Harper – Listening Report #2 – Promises, Promises

Promises, Promises was produced in 1968 with music by Burt Bacharach, lyrics by Hal David, and book by Neil Simon and was based on the film “The Apartment.” It was nominated for “Best Musical” at the 1969 Tony’s, but lost to 1776. The Original Broadway Cast recording features Jill O’Hara and Jerry Orbach. The 2010 revival of Promises, Promises featured Kristin Chenoweth and Sean Hayes and included new songs and a slightly different orchestration for previous songs with an altered order. The show is a musical comedy with a very stereotypical musical theatre sound. Some of the music has a very jazz feel and the prominent use of the brass and percussion sections seems to stem from a “big band” influence. The choir then adds another texture to the orchestration, making it kind of hard to peg down as any one genre. To me, the closest Promises, Promises comes to a specific genre is smooth jazz (it feels a lot like elevator music at times.) The song most representative of this jazz vibe is the ensemble number “Turkey Lurky Time.” The close harmonies and very quick tempo are reminiscent of the Andrew Sisters, a jazz staple. This style is later broken in the ballads in the show, such as “I’ll Never Fall in Love Again” where instead of boisterous brass and a distracting melody, there’s a simple acoustic guitar with minimal percussion accompaniment behind the vocalists. This drastic contrast to the rest of the show causes this song to stand out as the softest moment in the show and truly resonate with the audience. (Although it is not in the Original Broadway Cast Recording, I feel it is worth noting that in the Revival there is a Reprise to this number that begins acoustic and transitions into a big band number, serving as a final musical conclusion to the show.) The ballad “Whoever You Are” utilizes strings in an orchestral way (rather than a big band way) and a piano accompaniment rather than a percussion line; so, while it isn’t as tender as “I’ll Never Fall in Love Again,” it makes a great impact and stands alone as the sole power ballad of the show. (In the Revival the song “A House is Not a Home” was added, which is also a power ballad very similar to “Whoever You Are” and has a similar message of Fran needing a man in her life, the new song was added to give the end of Act 1 a strong moment for Fran and is later reprised by Chuck in Act 2.) The song also ends with a sole piano line and the very last chord is only one note, leaving the listener with a seemingly unresolved melody and an uneasy feeling, which is the most prominent emotion that the character experiences during the song. Another number that fits into a slightly different mold is “She Likes Basketball.” While it still has a large percussion part, it’s felt in three and therefore sounds like a waltz, which is extremely appropriate in the situation as the character Chuck is romanticizing about Fran and waltz’s are usually associated with romance. Later in the show, after Chuck is freed of his job under Mr. Sheldrake, he sings the titular song “Promises, Promises” which contains a similar triple feeling to “She Likes Basketball.” While “Promises, Promises” does not feel quite like a waltz, it reminds the listener of the previous song and the feeling of elation the character felt in that moment and connects those two moments in Chuck’s life when he was the happiest. All four of Chuck’s solo songs are rather upbeat, in fact his only ballads are duets with Fran, which says a lot about his character and shows the audience that the only thing that truly affects him is Fran. While Chuck has his signature style, Fran’s songs feel more like popular music than jazz, which separates her character (a waitress) from the rest (businessman, who undoubtedly have more money and are members of a different social class.) Jill O’Hara in the Original Broadway Cast adds to this distinction with her very unique voice quality. In the year 1969 Burt Bacharach won a Grammy Award for Best Musical Theatre Album for the Original Cast Recording of Promises, Promises, beating out that year’s Tony Award winner, 1776.