An article about "Promises, Promises"

[An Enormous BB Fan]

New York Post, April 9, 2010
By Michael Riedel

When it comes to "doctoring" shows, Neil Simon's in a class by himself.

The great comic writer has fixed -- without credit -- so many productions out of town that on Broadway they call him "Doc."

He even punched up the script to "A Chorus Line," coming up with the best joke in the show: "I thought about killing myself, but then I realized to commit suicide in Buffalo is redundant."

But at the revival of "Promises, Promises," now in previews at the Broadway Theatre, some are wondering if Simon's 42-year-old script could use a little "doctoring" from somebody else.

Kristin Chenoweth, the star of the show, is worried that her character -- a depressed, suicidal waitress in a corporate cafeteria -- is too much of a wet blanket and could use a little more spark, sources say.

In addition, a couple of famous pop songs -- "I Say a Little Prayer" and "A House Is Not a Home" -- have been shoehorned into Burt Bacharach and Hal David's score without any kind of setup.

Simon's been at the show at most performances, but so far he hasn't done much rewriting. He's 82, a little shaky in the memory department and not as facile at the typewriter as he once was, friends say.

Rumors are swirling that the producers would like to bring in someone else to do rewrites but are afraid of angering Simon -- or worse, his wife, Elaine Joyce, who can wreak havoc backstage when crossed.

Darren Starr, creator of "Sex and the City," has been floated as someone who could punch up the script for Chenoweth.

But the lead producer -- Broadway Across America -- insists there won't be any show doctors in the house. The script, the company says, "is 100 percent Neil Simon's work, and everything spoken from the stage of the Broadway Theatre is by him. The original 'Doc' needs no help."

Which is not to say changes aren't coming.

Yesterday, Simon, Chenoweth and director Rob Ashford met in the basement of the theater to hash out Chenoweth's concerns.

Simon, sources say, will spend the weekend sharpening her character and setting up the new songs.

(Here's a note: When she sings "A chair is still a chair," must she sing it to a chair?)

"Promises, Promises," based on Billy Wilder's classic 1960 movie "The Apartment," opens April 25. Advance ticket sales are strong, and the producers are hoping critics and audiences will embrace the show's "Mad Men" ethos -- martinis, cigarettes and office sex.

I caught a preview this week, and I can say with 100 percent certainty that everybody's going to embrace Katie Finneran, who plays a ditzy, drunken nymphomaniac. She has only two scenes at the top of the second act, but when she makes her exit, she's walked off with the entire $12 million show. She has some of the funniest lines Simon's ever written, and she nails each and every one.

Right now, she's getting more applause during the curtain call than Chenoweth and leading man Sean Hayes.

Chenoweth built her career stealing shows from everybody else. So having it done to her must be a new and unnerving experience.

If I were Finneran, I wouldn't drink any of that tea Kristin's been brewing in her dressing room.

From: http://www.nypost.com/p/entertainment/t ... JAWMeCTx0O

[Sara D]

Oh dear. As soon as I heard that 'I Say a Little Prayer' was going to be included I suspected that the producers wouldn't be able to keep their fingers off the panic button and that eventually more Bacharach & David hits would follow it in to the show. So after 'A House is Not a Home' what next? My money would be on 'Anyone who had a Heart'.

[An Enormous BB Fan]

My money would be on 'Anyone who had a Heart'.

"Anyone Who Had A Hit" is more what they're hoping for!