"Saturday Night Live" alumnus and "Superstar" Molly Shannon will make her Broadway debut in the smash hit musical comedy PROMISES, PROMISES as Marge MacDougall for a limited 11 week run from Tuesday, October 12, 2010 through Sunday, December 26, 2010. This new production of PROMISES, PROMISES, directed and choreographed by Tony and Emmy Award winner Rob Ashford with Neil Simon's funny and touching book and Burt Bacharach and Hal David's hit-packed score, began previews at the Broadway Theatre (1681 Broadway) Saturday, March 27, 2010, and opened on Sunday, April 25, 2010.
Molly Shannon spent six seasons as a member of the repertory company on "Saturday Night Live," primarily known for the eclectic characters she created, such as Mary
Katherine Gallagher and Sally O'Malley, and her parodies of Courtney Love,
Liza Minnelli, Monica Lewinsky, and
Meredith Vieira. In 2000 she received an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Individual Performance in a Variety or Music Program. Prior to joining "SNL," Shannon appeared at The Up Front Comedy Theater in Los Angeles in The Rob and Molly Show, an improvisational show she co-wrote with Rob Muir. This year Shannon was featured as a recurring guest star on FOX's smash-hit series "Glee" where she traded barbs with
Jane Lynch's prickly Sue Sylvester. Shannon was also included in the "all-star" group of female "SNL" alumnae who came back this year for
Betty White's Emmy-winning hosting gig where Shannon reprised her classic character Terry Rialto of public radio's "Delicious Dish." Next year Shannon will be seen on the big screen in director Jake Kasdan's new comedy Bad Teacher alongside
Cameron Diaz,
Jason Segel and
Justin Timberlake. Shannon's other film credits include Superstar portraying everybody's favorite Catholic schoolgirl Mary
Katherine Gallagher; Sofia Coppola's Marie Antoinette; Year of the Dog; Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby; Evan Almighty; Igor; Keenen Ivory Wayans' Little Man; Scary Movie 4;
Ron Howard's How the Grinch Stole Christmas; A Night at the Roxbury; Analyze This; Happiness; Never Been Kissed; The Good Boy!; Serendipity; Osmosis Jones; The
Santa Clause 2 and the cult comedy classic Wet Hot American Summer. On television, Shannon has been seen in the U.S. version of the popular Australian sitcom "Kath and Kim," as well as "Cracking Up," "Will & Grace" with
Sean Hayes, "Sex and the City," "Seinfeld," "Pushing Daisies" with
Kristin Chenoweth and "30 Rock" among many others. Shannon's television movies include "More of Me," "12 Days of Christmas Eve," and "The Music Man" with
Kristin Chenoweth produced by
Craig Zadan and
Neil Meron. Born in Shaker Heights, Ohio, Molly earned a BFA in drama from New York University's prestigious Tisch School of the Arts.
PROMISES, PROMISES currently stars Sean Hayes as Chuck Baxter, Kristin Chenoweth as Fran Kubelik, Tony Goldwyn as J.D. Sheldrake, 2010 Tony Award winner Katie Finneran as Marge MacDougall and Tony Award winner Dick Latessa as Dr. Dreyfuss. They lead a cast of 27 that includes Brooks Ashmanskas as Mr. Dobitch, Helen Anker as Miss Olson, Peter Benson as Mr. Kirkeby, Seán Martin Hingston as Mr. Eichelberger, Ken Land as Jesse Vanderhof, and features Cameron Adams, Ashley Amber, Wendi Bergamini, Nikki Renee Daniels, Sarah Jane Everman, Chelsea Krombach, Keith Kuhl, Marty Lawson, Ian Liberto, Matt Loehr, Mayumi Miguel, Brian O'Brien, Sarah O'Gleby, Adam Perry, Megan Sikora, Matthew Steffens, Matt Wall, Ryan Watkinson and Kristen Beth Williams.
PROMISES, PROMISES features scenic design by
Scott Pask, costume design by
Bruce Pask, lighting design by
Donald Holder, sound design by
Brian Ronan and hair and wig design by
Tom Watson. Orchestrations are by
Jonathan Tunick, with music direction by
Phil Reno, and dance music arrangements by
David Chase.
PROMISES, PROMISES is produced by
Broadway Across America (
John Gore,
Thomas B. McGrath,
Beth Williams),
Craig Zadan,
Neil Meron,
The Weinstein Company/
Terry Allen Kramer,
Candy Spelling,
Pat Addiss,
Bernie Abrams/
Michael Speyer,
Takonkiet Viravan/Scenario Thailand,
Norton Herrick/Barry &
Fran Weissler/TBS Service/Laurel Oztemel in association with
Michael McCabe/
Joseph Smith and Stage Ventures 2009 No. 2 Limited Partnership.
Beth Williams is the executive producer of PROMISES, PROMISES.
Based on the 1960 Academy Award-winning
Billy Wilder film The Apartment that starred
Jack Lemmon and
Shirley MacLaine, PROMISES, PROMISES tells the story of the Consolidated Life Insurance Company and Chuck Baxter, one of its charming young employees. In an effort to advance his career, Chuck lends executives his apartment for their extramarital romantic trysts. But things become slightly complicated when Chuck discovers Fran Kubelik, the object of his affection, is involved with one of the executives.
The playing schedule for PROMISES, PROMISES is as follows: Tuesday at 7pm, Wednesday through Saturday at 8pm, with matinees Wednesday and Saturday at 2pm and Sunday at 3pm. Tickets range from $136.50 - $56.50 and are available at
telecharge.com (212-239-6200).
