PROMISES, PROMISES. To 21 January.
Sheffield
PROMISES, PROMISES
by Neil Simon music by Burt Bacharach lyrics by Hal David
Crucible Theatre To 21 January 2006
Mon-Sat 7.30pm no performance 31 Dec, 9 Jan Mat 28 Dec, 7, 11, 14, 18, 21 Jan 2.30pm
Captioned 21 Jan 2.30pm
Runs 2hr 45min One interval
TICKETS: 0114 249 6000
www.sheffieldtheatre.co.uk
Review: Timothy Ramsden 14 December
A musical comedy where comedy outstrips music.
Between 1960, when Billy Wilder’s film The Apartment was made and the 1968 appearance of this musical derived from it, a lot happened. As Neil Simon’s script mentions, offices installed automatic elevators. So anonymous, aspiring young executive Chuck Baxter no longer has Shirley Maclaine’s elevator-girl with whom to strike up a tentative love-affair, instead yearning after company cafeteria woman Fran Kubelik.
Alongside this romantic element, there’s comedy as senior execs with their out-of-town family homes exploit Baxter’s nearby apartment for office liaisons, leaving him wandering the streets weekday evenings (perhaps it should have been Premises, Premises). Payback comes as Personnel boss Sheldrake receives multiple recommendations for promoting Baxter. When he realises what’s up and joins the club, things become really complicated for Chuck, comedy and romance merging.
No wonder the show’s big number I’ll Never Fall in Love Again sounds disenchanted, cataloguing the woes of desire with a Burt Bacharach tune that’s unexpectedly light-mannered until its end-of-verse melodic shift echoes love’s inconveniences. Performed here, with Chuck and Fran facing each other across the stage, clearly falling deeper each verse-by-denying-verse, it completes a picture of emotional illogicality, defining love by negatives in the way of Oklahoma’s ‘People Will Say We’re in Love’.
That apart, there’s none of the Bacharach melodic magic, though a couple of upbeat office Christmas-party numbers give momentary energy, and bring the show’s best choreography. Generally, even this is lacklustre.
It’s not till the second act things come to life, with scope for Neil Simon’s fine-honed comic dialogue to develop, Jack Chissick’s doctor-neighbour introducing a strong vein of Jewish humour and the crunch coming for Emma Williams’ two-timed girl discovering her heart’s real desire. Richard Frame is an ever-appealing Chuck, speaking apologetically to the audience for the fantasy moments when Fran seems to return his affection, a device Simon, and reliable director Angus Jackson, use succinctly throughout. He’s contrasted by the sophistication of Martin Turner’s maturely handsome Sheldrake, who puts the heel into ‘well-heeled’ and whose downfall comes in another scene divorced from musical proceedings. Overall, the more this becomes Simon’s show, the more promises it delivers.
Dr Dreyfus: Jack Chissick
Miss Delia Hoya: Helen Dixon
Nurse Kreplinski: Amy Field
Chuck Baxter: Richard Frame
Vivian/Orchestral Voice: Helen French
Mr Dobitch: Glyn Grain
Ginger/Additional Vocals: Susie Harriet
Orchestral Voice: Sarah Helsby Hughes
Peggy Olsen: Julia Hinchcliffe
Mr Eichelberger: Graham Howes
Company Doctor: Barnaby Ingram
Marge MacDougal: Sarah Ingram
Mr Kirkeby: Stuart Liddle
Miss Polansky: Alice Mogg
Orchestral Voice: Jess Plumridge
Jesse Vanderhof: Michael Remick
Sylvia Gilhooley: Ellie Sprack
J D Sheldrake: Martin Turner
Karl Kubelik: Ewan Wardrop
Miss Wong: Nancy Wei George
Fran Kubelik: Emma Williams
Director: Angus Jackson
Designer: Robert Innes Hopkins
Lighting: Hartley T A Kemp
Sound: Nick Greenhill
Musical Arranger: Steven Edis
Musical Director: Dane Preece
Choreographer: Adam Cooper
Dialect coach: Jeannette Nelson
Assistant directors: Ellie Jones, Polly Findlay
Assistant musical director: Jonathan Williams
Assistant choreographer: Helen Dixon
2005-12-26 00:41:20