The Burt Bacharach Discussion Forum

Great news if it happens. I've been lucky enough to have seen two productions of PP; one a big, full-blown affair at Sheffield's Crucible Theatre which ran for the Christmas season four years ago, the other a fringe theatre production in London which had a three week season in summer '96. I enjoyed both, of course, but the smaller production edged it for me because of the inclusion of the wonderous 'Tick Tock Goes the Clock' (with a wonderful dance routine) at the expense of the very expendable 'It's Our Little Secret'.

I saw the London production too - three times! Yes, it was great that 'Tick Tock Goes the Clock' was included as it's so typical of the type of thing Bacharach was writing in those days, with time and key changes tumbling all over the place. Within the context of the show, 'Knowing When to Leave' and 'Whoever you are, I Love You' really come into their own and 'You'll Think of Someone' is really charming. I also remember laughing out loud a lot at Neil Simon's typically witty script. Yes, it's a bit dated re mens' attitude towards women in the workplace (and in the bedroom) and I think this might be a bit of an obstacle as regards a good critical reception and a long successful run on Broadway.

PLjms,
Hey I agree about "Its Our Little Secret"...but I like the ending...
Sarah,
I agree, the script may be a problem holding todays views of the then 60's.. I wonder if the script could be doctored?Or should it be a timepiece of what was then?
Anyway, glad this music is or will be back on Broadway.

Steveo

I'm not thrilled with the casting of Sean Hayes. The critics are going to slaughter him. You heard it here first. Let's see how perspicacious I am.

Expect a full announcement about this within the coming days -- rehearsals start in February for a Broadway opening in April.

Neil Simon is very much involved and will only minimally doctor his book, much as he did for the acclaimed Encores! production of 1997. If Sean Hayes and Kristin Chenoweth, together with director/choreographer Rob Ashford, can pull it off as well as Rob Marshall, Martin Short & co. did in '97, New York will be singing PROMISES' tune for many days to come.

Joe

Agree Enormous, Sean Hayes is a questionable choice...talented, yes, in a one dimensional sort of way. Where is Jerry Orbach (RIP) when you need him. But, younger folks remember Hayes from Will and Grace and musical comedy talent with enough box office appeal to open a show is going to expose a whole new generation to Bacharach/David, the play and yes, even Warwick. Orbach was coached on the tune Promises, Promises by none other than Dionne and attended the recording session...Warwick cut Promises, Promises in the summer of 68 as both a pre-opening promo for the show, her latest single at the time and a demo for Orbach. Orbach famously asked Warwick during the session at A & R Studios "How the hell do you sing this thing?" The song hit the top 20 in the USA and the top 10 in Canada in October (peaking at # 19 on the hot 100, #8 on the AC and # 8 in Canada) and Warwick sang it live on several TV shows such as Red Skelton, The Tonight Show, etc. before the show opened and this was Bacharach's plan..get a hit with Dionne on the tune before the show opened. At the time, Dionne and Aretha were, far and away, the top two female vocalists, selling records and albums by the millions and running neck and neck in popularity. Great cross- promo and marketing strategy at a time when things like this weren't frequently done and ironically Dionne's album Promises, Promises beat the original cast recording of the show in chart placement and sales, peaking at #18 on the Billboard album chart and # 7 on the Billboard R & B chart! There was a crossover appeal with the R & B market that helped the show with a wider audience as well. Both Burt and Florence Greenberg of Scepter Records were pretty shrewd marketing and business people. Well ahead of their time.

nymusicalsguy wrote:Neil Simon is very much involved and will only minimally doctor his book.

I wonder how much Burt (and Hal?) will be involved in the production? Burt is such a perfectionist. If he is involved, I pray that the musicians know their Bacharach!

BachtoBacharach wrote:Agree Enormous, Sean Hayes is a questionable choice...talented, yes, in a one dimensional sort of way. Where is Jerry Orbach (RIP) when you need him. But, younger folks remember Hayes from Will and Grace and musical comedy talent with enough box office appeal to open a show is going to expose a whole new generation to Bacharach/David, the play and yes, even Warwick. Orbach was coached on the tune Promises, Promises by none other than Dionne and attended the recording session...Warwick cut Promises, Promises in the summer of 68 as both a pre-opening promo for the show, her latest single at the time and a demo for Orbach. Orbach famously asked Warwick during the session at A & R Studios "How the hell do you sing this thing?" The song hit the top 20 in the USA and the top 10 in Canada in October (peaking at # 19 on the hot 100, #8 on the AC and # 8 in Canada) and Warwick sang it live on several TV shows such as Red Skelton, The Tonight Show, etc. before the show opened and this was Bacharach's plan..get a hit with Dionne on the tune before the show opened. At the time, Dionne and Aretha were, far and away, the top two female vocalists, selling records and albums by the millions and running neck and neck in popularity. Great cross- promo and marketing strategy at a time when things like this weren't frequently done and ironically Dionne's album Promises, Promises beat the original cast recording of the show in chart placement and sales, peaking at #18 on the Billboard album chart and # 7 on the Billboard R & B chart! There was a crossover appeal with the R & B market that helped the show with a wider audience as well. Both Burt and Florence Greenberg of Scepter Records were pretty shrewd marketing and business people. Well ahead of their time.

BachtoBacharach, I just love your knowledge about these things! I SURELY remember hearing Dionne's "Promises, Promises" for the very first time. I still get excited hearing it. Burt has it written on the sheet music that the song should be played "With fire", and that song surely has it! And LOL at Orbach saying to Dionne, "How the hell do you sing this thing?" That's very funny! I saw the show on Broadway and Orbach really was great in the part. He harmonized very well on "I'll Never Fall In Love Again", too. Well, after all, he came from the musical theatre, having opened in "The Fantasticks" some years before. Of course, singing "Try To Remember" is a far cry from singing "Promises, Promises" or "Upstairs". But he did it, and won a Tony award (in 1969) for it, too.

And let's not forget how Dionne scored with "I'll Never Fall In Love Again." That was a big hit song and was played on the radio all the time. It was done very effectively in the show, too, with Jill O'Hara playing the guitar and singing it with Orbach.

I wonder if this Broadway production will be using pre-recorded music. If I'm not mistaken, "Promises, Promises" was the first Broadway show to use pre-recorded music in order to keep the orchestra limited. I tried to verify this memory of mine using the internet, but I couldn't find anything. Anyone?

Hi,
I don't recall Promises Promises using any prerecorded music...reading about it in the
articles of that time(TIme MAg, New YOrker, etc..I do recall that it was the first musical that used a recording board concept, with all instruments mic'd and mixed....with someone
mixing the instruments in a little booth or area...I do recall Burt complaining in the article,
of the sub players that would come in and coundnt read the parts right..(time sigs) or
the tempos being "too fast"...
anyone?

Steveo

http://www.google.com.br/search?hl=pt-B ... es&spell=1

I found the first two links (books), as well as the last one (Broadway forum), very interesting.

As it refers to the books, do a search (left-hand side) for "Bacharach" once you are in their pages, as more passages will appear.

As for the forum, notice that some individuals related personal experiences with Burt.

I wrote here before that Tunick said, after the Saturday afternoon performance of PP at City Center, that his career was going nowhere before PP and that he learned a lot from Bacharach, who was very specific about what he wanted, down to what the drums should be playing. He said he used what he learned "lavishly ever since" (you can quote me on that). Moments earlier Hal David had said that Tunick was picked by Bacharach. I would be very curious to know why Burt chose him. My guess is that he saw talent in Tunick, but also felt that he wouldn't be so dumb as to insist in having things his way.

Tunick would take that knowledge gleaned from Burt and go on to create in 1970 the masterful orchestrations to Stephen Sondheim's COMPANY; this, in turn, would lead to a collaboration with Sondheim that endures to this day, and Tunick's position as Broadway's pre-eminent orchestrator. I suspect Burt knew of Tunick's work and had an eye for young talent. Certainly his choice paid off.

I found it a strange oversight that there was no mention of the songs I'll Never Fall In Love Again and Promises, Promises (link below). Regardless, what I've been asking myself is if Burt and Hal will want to include You've Got It All Wrong. (Would mention of a new song strengthen or weaken interest in the show? I think that people who attended would like it a lot, and then word of mouth about the show would increase interest, but I wonder what the initial effect would be.)

http://www.playbill.com/news/article/13 ... ay-Theatre

Yeah, you're right -- that is strange that they didn't mention the big hit song of the show.

If they mentioned a new song, I think it certainly couldn't hurt... but I don't know if people who had no desire to see the show would go simply because they had a new song in the show.

I don't like the graphics, though, at all -- with Kristen and Sean's picture. I loved the graphics they used for the original... I wish they had used the original.

Well, I'll be curious to see how the show is reviewed. Remember my prediction: that Sean will get slaughtered by the reviews. I hope I'm wrong. I want the show to be a smash.

Rio wrote:I found it a strange oversight that there was no mention of the songs I'll Never Fall In Love Again and Promises, Promises (link below). Regardless, what I've been asking myself is if Burt and Hal will want to include You've Got It All Wrong. (Would mention of a new song strengthen or weaken interest in the show? I think that people who attended would like it a lot, and then word of mouth about the show would increase interest, but I wonder what the initial effect would be.)

http://www.playbill.com/news/article/13 ... ay-Theatre

Hey, All - Have been off the site for some time due to a move and job change. Anyway, I'm as delighted as everyone that Promises will be back on Broadway. I will definitely see it. I was walking past the theater about 3 weeks ago and notice something very strange. One of the posters said, "The show boasts terrific numbers like 'I'll Never Fall in Love Again," "I Say a Little Prayer," and the swinging title tune." Well, as anyone who's listened to the score or knows the BB/HD catalog, I Say a Little Prayer is NOT from Promises, Promises. Last week, I walked by the theater again and that particular poster was not up. The online site for Promises Promises has some of the same blurbs as in the theater windows, but not that one about "I Say..." At first I thought, "Oh no! There going to plug other BB/HD songs into the show and bastardize it!" But now it seems that maybe it was just an ad-writer's mistake. I would love it if they included "Tick Tock" in the show, though.

Great news, Steve. I'd heard on the Broadway grapevine that "I Say A Little Prayer" would be part of the show...a rumor that most likely started due to that ad copy. If it were true, it would singlehandedly be the most wrong-headed decision imaginable. I'm so glad they've removed the offending text, and the score to PROMISES will remain pure, as it were. Now, I *do* hope they're including "You've Got It All Wrong" from the Encores! production. It hasn't been confirmed yet, but it looks likely, as it is another song for their leading lady, Kristin. Fingers crossed!