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Despite earning mixedreviews, Promises Promises showed enormous box office promise right up through two weeks ago when the tuner was still grossing over $1 million in ticket sales.
The only times those figures ever went south of a cool million were when its much-loved leads -- Kristin Chenoweth and the Tony-nominated Sean Hayes -- were temporarily away. Initially, contracts for the duo were through December 26 of this year. In their closing notice announcement, Promises Promises producers indicated that they were able to extend those contracts through the January 2 closing date (although Chenoweth will be out October 15-27 and December 29-January 1).
With the exception of Tony-winner Katie Finneran, who stole the show as the deliriously funny Marge and who is leaving the show October 10 due to a pregnancy, all other principals are remaining with the production until it closes. Finneran's replacement, Molly Shannon, takes over October 12 for the balance of the performances. This will mark Shannon's Broadway debut.
Early on, this revival of Promises Promises made headlines as Hayes seemed unnecessarily targeted by a Newsweek reporter, who asserted that the actor's sexuality made him unbelievable as a romantic lead. Chenoweth fired back, labeling the gay reporter as "knee jerk homophobic." Then, when Hayes hosted the Tony Awards, he and Chenoweth enjoyed perhaps the strangest televised liplocksinceMichael Jackson and Lisa Marie Presley. But no matter -- both only seemed to fuel box office demand.
While I certainly didn't hate the show, I didn't exactly love it, either. I was somewhere in the middle with my two-star review, mostly because I found the first act so incredibly lumbering, yet surprised in my delight with the second, buoyed by Finneran's charms. But as a fan of "The Apartment," which served as Promises Promises' source material, I was disappointed by how flat the musical's story fell. And the shoe-horning in of songs like "I Say A Little Prayer For You" and "A House Is Not A Home" just didn't work for me.
Still, I had hoped for a second act miracle for the production itself. Just as Finneran lifted the entire musical after Promises Promises' intermission, the thought of an inspired recasting of the leads along the lines of what was accomplished with A Little Night Music intrigued me. But those hopes were dashed as it appears that the production and creative team gave up on finding anyone suitable as a box office draw that could replace either of them. Instead, that same team appears to be limiting its focus on prepping another upcoming 60s-era revival, How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying, for Broadway in the Spring of 2011.
But suppose for a moment that the show were to receive an 11th hour reprieve, whom would you cast as Chuck Baxter and Fran Kubelik?
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Pair one of the Great White Way's most beloved contemporary musical/comedy stars (Kristin Chenoweth) with one of the last decade's most memorable television actors (Sean Hayes), throw in a couplemore of Bacharach and David's most popular hits, move the action of Neil Simon's book up a half decade to capitalize on "Mad Men," and voila! A smash, right?!
Unfortunately, the only smash comes in the form of the massive collision of sensibilities between this revival's two wildly, divergent acts (not to mention how contextually misplaced those added songs are). The first is so horrendously conceived and downright boring, that you may be tempted to leave at intermission. The only saving grace is Hayes' occasionally winning take on C.C. Baxter, the office climber who's hoping to impress office cafeteria waitress Fran Kubelik (Chenoweth, whom I regret to say is miscast). But even Hayes' C.C. too frequently comes off as just this side of Jack.
The shocker is that the second act is so significantly better than the first that you're actually relieved you stuck this one out. That's largely because of the yeoman efforts of the superb Katie Finneran. She not only saves the day with her deliriously funny portrayal of the tipsy Marge MacDougall, but she also salvages the show.
You can't help but contemplate the promise of what might have been had Ashford maintained the same tone throughout. Instead, I'm sorry to say, we're merely stuck with broken Promises, Promises.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
In keeping with the new Federal Trade Commission (FTC) regulations that unfairly discriminate against bloggers, who are now required by law to disclose when they have received anything of value they might write about, please note that I have received nothing of value in exchange for this post.
Rain: A Tribute To The Beatles Limited run extended through May 31, 2011 (Show will go on hiatus starting January 15 and reopen at Brooks Atkinson Theatre on February 8)
Rock Of Ages - Open-ended run (Show will go on hiatus starting January 9 and reopen at Helen Hayes Theatre in March)
As someone who has been involved in both politics and public relations, it's no wonder I love watching theatre. Good or bad, it's the raw energy of seeing a live performance that gets my adrenaline pumping. From the moment I saw my very first Broadway show ("Annie" in London in 1979), I was hooked. Now I see as many as 70 shows each year ranging from soaring musicals to two-hander plays. And these eyes just may be in an audience near you!
