Promises, Promises

[backtotheskies]

Posted: 12/20/13 at 11:23pm

I was listening to the revival cast recording and thinking that maybe in ten years of so, they'll be another production of it on Broadway. So I decided to dream cast:

- Laura Osnes as Fran Kubelik
- Zachary Levi as Chuck Baxter
- Betsy Wolfe as Marge MacDougall
- Santino Fontana as J.D. Sheldrake
- Chip Zien as Dr. Dreyfuss (maybe?)

[promisespromises2]

Posted: 12/21/13 at 10:58am

I'm obsessed with Promises, Promises (as you can tell).

I love that cast! Although I can't see Laura Osnes as Fran. What about Laura Benanti?

[backtotheskies]

Posted: 12/21/13 at 11:04am

I like Laura Benanti as Fran too! I could see Sara Chase as Fran, also.

[Phantom of London]

Posted: 12/21/13 at 12:31pm

They cannot always recast Kristin Chenoweth again, this time she would be a mere 20 years too old for the part.

[AEA AGMA SM]

Posted: 12/21/13 at 4:11pm

In ten years Laura Benanti will be as old as Chenoweth was when she was too old to be playing the part.

[gleek4114]

Posted: 12/21/13 at 6:00pm

Two words: ANNALEIGH ASHFORD

[promisespromises2]

Posted: 12/22/13 at 10:35am

And Cheno was awesome so I don't see the problem!

I can totally see Annaleigh play the part as well. I've seen clips of her in Wicked and I saw her in Kinky Boots, so at first I was a little "eh" (maybe too much comedy/weirdness). But after watching Masters of Sex… the girl can act.

[darquegk]

Posted: 12/22/13 at 11:06am

I wasn't a HUGE fan of the cast in the revival, but I had no problems with the changes Bacharach, David and Simon put into the show. The original production didn't have much musical structure- it was a play with songs. Adding the two additional numbers, and putting reprises into the score where there were no reprises before, just individual songs, gave it a flow that the original script did not necessarily have from a musical standpoint.

The one change I enjoyed the most was the addition of the reprise of "Where Can You Take A Girl" in place of the continuation of the "Christmas Day" number. In the original score and script, the scene with the Lotharios ends as they walk off, somewhat wistfully, singing more of the melancholy Christmas ballad. The music was pretty, but it didn't seem germane to the character that had been established for the office wolf pack. In the revision, their frustration is emphasized with a sudden- and hilarious- break into the chorus of "Where Can You Take A Girl," complete with Sixties dancing, which I thought fit the characters better.

[backtotheskies]

Posted: 12/22/13 at 1:33pm

I think Zachary Levi would be great as Chuck. Levi has the voice and the comedic timing for him.

[darquegk]

Posted: 12/22/13 at 2:02pm

Zachary Levi plays a little too conventional good-looking leading man for my tastes, even though he is a "character leading man." To me, Chuck depends on being someone that you know will take the glasses off, let his hair down and STILL be a bit of an awkward dork, albeit a very likable one. Because that's Chuck. He's a bit of a weirdo, but we love him. He's as close as we can get to a musical Woody Allen character.

You know who would actually play the part very well? Josh Gad. Or twenty-some years ago, I would have jumped to see Jerry Seinfeld in the lead.

[ray-andallthatjazz86]

Posted: 12/22/13 at 2:03pm

Benanti would have been ideally cast in the recent revival. She'd have been outstanding singing those songs.

Posted: 12/22/13 at 3:16pm

Laura Bananti's "Knowing When To Leave" would have been outstanding. Has she ever sang anything from the show publicly before?

[backtotheskies]

Posted: 12/22/13 at 4:40pm

I don't think so bad and that makes me SO sad

Laura's I Say A Little Prayer would have been fabulous too.