WISH-LIST WEDNESDAY: Promises, Promises

Back in time we go once again, as we dive into a 1968 collaboration between Burt Bacharach, Neil Simon and Hal David, three names arguably best associated with pop music; "Promises, Promises", though does contain a handful of well known pop music standards, such as "I say a little prayer" and "I'll never fall in love again", is not, by definition, a jukebox musical, as much of the musical material was written specifically for the narrative advancement of the show.

Artwork from the 2010 broadway revival

The show tells the story of a junior corporate executive at an insurance company who aspires to climb the ladder and rise through the ranks, by means of allowing his married superiors to make use of his apartment for romantic trysts, in an attempt to keep their relationship as clandestine as possible. It is based on the 1960 film "The apartment", directed by Billy Wilder, and written by Wilder and I. A. L. Diamond.

Promises, Promises premiered at the shubert Theatre on broadway after a regional tryout in Washington D.C, and it ran for four years, picking up two Tony awards from eight nominations. It later ran at the Prince of Wales Theatre in the west end from 1969, however it experienced a far more modest innings on the other side of the Atlantic, and closed after only 560 performances.

Sean Hayes and Kristin Chenoweth

The musical has experienced a flurry of revivals and regional productions in the US, most notably at the Broadway Theatre in 2010 starring Sean Hayes and Kristin Chenoweth, however its most recent London appearance since its UK premiere has been the 2017 Southwark Playhouse run starring Gabriel Vick and Daisy Maywood, so there's no reason it couldn't return before too long...

Have you ever seen Promises, Promises? What did you think of it?