It’s Manhattan. It’s the '60s. And the city is back in full swing, in Broadway’s first-ever revival of Promises, Promises - starring Emmy® Award winner Sean Hayes (Will and Grace) as the enterprising associate on the way up, and Tony Award® winner Kristin Chenoweth (Wicked) as the cafeteria waitress whose romantic troubles have got her down. Don’t miss this smart and sexy musical based on the Oscar®-winning Billy Wilder film, The Apartment.
The creative team is a perfect cocktail: a splashy score by the Academy Award®-winning team of Burt Bacharach and Hal David, including such songs as "I'll Never Fall In Love Again" and the straight-up swinging title tune… Add a book that takes turns tickling your funny bone and breaking your heart, courtesy of the legendary Neil Simon… Top it all off with a sparkling blend of direction and choreography by Tony Award® winner Rob Ashford—and you’ve got an intoxicating evening of Broadway magic.
Sean Hayes is surprisingly charming and ingratiating as Baxter, and Katie Finneran steals the show for the scene and a half she’s in, bringing a much-needed comic jolt as the floozy Baxter picks up in a dive on Christmas Eve. But Kristin Chenoweth—who earned not just entrance applause but also entrance shrieks on the night I attended—seems miscast as Baxter’s love interest, Miss Kubelik: It’s impossible to imagine that such a no-nonsense dynamo would ever fall for Baxter’s conniving boss, much less try to kill herself when he jilts her.
If you need to understand why Broadway - not to mention America - needed to change in 1968, take a look at 'Promises, Promises,' the emotionally and musically stunted show that opened the same year as 'Hair' and entertained the tired-businessman market for three boffo years. More baffling is the motivation for a major revival of the dated Neil Simon/Burt Bacharach musical-comedy (based on the superior 1960 movie 'The Apartment') about male-driven corporate sexual shenanigans in 1962. Unless exploitation of 'Mad Men' fashions can be passed off as motive. Nor is it likely that dream casting is the justification for director/choreographer Rob Ashford's busy and charmless production.
| 1968 | Broadway |
Original Broadway Production Broadway |
| 1969 | West End |
London Production West End |
| 1970 | US Tour |
National Tour US Tour |
| 1997 | Off-Broadway |
Encores! Concert Off-Broadway |
| 2010 | Broadway |
Broadway Revival Broadway |
| 2017 | West End |
Off-West End Revival West End |
| 2018 | Off-Broadway |
Transport Group Concert Production Off-Broadway |
| Year | Ceremony | Category | Nominee |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | BroadwayWorld Awards | Best Leading Actress in a Musical | Kristin Chenoweth |
| 2010 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical | Katie Finneran |
| 2010 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Revival of a Musical | Promises, Promises |
| 2010 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Sound Design in a Musical | Brian Ronan |
| 2010 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Actor in a Musical | Sean Hayes |
| 2010 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Choreography | Rob Ashford |
| 2010 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical | Dick Latessa |
| 2010 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical | Katie Finneran |
| 2010 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Revival of a Musical | 0 |
| 2010 | Tony Awards | Best Choreography | Rob Ashford |
| 2010 | Tony Awards | Best Orchestrations | Jonathan Tunick |
| 2010 | Tony Awards | Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical | Sean Hayes |
| 2010 | Tony Awards | Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Musical | Katie Finneran |
Videos