Saturday, April 29, 2017

Promises, Polecats and Pee!



 Promises, Promises
was based on The Apartment, written by Neil Simon.
It took inspiration (and hard work) 8 years,
but it finally opened as a Broadway musical,
thanks to Burt Bacharach, Hal David, and Michael Bennett.
Above, Jerry Orbach with a very popular apartment,
and several business types vying for its key.
 A. Larry Haynes, Dick O'Neill, Vince O'Brien, and Paul Reed


 Jill O'Hara as Fran Kubelick.
Jill starred in the original production of Hair,
just one year before this.
Below, some of the ensemble players,
a few of home we would see in Bennett's A Chorus Line
just a few years later:
Kelly Bishop, Ken Howard, Baayork Lee, Donna McKechnie,
Frank Pietri, and Marian Mercer.





 Jerry was so popular in the 60s
he got a Blackglama ad. 
What becomes a legend most? :)


 Our movie corner:
Seven Brides For Seven Brothers,
a 1954 release, that narrowly missed Best Picture
(On The Water Front scarfed the award that year!).
Above "Goin' Courtin'...
all but one of the 6 brothers 
(we'll leave Howard Keel out of the equation)
were professional dancers and/or gymnasts.
Jeff Richards (who played Benjamin) was a baseball player,
who looked great, but couldn't dance a lick. 
Below, "Lonesome Polecat".



Yes, Jane, it's time for the beards and the long underware
to come off!




 Urinetown!
After a successful Off-Broadway "run",
it opened in September of 2001, just days after 9/11.
 Despite fears of non-attendance,
audiences came, and it ran for 3 years.

 Jennifer Laura Thompson as Hope Cladwell
and Hunter Foster as Bobby Strong

 Officer Lockstock and Little Sally
(aka Jeff McCarthy and Spencer Kayden)


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