine in his Broadway debut, totally shaking off his "Will & Grace" persona, and giving out with a quite ingratiating tenor voice. However, the one who nearly steals the show from them in two scenes is Katie Finneran, who resembles Joan Cusack in looks and talent and is downright hilarious. Tony Goldwyn bring some shades of gray to Sheldrake making him an accessible if morally corrupt snake, and Dick Latessa as Dr. Dreyfuss has a common sense warmth and humor. This CD is a marvelous souvenir for the show, listening to it brings it vividly to life in my mind's eye, and as such I would highly recommend it for anyone who has seen and loved it as we did.

I don't pretend to be a music critic, but here are some of the highlights in and out of the performance that I hope the average listener like me can enjoy. Kristin Chenowith as Fran Kubelik has three soaring solos: the edgy, driving "Knowing When to Leave", "I Say a Little Prayer for You", which has a wistful, yearning appeal, and the best, "A House Is Not a Home" which starts quietly and ends a vibrant wail of a torch song. She knocks all three straight up to the last row of the balcony. Sean Hayes' best individual songs are his first and last "Half As Big As Life' and the title song "Promises, Promises". The first introduces us to Chuck's ambitions and need to succeed, and also to Sean Hayes singing voice a very easy tenor that nonetheless hits and holds successfully his last note. "Promises, Promises" is his eleven o'clock number where the Chuck finally becomes his own man and the pulsating music and lyrics reveal his euphoria. Hayes and Chenowith have a charming low-keyed duet where their voices blend sweetly in the ballad "I'll Never Fall in Love Again" as they proceed to do just that. The showstopper that opens Act Two, "A Fact Can Be A Beautiful Thing" preserves for posterity Katie Finneran's tipsy floozy Margie MacDougal complete with owl hoots, as she and Hayes wrap the audience around their fingers with their zany antics. Sean Hayes and Dick Latessa share a jaunty march called "A Young Pretty Girl Like You" trying to cheer up the despondent Fran. Last are two ensemble numbers "Turkey Lurkey Time" which has deliberately silly lyrics set to a catchy jingle, where all the employees let their hair down at the office Christmas party. "Where Can You Take a Girl?" is an amusing lament by the four randy middle aged managers when they are denied access to Chuck's apartment for their trysts.

All said, while "Promises, Promises" is not in the top pantheon of American musicals, it still is a bright, entertaining musical worthy of a good revival, which I think it's gotten in this production. If you want to leave the theatre buoyant and happy, and you possibly can, try to get tickets to see this at the Broadway Theatre! If unfortunately that's not an option, this original cast album is the next best thing!

"

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