ISALP in Promises, Promises

[Steve Schenck]

Just read a brief interview with Burt about the coming revival on Broadway, and about the placement of I Say a Little Prayer in it. He said that he and Hal had worked on ISALP at the same time they were working on Promises, although the song was always intended for Dionne and not for the show. But in this interview, Burt said he always felt it could have worked in the show. Burt added that Neil Simon has written a new scene to accommodate the insertion of ISALP. That makes me feel better about the whole thing; it's less of a "tack on" and a little bit more of an honest integration. I would still have felt great about the revival of the show "as is," but this at least shows that the composer and playwright were involved in the decision, and not just some money-grubbing producer.

[BachtoBacharach]

Interesting...ISALP was recorded by Warwick in June 1966 according to liner notes from several compilations and released on the Windows of the World album in August 1967 and as a single in October 1967. ISALP was possibly written a few months earlier than the recording date. Were Burt and Hal were working on Promises, Promises in early 1966? Wow. I was always under the impression that they began work on Promises, Promises in late 1966 and early 1967 and began the demo recordings in mid-1967. If true, this means that they began work writing the tunes almost three years before the show opened.

[nymusicalsguy]

Burt said he was working on ISALP "around" the same time as PP; I think it's clear that ISALP was written before work commenced on PP. Forty-some-odd years later, 1966 is "around" the same time as 1968, certainly from Burt's standpoint.

No matter, though. If Burt, Hal and Neil Simon are all "on board" with this decision, I'll go along with them and see how it fits into this much-anticipated new production. It's going to have to be spectacular to top the Encores! production of 1997, but all fingers are crossed...

My biggest concern is still with the musical aspects of the show, namely the possibly-reduced orchestrations (I've heard rumblings of no dedicated pit singers and a reduced orchestra size) and the announced new dance arrangements. If Burt is involved closely, I'm sure my fears are for naught. I certainly hope the Maestro has final say on how his score sounds in the theatre...

[BachtoBacharach]

NY, I am sure you are right about the timing. I suspect as well that the reality of the economic situation has pared down these Broadway productions a great deal as musicals are so expensive to mount. I would guess that Promises, Promises is not receiving the full blown treatment it received in 1968 and I hope that the integrity of the show has not suffered. As for ISALP's inclusion in the production, I feel it definitely a shrewd move; however, mixed feelings still abound but if Bacharach is on-board with it and Neil Simon has written a cohesive scenario around the tune, I guess that really is all that matters. It will manifest much interest in the Bacharach/David catalog if it is the big hit I suspect it may be...nostalgia for the 60s is about to make a big comeback I predict...then certainly Bacharach/David and Warwick herself will greatly benefit from that. She is the singer most closely associated with many of the tunes in the show and with Bacharach in general and this will probably lead a younger generation to rediscover that magic that BB/HD/DW produced in the 1960s.