Promises, Promises

Promises, Promises were what we were told to expect from the title of this seldom performed 1960’s musical comedy and they were delivered by the bucketful by the company. Deceptively difficult music by Burt Bacharach (multiple changes of time signatures in the numbers!) and lyrics by Hal David were handled extremely well by the singers and 11 piece orchestra under the carefully controlled baton of Gordon Smith. The libretto by Neil Simon, as would be expected, was full of wit and humour and was delivered delightfully by the cast and received with much laughter from the audience.  Young Ross Robertson was outstanding in the role of the ambitious junior executive Chuck Baxter. He had a good singing voice and his acting had the audience on his side from the beginning in his quest to attain a seat in the executive dining room and in attracting the attention of its attractive waitress Fran Kubelik. Fran was played delightfully by Laura Ferguson with a good strong singing voice and an excellent stage presence.  These two actors worked well together and I particularly liked their duet “I’ll Never Fall In Love Again”. Married J D Sheldrake, Chuck’s personnel director and rival for Fran’s affections, was masterly portrayed by Graeme W Baird – one almost felt like booing him at the walk-down! Gill Smith Matheson was hilarious in the cameo role of Marge MacDougall, a tipsy lonely heart who Chuck meets in a bar on Christmas Eve. Jim Ramsay as Dr Dreyfuss, Chuck’s long suffering but helpful neighbour, gave good portrayal as an elderly GP. Strong support was given by Laura Cuthill (Miss Olsen, Sheldrake’s Secretary), the Executives – Steve Middleton (Kirkeby), Keith Cuthill (Eichelberger), Alan Matheson (Dobitch), Millar Young (Vanderhof) and the Turkey Lurkey Girls – Caroline Fenwick (Miss Wong), Emma Ferguson (Miss Delahova) and Ali Niven (Miss Polanski). The choreography was carried out impeccably by the chorus and principals alike. The set made up of a back wall of light boxes, the colours of which changed to indicate the different scenes, and with the addition of small pieces of furniture and props worked well on the small stage. Costumes were appropriate to the characters and period. Congratulations to everyone for yet again a delightful evening’s entertainment.

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