Well, yesterday was just one of those days. I headed to the 8:30 AM Megabus and took off on time. However, 40 minutes into the trip, a tire blew out on I95. The driver got us off the road and said a mechanic or replacement bus would be there within 90 minutes. 2 1/2 hours later without a rescue.....another NYC bound bus came by and took 7 of us lucky souls. (I had seen it coming and was 1st in line.) For some reason that driver got off I95 onto the Pennsylvania Turnpike which shortly became an hour of bumper to bumper traffic. Now approaching 3:00, I knew I was out of luck for my Broadway show. We pulled into NYC at 3:15, I raced across the street to the subway, rode from 28th to 50 Street, walked 2 1/2 blocks to the theater and was shown to the nearest seat (mezzanine not balcony, yay!) by the usher. I arrived one song before intermission.
Promises, Promises, based on the book by Neil Simon, with music by Burt Bacharach and lyrics by Hal David, is based on the 1960's film The Apartment by Billy Wilder and I.A.L. Diamond. The show was originally produced on Broadway in 1968. It tells the story of Chuck Baxter, played by Sean Hayes in his Broadway debut, an ambitious bachelor who works for an insurance company and "lends" his apartment to higher-ups in his company in return for promises of promotions, and Fran Kubelik, played by Kristin Chenoweth, a waitress in the company cafeteria who has romantic troubles. In the end, she realizes that Chuck was the one who really loved her. A stand out in the show was Katie Finneran, who didn't appear until the 2nd act and had just 25 minutes onstage, but the comic chemistry with Sean Hayes was magical. "May I take your owl?"
Songs from the production included A House Is Not A Home, I Say A Little Prayer, I'll Never Fall In Love Again, of course, Promises, Promises.
