Broadway Theater Review: Promises, Promises

The Minor Roles are the Real Stars Here
By Lauren Yarger
Much hype, not all of it positive, preceded the Broadway revival of Promises, Promises. Was the book by Neil Simon too dated? Was star Kristin Chenoweth miscast as Fran Kubelik? Would adding some popular Burt Bachrach (who wrote the musical with lyrics by Hal David) tunes help beef up her role? Would TV star Sean Hayes of “Will & Grace” fame be able to hold his own in his Broadway debut as lead man Chuck Baxter?

The answer to all of the above is yes, but in the midst of all the angst, Katie Finneran, who is on stage for a total of about 15 minutes makes all those questions irrelevant. She stops the show as Marge MacDougall, a drunken woman Baxter picks up in a bar, and her performance alone makes a trip to Promises, Promises worthwhile (and I’ll make my own promise: Finneran will win the Tony for Featured Actress in a Musical).

Also giving a terrific performance in another minor role is Dick Latessa as Dr. Dreyfuss, the neighbor who thinks Baxter, who lends his apartment out to business associates for their trysts, is the one making all that noise next door. The veteran actor’s comedic timing is impeccable and he and Finneran really are the stars of the show.

That isn’t to say that Hayes and Chenoweth aren’t fun. They are. Hayes does well as the beleaguered ad exec who is devastated to learn that his love interest, Kubelik, is the woman for whom his boss, J.D. Sheldrake (Tony Goldwyn) has reserved Baxter’s apartment.

Powerhouse Chenoweth obviously is miscast as the gullible, helpless Kubelik, but makes a decent go of it any way, looking great in Bruce Pask’s smart 1960’s inspired costumes and sounding nice, if a little country twangy, backed by a full orchestra directed by Phil Reno. Excellent sound design by Brian Ronan let’s us hear the singers over the music (not always a given these days). The songs added for her: “I Say a Little Prayer” and “I’ll Never Fall in Love Again” are some of the best in an otherwise unmemorable score, but unfortunately add to the already too-long run time of more than two and half hours. Cutting a couple of other songs might have been a good idea.

Rob Ashford directs and also choreographs a lot of busy, big arm flapping numbers on Scott Pask’s large paneled set. A number where the couples take turns meeting at the apartment is tastefully and cleverly staged and a freeze-frame technique is used effectively to stop action throughout as Baxter speaks directly to the audience.

Is it the best revival ever? No, but it’s certainly not the worst, especially given the rather dated, not really funny premise of a bunch of guys cheating on their wives with girls from the office. The musical was based on the 1960 Billy Wilder film “The Apartment” starring Jack Lemmon, Shirley MacLaine and Fred MacMurray, back in the days before sexual harassment suits and women’s lib.

Finneran makes sitting through even this worn plot fun, though, and LaTessa’s wise counsel, humor and advice as Dr. Dreyfuss offer a balance to all the chaos.

Promises, Promises runs at the Broadway Theater, 1681 Broadway, NYC. Discounted tickets are available for friends of Masterwork Productions by clicking here.

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