First London production since 1969 of the acclaimed Broadway musical
Promises, Promises
Music by Burt Bacharach, lyrics by Hal David, book by Neil Simon
Based on the 1960 film The Apartment
Screenplay by Billy Wilder and I.A.L. Diamond
Promises, Promises the hit Broadway musical based on the multi Oscar-winning 1960 film The Apartment, with music by Burt Bacharach, lyrics by Hal David and book by Neil Simon, is to get its first London production since its 1969 West End premiere. Opening at Southwark Playhouse I (Caroline) will be attending press night on 17th January. So watch out for my review shortly after!
Promises, Promises, about a junior executive at an insurance company who sets out to climb the corporate ladder by allowing his apartment to be used by his married superiors for extra marital affairs, will open at Southwark Playhouse in January 2017.
Promises, Promises, produced by Aria Entertainment and SENBLA, is based on The Apartment, the film produced and directed by Billy Wilder, as follow-up to Some Like It Hot, and starred Jack Lemmon, Shirley MacLaine, and Fred MacMurray. The Apartment was nominated for 10 Academy Awards, and won five, including Best Picture.
The original Broadway production of Promises, Promises premiered in 1968 and ran for 1,281 performances. A West End production opened in 1969 featuring Tony Roberts and Betty Buckley. The cast album won the Grammy Award for best cast recording, and a song from the show, I’ll Never Fall in Love Again, became a hit single for Dionne Warwick. Other songs from the musical include the title tune, which was another international hit for Dionne Warwick, I’ll Never Fall in Love Again was a UK no.1 hit for Bobbie Gentry, and Knowing When To Leave was also recorded by Warwick.
A 2010 Broadway revival starring Will & Grace’s Sean Hayes and Wicked star Kristin Chenoweth, included two additional Bacharach-David songs, I Say a Little Prayer, a 1967 million-selling hit written for Dionne Warwick, and A House Is Not a Home – and they will also be in the new London production.
The cast features: Craig Armstrong (who plays Eichelberger/Waiter) was in Billy Elliott, West End, and Whistle Down the Wind; Ralph Bogard (Vanderhof/Watchman), The Mystery of Edwin Drood, Arts Theatre, Saucy Jack and the Space Vixens, Ushers the Front of House Musical; Martin Dickinson (Kirkeby/Karl) The Sound of Music, We Will Rock You, The Secret Garden; John Guerrasio (Dr. Dreyfuss) South Pacific, Anything Goes at Grange Park Opera; Charlie Johnson (Sylvia/Patsy/Mrs Sheldrake/Turkey Lurkey Girls) Spend Spend Spend, Union Theatre; Daisy Maywood (Fran) Wonder.land and Medea, NT, A Chorus Line, West End; Natalie Moore-Williams (Miss Olsen/Vivien/Sharon/Turkey Lurkey Girls) Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and Scrooge, West End; Lee Ormsby (Dobitch) Pumbaa in The Lion King, The Great Jewish American Songbook; Paul Robinson (Sheldrake) Olivier Award nominee for Singin’ in the Rain, NT, The Sound of Music, White Christmas, Guys & Dolls, Chicago; Emily Squibb (Ginger/Kathy/Hostess) Made in Dagenham and Stephen Ward, West End); Gabriel Vick (Chuck Baxter) Sunny Afternoon, Chariots of Fire, West End; Alex Young (Marge/Nurse/Barbara) Showboat, West End.
Twitter @PromisesMusical
SOUTHWARK PLAYHOUSE
The Large
77-85 Newington Causeway
London
SE1 6BD
Box Office: 020 7407 0234
Friday 13 January – Saturday 18 February
SOUTHWARK PLAYHOUSE
Start Time 7.30pm
Matinee Starts 3pm
Running Time 160 mins including interval
Price £25 | £20 concessions | £14 previews
Press night: Tuesday 17 January at 7.30pm
Carn's Theatre Passion 