There is generally a reason why a show hasn’t seen the light of day very much since its sixties debut…and it’s more than likely going to be as simple as the fact that it’s not very good.
Burt Bacharach is one of the 20th century’s great composers of popular music, a king of easy-listening, but anybody who ever saw his only movie musical, the hilarious Lost Horizon, will know that show tunes are not his strong suit.
It’s the same with Promises, Promises, his sole stage effort and not so much a musical as a collection of pleasant but completely forgettable songs hanging on to a plot borrowed from Billy Wilder’s The Apartment.
But then, with only something like 15 minutes left to go, along comes the classic I’ll Never Fall in Love Again and you’ll forgive Bacharach absolutely anything, especially when the glorious Emma Williams takes this anthem for abandoned lovers and turns it into a moment of great, poignant theatre.
Having decided that they’re going to give us this lesser piece of Broadway history for Christmas, Sheffield Theatres pulls out all the stops. Director Angus Jackson delivers something unexpectedly delightful, a handsome, stylish show - with fabulous sixties set and costumes from Robert Innes Hopkins - that moves along at a cracking pace and delivers a winning blend of drama and comedy.
Neil Simon’s sharp but sympathetic book may soften the impact of the Wilder original but it means that you do get caught up in the lives of the two central characters, the outstanding Williams as the abused and suicidal young heroine Fran and a delightful, charismatic Richard Frame as Chuck, the hapless office nobody who becomes her unlikely saviour.
Look out too for Sarah Ingram’s marvellous man-hungry New York drunk, Jack Chissick as Chuck’s understanding doctor neighbour and Julia Hinchclliffe as the wronged secretary of Martin Turner’s aloof, unpleasant boss Sheldrake.
There’s no getting away from the fact that, as well-performed as they are by the whole ensemble and a fine band under the direction of Dane Preece, the piece would almost work better without the songs. Some eccentric choreographic decisions from Adam Cooper don’t always help.
But overall, this is a welcome chance to take a look at a forgotten piece of musical history and one that really does send you away with a warm glow - even if you can’t remember many of the tunes.
Production information can change over the run of the show.
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