Promises, Promises

by Neil Simon, Hal David, Burt Bacharach

Christmas Day
* A Fact Can Be a Beautiful Thing
* Half As Big As Life
* I'll Never Fall in Love Again
* It's Our Little Secret
* Knowing When to Leave
* Promises
* Turkey Lurkey Time
* Upstairs plus many more.

Genres: Plays, Theatre

120 pages, Hardcover

First published March 1, 1969

About the author

Marvin Neil Simon was an American playwright and screenwriter. He wrote more than 30 plays and he received more combined Oscar and Tony nominations than any other writer. He was one of the most reliable hitmakers in Broadway history, as well as one of the most performed playwrights in the world. Though primarily a comic writer, some of his plays, particularly the Eugene Trilogy and The Sunshine Boys, reflect on the twentieth century Jewish-American experience.

Reviews

[Doug · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5, rounded up.

It was a weird idea back in 1968 to base a musical comedy on the Billy Wilder film "The Apartment' (this was back before most musicals were based on hit movies like they are NOW!) ... and since the film deals with such comedic gems as adultery and suicide, it certainly didn't seem like a good fit for musicalization. But the original production ran just over 3 years on Bway, and a revival in 2010 managed a respectable 8 month run. I was curious about the show after seeing the Wilder film for first time recently, and followed along in the script while watching a bootleg of the revival on YouTube (below). It's still an odd duck, and not everything works (especially since both Hayes and Chenoweth are basically miscast), but it has some killer Bacharach/David songs and the part of Marge MacDougall is a can't-miss - both actresses in the two productions won Tony Awards for their performances.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=htGws...

[Aaron Thomas · Rating 1 out of 5]

Boy is this tired. I can't believe these jokes were funny even in 1968.

[Elizabeth Day · Rating 4 out of 5]

How delightful! The story was insane, frustrating, and hilarious. The characters were adorable and ending was satisfying. I only listened to about half the music, and it all sounded in general the same, but was some good easy-listening type music.

(PG-13 rating)

[Andrea Janov · Rating 2 out of 5]

While I know it is supposed to be a farce, it didn't really transfer to the page so well. This one, is meant to be staged and the comedy is in the actors, not in the writing.

[Jeff De Jesus · Rating 3 out of 5]

It doesn’t have the power of the original film. While I have a huge love and appreciation for the talent that went into this adaptation, I just think the story is simply too intimate for a stage musical. The Apartment was emotionally resonant not only because of the dialogue and story, but also because of the nuances conveyed in the acting.

Turning all that subtext into songs for the Broadway stage makes it harder to relate to any of the characters. In the film, Chuck Baxter is so easy to root for BECAUSE he can’t say everything that’s on his mind, and because Fran has her own goals and desires that differ from his own. In the musical, we hear him vent to the audience or sing out his feelings, and we also see his fantasies about Fran falling in love with him.

Despite all of these shortcomings, given the limitations of musical theatre conventions, I think this excels in every other way as an adaptation.

[Julian Munds · Rating 2 out of 5]

Neil Simon's realist style does both service and disservice to this musical. On the one hand this likely the better woman that he's written to this point but how they deal with the attempted suicide is callous and chauvinistic.... And this is not because of the times. This is a particular simonesque way of portraying women as simple relationship hungry animals. Sine of the music is smart and there are good things about this show. The best part is the rich scenes with Marge. It's a wonky show this one.