Hal David Tells NYPost How they Fixed PROMISES, PROMISES

The NY Post has featured an article titled "How We Fixed Broken 'Promises'". It is written by Hal David and discusses the evolution of the Broadway show Promises, Promises. The piece begins:

I remember "Promises, Promises" as a series of marvelous moments and some not-so-marvelous hotel rooms. I first heard of the project in 1967 at the Oscars gala in Beverly Hills. Our song "Alfie," Burt Bacharach's and mine, was nominated as one of the best songs of the year. That was pretty exciting. But to most songwriters, a Broadway show is the ultimate dream.

It was Neil Simon's idea to adapt the Billy Wilder film "The Apartment" for a musical play in collaboration with Burt and me. Our producer, David Merrick, secured the rights from United Artists, and then Neil, Burt and I got busy writing the show.

We had a wonderful cast, led by Jerry Orbach. After much work, we were ready for rehearsal.
In the first week of rehearsals, I learned that what I thought was the completed score was only the first draft. Songs went out and new songs went in, songs went out again, and new songs went in. On the road in Boston, we had a song in the second act called "Wouldn't That Be a Stroke of Luck."

Everyone seemed to like the song - everyone, that is, except the audience. Neil wrote a new scene. Unfortunately, right at that time, Burt came down with pneumonia. While waiting for him to recover, I wrote most of the lyrics for a song called "I'll Never Fall in Love Again."

To read the full article click here

With a book by Neil Simon, music by Burt Bacharach, lyrics by Hal David, and based on the Oscar®-winning film Billy Wilder film The Apartment, PROMISES, PROMISES is directed and choreographed by Rob Ashford, begins previews Saturday, March 27 and opens Sunday, April 25. PROMISES, PROMISES stars Sean Hayes as Chuck Baxter, Kristin Chenoweth as Fran Kubelik, Tony Goldwyn as J.D. Sheldrake, Tony Award winner Katie Finneran as Marge MacDougall and Tony Award winner Dick Latessa as Dr. Dreyfuss leading a cast of 27.

PROMISES, PROMISES is produced by Broadway Across America (John Gore, Thomas B. McGrath, Beth Williams), Craig Zadan, Neil Meron, The Weinstein Company/Terry Allen Kramer, Candy Spelling, Pat Addiss, Bernie Abrams/Michael Speyer and Takonkiet Viravan/Scenario Thailand in association with Michael McCabe/Joseph Smith and Stage Ventures 2009 No. 2 Limited Partnership. Beth Williams is the executive producer of PROMISES, PROMISES.

For more information, please visit www.promisespromisesbroadway.com