Diahann Carroll introduces Promises, Promises at the 1969 Tony Awards ("She Likes Basketball"/"Turkey Lurkey Time" - Jerry Orbach, Donna McKechnie and Company)
Jerry Orbach turned 34 in 1969, the year he performed this number on the Tonys. Broadway was his middle name -- he loved singing show tunes and the rumor was, when he was on _Law & Order_, in between takes he'd play "Name a Show Tune" and whatever song anyone name, he could sing. On real surprise for me was when I bought the audio CD of the original off-Broadway cast of _The Fantasticks_, which premiered on May 3, 1960, there was Jerry Orbach at age 25, singing the part of "El Gallo". He was the original El Gallo, in fact, and _The Fantasticks_ ran for nearly 42 years off Broadway at the Sullivan Street Playhouse. It closed on January 13, 2002 after 17,162 performances at the same location. I think Jerry Orbach's rendition of "Try to Remember the Kind of September" is memorable and his performance helped make that play popular for so long. I got to enjoy him as Lenny Briscoe on _Law & Order_ and when I learned of his death at age 69, I was very sad. He was a great guy by all accounts.
I'm semi-obsessed with "Turkey Lurkey Time." At first it seems so silly, but the more you see it the music, choreography, and performances are unforgettable. I love Bacharach/David!
Not only did Jerry Orbach play Baby’s father in Dirty Dancing but here’s another fun fact. The female dancer who joins the group just behind Baayork Lee (the dancer on the left in green) at 6:26 is Kelly Bishop who played Baby’s mother!
Donna McKechnie -flawless technique….a once-in-a-lifetime dancer. She is the cherry on top of this perfect end of 1st act number. They literally don’t write or perform ‘em like this anymore
I love Turkey Lurkey Time! The music starts off with a strong rhythm, and when you see the girls first dip in unison, you know your in for a great treat. Thank you Michael Bennet for the choreography, and Burt Bacharach for the fabulous music.
Amazing. Great to see, let others see, that Jerry Orbach was not always a cynical cop in NYC, putting bad guys away and full of self doubt and tarnished...but a young and vibrant actor and singer on Broadway (makes me so proud that I am from NYC) and then to see Donna McKechnie, not in 'ACL' but 10 years before, and dancing just as well as she did, as Cassie, in 'ACL' ('A Chorus Line')! SOrry that excluded other classic songs from the show, as there are just so many that we all know.
The contrast between the electricity of the dancers and the immobility of the audience is striking. I'll bet most of the men in the audience are daydreaming what it would be like to be with Donna McKechnie.
SO fabulous! Baby-faced Jerry, & then Donna M., Baayork Lee, & Margo Sappington (all 3 of whom became so well known in the yrs. after this) & the whole fantastic co., doing Michael Bennett's brilliant choreography, far beyond full-out. I just spent way too long just trying to master about 7 seconds of choreography. "Turkey-Lurkey" = crazy-silly-stupid-fun song, INCREDIBLE number.
@@MADHAUSMARKALLAN I LOVVVVVEEE the original! The three main actresses said that they needed to adjusted by a chiropractor like twice a month during the run of the show! HAHA
Goddamn! I cry every single time I see DM dance. She could have me in a heap on the floor just doing musical chairs. She is unmatched in any sense of the word and every move she makes is a pleasure to behold!
I wish they would do a "Promises, Promises LIVE" on TV. I would love to see this number re-created. They changed the choreography for the Broadway revival, and it was, uhm, lacking.
@@liduck52 I wonder if timing was an issue as well...seems to me most of those "movie musicals" were from the early-mid 1960s...could it be the interest in movies from musicals had died by the time of "Promises Promises"?
MA1903A1 That's possible. But theres no time limit-someone could have done it many years later. Or maybe its just that nobody though it was good enough. A lot of Bway musicals were never made into movies.
"Basketball" isn't much of a song , but Jerry is so incredibly charming doing it. Did anyone mention that Kelly Bishop was one of the girls dancing on the desk.
You made sure no one, certainly not me, would ever watch this with an ad that cannot be removed covering the action. I'll never know if it went away because I went away...
Besides all his stage work (& don't forget THREEPENNY OPERA, when he was even younger than here, playing Mackie), my favorite of his movie roles might well be as the mafia-connected brother of Martin Landau in one of my favorite Woody Allen movies, CRIMES & MISDEMEANORS. He's so heart-breaking in that. Great actor & singer.
Jerry Should have Perform Ed #1 Half as Big, #2 Upstairs, or #3 Promises. Better yet, have the company perform the brilliant Grapes of Roth scene. That would have great advertising for the show, I bet a lot more men would been flocking to the theater.
The quality of "She Likes Basketball" is so wonderful. Did you take the first number from a commercially released video? I have one VHS tape of numbers from the Tony Awards, but I wasn't sure if any of the Promises, Promises clips were on a commercial release yet. It's wonderful to see all these clips, regardless of the quality, though, really.
It should have been, "I'll Never Fall in Love Again," which became a popular hit. "Turkey Lurkey" is a great Bennett dance number and makes great TV. Glad to have a tape of it.
YES, I know. I was answering the question why he didn’t do more musicals by pointing out that he did. He also played the narrator in the original cast of The Fantasticks.
I'd have loved to see Brad Garrett in Jerry's part. She Likes Basketball is the weakest song in the show, it's too repetitive, too lacking in depth. Hal David's one miss. The score is pure genius.
Donna McKechnie..... SHE'S AMAZING in this and EVERYTHING she does :)
Jerry Orbach turned 34 in 1969, the year he performed this number on the Tonys. Broadway was his middle name -- he loved singing show tunes and the rumor was, when he was on _Law & Order_, in between takes he'd play "Name a Show Tune" and whatever song anyone name, he could sing. On real surprise for me was when I bought the audio CD of the original off-Broadway cast of _The Fantasticks_, which premiered on May 3, 1960, there was Jerry Orbach at age 25, singing the part of "El Gallo". He was the original El Gallo, in fact, and _The Fantasticks_ ran for nearly 42 years off Broadway at the Sullivan Street Playhouse. It closed on January 13, 2002 after 17,162 performances at the same location. I think Jerry Orbach's rendition of "Try to Remember the Kind of September" is memorable and his performance helped make that play popular for so long. I got to enjoy him as Lenny Briscoe on _Law & Order_ and when I learned of his death at age 69, I was very sad. He was a great guy by all accounts.
How I would have loved to see Jerry Orbach on stage!
I'm semi-obsessed with "Turkey Lurkey Time." At first it seems so silly, but the more you see it the music, choreography, and performances are unforgettable. I love Bacharach/David!
Me too. Such a fabulous period piece. What a great era.. Burt and Hal. American classics
If you've never watched Seth Rudetsky deconstruct this number, go look for it the minute you read this comment. It's awesome.
+tejaswoman I did.. Really enjoyed that. Thanks for directing me to it. He was great. Best wishes to you.
+Jeff Williams Most welcome :-)
R.D. Dragon I got addicted
Wow, Donna McKechnie (the woman in the red dress) absolutely kills this. What an amazing performance of a fun crazy dance number.
Eirana9 You could also catch Donna McKechnie playing Amanda Harris on the series Dark Shadows in the 1969-1970 season.
For real. I was mesmerized with her in this. Fantastic.
Not only did Jerry Orbach play Baby’s father in Dirty Dancing but here’s another fun fact. The female dancer who joins the group just behind Baayork Lee (the dancer on the left in green) at 6:26 is Kelly Bishop who played Baby’s mother!
Kelly Bishop was also in the OBC of A Chorus Line a few years later. 🥰
This performance of Turkey Lurkey is lightning in a bottle. Absolute perfection in every way. I’m so glad it was captured in video.
It's a little blurry
What every office Christmas party should be
There's such joy in their dancing!
Donna McKechnie -flawless technique….a once-in-a-lifetime dancer. She is the cherry on top of this perfect end of 1st act number. They literally don’t write or perform ‘em like this anymore
IN MY YOUNGER AGENT DAYS I PUT JERRY ORBACH IN PROMISES PROMISES. I LOVED HIM!
I love Turkey Lurkey Time! The music starts off with a strong rhythm, and when you see the girls first dip in unison, you know your in for a great treat. Thank you Michael Bennet for the choreography, and Burt Bacharach for the fabulous music.
THis was really thrilling to see live - i ssaw it with the original cast 7 times with a frined of mine it was wonderful
Apparently with a very young Alphonse Mouzon playing drums in the pit too :-)
I wish there was footage of the show. I wonder if the overture had choreography like the revival?
How this didn't win best choreography in 1969 is beyond me......
whoever controls the estate of Michael Bennet should consider doing a "Fosse " style show of his numbers.
He was a great choreographer, but there's just not enough in the way of show stopping numbers, like Fosse had.
These Tony clips from that magical era make me so happy. Thanks so much for posting them!
Amazing. Great to see, let others see, that Jerry Orbach was not always a cynical cop in NYC, putting bad guys away and full of self doubt and tarnished...but a young and vibrant actor and singer on Broadway (makes me so proud that I am from NYC) and then to see Donna McKechnie, not in 'ACL' but 10 years before, and dancing just as well as she did, as Cassie, in 'ACL' ('A Chorus Line')! SOrry that excluded other classic songs from the show, as there are just so many that we all know.
OHMIGOD BABY JERRY ORBACH!
Oh my goodness, Jerry Orbach is so incredible. Thanks for posting all of these older Tony videos!!!!
Jerry Orbach as Columbo
The contrast between the electricity of the dancers and the immobility of the audience is striking. I'll bet most of the men in the audience are daydreaming what it would be like to be with Donna McKechnie.
Not if they didn't like chicks
I saw the original cast on Broadway. This is an ingenious song. It has absolutely everything. When they did this I almost came off my seat.
Donna is a genius animal dance god.
Exuberent abandon and precision and grace. She takes the bachrach orchestra brings it home to you.
SO fabulous! Baby-faced Jerry, & then Donna M., Baayork Lee, & Margo Sappington (all 3 of whom became so well known in the yrs. after this) & the whole fantastic co., doing Michael Bennett's brilliant choreography, far beyond full-out. I just spent way too long just trying to master about 7 seconds of choreography. "Turkey-Lurkey" = crazy-silly-stupid-fun song, INCREDIBLE number.
It's not Margo, it's Jillann Stite (sic) who replaced her.
Donna's spin at 5:50 is the hit move
A young Jerry Orbach!! He really doesn't look that different from his Law and Order days..lol
If I could fill out a suit like Jerry Orbach did I'd be very happy. I'm not even going to pretend I might be able to sing and dance like he could.
Jerry's not in this clip. And he certainly wasn't a dancer.
I was pit chorus for this show 100 years ago. Dumbest show ever. BUT super super fun.
Wow. Wasn't that the first show to have a pit chorus? And you'd be conducted by Harold Wheeler. You know the show is 50 years old now in 2018!
The pit chorus really made the music wonderful.
Larissa, was it true that Alphonse Mouzon played drums in that show whilst you were in the cast?
When they revised it a few years back I was like “Why?” But then there’s “Turkey Lurkey Time”…
@@MADHAUSMARKALLAN I LOVVVVVEEE the original! The three main actresses said that they needed to adjusted by a chiropractor like twice a month during the run of the show! HAHA
It’s amazing
Goddamn! I cry every single time I see DM dance. She could have me in a heap on the floor just doing musical chairs. She is unmatched in any sense of the word and every move she makes is a pleasure to behold!
This isn't Donna McKechie here. It's Julan Stites, her replacement.
I wish they would do a "Promises, Promises LIVE" on TV. I would love to see this number re-created. They changed the choreography for the Broadway revival, and it was, uhm, lacking.
I agree. Not nearly as exciting and energetic at this original. Donna is absolutely amazing.
Suprised they never made a movie of this show.
Well, it was based on a movie to start with, so that may have presented problems....
M1903A1 I know it was based on a movie (The Apartment). But so were The Producers, My Fair Lady, The King and I, etc. And those were made into movies.
@@liduck52 I wonder if timing was an issue as well...seems to me most of those "movie musicals" were from the early-mid 1960s...could it be the interest in movies from musicals had died by the time of "Promises Promises"?
MA1903A1 That's possible. But theres no time limit-someone could have done it many years later. Or maybe its just that nobody though it was good enough. A lot of Bway musicals were never made into movies.
I love this Album and will be first in line when it comes to London's West End.
Priceless
Jerry Orbach...Ahhhhhhhh!
"Basketball" isn't much of a song , but Jerry is so incredibly charming doing it.
Did anyone mention that Kelly Bishop was one of the girls dancing on the desk.
M-A-N-I-C!!! 😵💫
You made sure no one, certainly not me, would ever watch this with an ad that cannot be removed covering the action. I'll never know if it went away because I went away...
Besides all his stage work (& don't forget THREEPENNY OPERA, when he was even younger than here, playing Mackie), my favorite of his movie roles might well be as the mafia-connected brother of Martin Landau in one of my favorite Woody Allen movies, CRIMES & MISDEMEANORS. He's so heart-breaking in that. Great actor & singer.
Briscoe got chops!
Why can't all secretaries know perfect choreography?
They used to know stenography. : )
'69 was a very good year
Also played Baby's father in "Dirty Dancing".....
Yes but he sang only few lines in this movie
With all the great song in Promises, Promises why the basket song?
Jerry Should have Perform
Ed #1 Half as Big, #2 Upstairs, or #3 Promises. Better yet, have the company perform the brilliant Grapes of Roth scene. That would have great advertising for the show, I bet a lot more men would been flocking to the theater.
The quality of "She Likes Basketball" is so wonderful. Did you take the first number from a commercially released video? I have one VHS tape of numbers from the Tony Awards, but I wasn't sure if any of the Promises, Promises clips were on a commercial release yet. It's wonderful to see all these clips, regardless of the quality, though, really.
She Likes Basketball is the worst song in the score, and should have been dropped when they were going to.
Great video. It's too bad the video quality at the beginning doesn't extend into the whole video.
That's the great Betsy Haug in the green skirt, on the center desk, upstaging everyone but Donna.
Graciela Daniele was in the original cast of this show. Does anyone happen to know if she's in this performance at all?
No she's not. There was very little dancing in the original show. This was the only big show stopper.
Trump claimed to go dancing with Donna McKechnie occasionally but that she couldn't keep up with him.
He wishes
Right? 😂😂
I can't find that anywhere online. But just another boast that is obviously untrue.
He can singspiel well
Announcer sounds like Lyle Waggoner.
nope
I watched this 15 times today and I just noticed a woman lifting her skirt
Dinah Carroll never looks ANY different... WHY???
Because she isn't Dinah.
@@nonenoneonenonenone Dears, it's Diahann Carroll.
Rip Diane
She always looked gorgeous, right up until the end. RIP
@@krpbdp Even when she wasn't there. Right?
What were the producers thinking, by no means are these two songs the best in the show.
It should have been, "I'll Never Fall in Love Again," which became a popular hit. "Turkey Lurkey" is a great Bennett dance number and makes great TV. Glad to have a tape of it.
7:13 ur welcome
Turkey Lurkey Time is at the same time the worst song ever and the best song ever haahahha
Jerry Orbach was great in this! What a shock to see him in the TV detective shows later. Seemed like such a waste of talent!
Well, of course, in 1975, he played Billy Flynn in the original stage production of Chicago.
@@chrisnorman9980 HE did the lead in Promises, Promises, which I was fortunate enough to see, before Chicago.
YES, I know.
I was answering the question why he didn’t do more musicals by pointing out that he did.
He also played the narrator in the original cast of The Fantasticks.
She Likes Basketball is one of the worst songs in musical history. Turkey Lurkey Time one of the best musical numbers.
I'd have loved to see Brad Garrett in Jerry's part. She Likes Basketball is the weakest song in the show, it's too repetitive, too lacking in depth. Hal David's one miss. The score is pure genius.
This is never not impressive.
Sucks
Jerry Orbach received his Tony Award for this performance in Promises Promises playing The role Jack Lemmon did in the movie The appartment in 1960.