Video

I have been sn Encores subscriber since the beginning and saw the original Promises, Promises twice. I know very well how the Encores rehearsal period works snd have seen outstanding work through the years, but let's face the facts, Rob Marshall has always been an uninspired choreographer and this proves the point, short rehearsal period or not. However, Rob Ashford, with adequate rehearsal and previews did even worse. The unfortunate truth is thst AIDS robbed us of great talent and many of the people hailed as great now are just average workers. Of course, there are a few exceptions.

This City Center 'Encores' "concert version" was groundbreaking in a several ways. Director/Choreographer Rob Marshall restored a duet cut from the original Broadway production called "Lies", sung by Jenifer Lewis as Peggy Olson, and Terrence Mann as J.D. Sheldrake. Most importantly, it was the first incarnation of the musical 'Promises, Promises' that anyone, anywhere had EVER decided to completely choreograph Burt Bacharachs' wonderfully rich music of the "Overture". The original Broadway production did not have choreography to that, and the audience just looked at the curtain and listened to the Overture. This alone, was a herculean task for a (open-script) 'concert version' that had only 1 week of rehearsal to do it in. Yes, back then, City Center Encores only budgeted a single week of rehearsal with the cast; and to land a week-and-a-half long job performing in a 'Encores' production was endearingly referred to as "Summer Stock with the A-Team" . The L.A. Encores version mimicked Rob Marshall's concepts for their 'Promises, Promises' production, as did the Broadway revival.

I'm sorry, but Turkey Lurkey Time without the original Michael Bennett choreography is like a turkey dinner without gravy, buttered mash potatoes, cranberry sauce and a dry as fuck bird. It might taste okay, but it does NOT satisfy at all.

At 6:48, Marty goes a little bit overboard with his..umm..handling of Christine. Her reaction is priceless.

This dance was the only true stand out element of a show that's only okay. They should have licensed the original choreography and presented it within the Encores production. Looking back at the book and score of a show from an earlier era is great. But sometimes the choreography is worth seeing again, too.

I haven't seen them in years. They used to aired this show on EWTN a long time ago.

I'll bet this would be fabulous if only I could hear it 😔 people seem to be laughing a lot at whatever they're saying 🤷🏻‍♀️

Why oh why do men have to have clothes covering every inch of their bodies with a tie to make sure not a stray hair shows on their neckline, but women can be half nude all the time? I HATE THAT!! I'm always hot!!! It drives me crazy that men can't have bear legs and arms like women when formal.

This is amazing. Thank you for sharing. ❤️

Thanks, loved the Encores of Promises Promises, one of the best I've seen (up there with Chicago). Cynthia Onrubia was fantastic.

Great song for anyone feeling down on Christmas

If you play it at 1.25 x speed it almost matches the energy of the original cast performance on the Tony Awards. 😀

This would have made a better Broadway transfer production than the 2010 revival did. That revival, like so many nowadays, felt a need to make some idiotic book revisions, in that case switching the setting from late 60s to early 60s which isn't the right time frame for these things and also set up the dumbest book rewrite line in the history of musical theater. Whereas in the original, his invitation to Fran is meet him at "the new Garden, the old one's been torn down" in the revival we get a request to meet him at "the old Garden, the new one hasn't been built yet."

Christine has a Beautiful Voice

Please we need a whole proshot of this production, is a oldie show, deserve release for the new generations.

How come this can come off as not meant for kids but the mad TV things are marked for children

I know Cynthia Onrubia was the "McKechnie" track...who were the other 2 principal dancers? I saw it and was surprised it didn't transfer....much better than the revival...and who recreated the choreography?

0:29

Christine Baranski has the charm that any line dropped by her could make the audience laugh. Sometimes, it is not about the writing but her personal whimsy hanging there with her demeanors and expressions.

And a fact can be a beautiful thing When the fact I'm facin' is you A fact can be a terrible thing When the dreams you've been dreaming fall through Forget the past And think about the present Right now is everything Forget the past And think about the present The present's very pleasant Who cares what the future will bring? There's just no predicting a thing Don't wait for a miracle Because it's Christmas Not a time to be Alone with memories Christmas It's supposed to be a happy holiday Throw a little joy my way You could really make my day Throw a little joy my way And a fact can be a beautiful thing When I see what I'm seein' in you A fact can be a wonderful thing When your hopes to be happy come true What's gone is gone And don't you ever doubt it Wake up and start to live What's gone is gone So learn to live without it And never think about it Who cares what the future will bring? There's just no predicting a thing Don't wait for a miracle Because it's Christmas Not a time to be Alone with memories Christmas It's supposed to be a happy holiday Throw a little joy my way Do we really have to stay? Throw a little joy my way Throw a little joy my way Do we really have to stay? Throw a little joy my way Because it's Christmas Just the perfect day for us to Dance and sing Christmas It's supposed to be a happy holiday Happy holiday So throw a little joy my way Who cares what the future will bring? There's just no predicting a thing Don't wait for a miracle Don't wait for a miracle Don't wait for a miracle Don't wait for a miracle

Thanks to Neil simon!!!

The girl in the middle is TERRIBLE. Zero technique.

Am I wrong, or are the Encores! productions always better than the Broadway revivals?

"We got hosed, Tommy, we got hosed."

Kath Soucie is the voice of Tommy

Me and my brother are teenagers and we get a lot out of it Davey and Goliath and for the people that put negative stuff on Davey and Goliath that's wrong and you're going to get punished from God because yours is mocking God

Yess they all cheer for Christine ahh she’s a dime

When she has her back to the camera I actually thought it may be Margret thatcher no joke thank god the goddess Christine turned around 😂

Christine and Marty!!! They shoulda made a cd of this

She is SHIT HOT right here.

Her leeeeggsss!!

Thank you for sharing this Michael!

wow she is so fine😏🚀

the orchestration is really stunning

this is so wonderful

subtitulos!!!!!

I love Christine Baranski! she's smart and talented and elegant

I love this bit. Do you have the entire show on video From this particular one?

CHRISTINE BARANSKI !!!! I LOVE HER

I'm just kind of dumbfounded that none of these revivals used the original dance captain to stage it (Betsy Haug). I am sure it would have been complete and exciting then.

The skirts are the right length. The original production was produced in 1968 and the show took place in the present. Mini skirts were in. The 2011 revival dialed back the time period to 1962 I believe, closer to the time period of the show's source, the 1961 Billy Wilder film, "The Apartment".

0:29 OH DAVEY!!

Did they record this? Is there a DVD? Do you know if there's a way of buying it?

It really wasn't as bad as people are saying it is. It is MUCH better than the Broadway revival. The lead dancers were dancing very hard and there was actually a lot of energy. If anything, it was the choreography that wasn't as exciting. We all have high standards from seeing the original broadway cast. Talent doesn't come like that anymore so we should stop comparing them from standards set 40+ years ago.

These are really cool Christians back in the day! ;)

thank you so much for posting!

@stevenwishnoff And I mean that in an "At least this is better than..." way, rather than a "Wow! This is even better than..." way. Haha!

@stevenwishnoff This is even better than the most recent Broadway productions version of this song. That terrible piece of rubbish makes me ashamed I even want to be on Broadway. It's just dreadful.

I disagree BaggyJeans. You don't have to work so hard to sell this song musically. But here she's made brilliant acting choices which make "working hard" not only make sense, but make this performance unforgettably vivid, personal and put Fran Kubelik and her story, and not the song itself, come first. Which is what an actress in a musical, even an actress as musically gifted as Kerry O'Malley, has to do.

Is there anywhere we can watch the whole musical?