MARINE CITY, Mich.–Audiences can look forward to laughs, musical numbers—with 1960s-style choreography and backup singing—and even a bit of drama thrown in when they see Promises, Promises at The Riverbank Theatre in Marine City. You don’t have to be a child of the 60s to enjoy this comedic tale of unrequited love, with a book by Neil Simon, music by Burt Bacharach and lyrics by Hal David, and directed by Edmond Reynolds,

Set in New York City in the early ’60s, Promises, Promises opens with a musical number featuring dancing secretaries and choreography (by Brittany Smith) that cleverly includes office furniture. The music instantly transports the audience to the ’60s with horns and the soft rhythm of cymbals. The set and backdrop are not extravagant, but the New York street images projected onto the rear screen do set the scene, and the props—including pay phones, wall phones and ice cube trays—will look quaintly familiar to anyone who grew up in the era.

We meet the protagonist, Chuck Baxter (Aaron Dennis Smith), a young accountant at Consolidated Life Insurance Company, who immediately breaks the fourth wall and introduces himself to the audience. Indeed, throughout the show, many of Smith’s best lines are the ones directed at the audience.

Chuck is a quintessential accountant, reeling off numbers that non-accountants would neither remember nor care about. But he is also confused at heart about who he really is: a modern, swinging city bachelor, or a traditional guy who wants to fall in love the old-fashioned way. When other executives at Consolidated Life find out Chuck is single and has his own apartment, Chuck hesitates only briefly before letting them use his place for their extramarital activities, or about using this leverage to secure himself a promotion and raise. At the same time, Chuck really has no social life, and he gets nervous when he is around his co-worker and crush, Fran Kubelik (Brittany Smith), having imaginary conversations with her even though in reality he can barely speak to her. The musical is based on the 1960 film, The Apartment, which starred Jack Lemmon, Shirley MacLaine and Fred MacMurray.

The comedy increases as the story progresses. The end of Act I features a company Christmas party complete with drunken Santa, and tipsy guests pairing off for the night– all except for the dejected Chuck, who has discovered that Fran is the latest mistress of his boss, J.D. Sheldrake (Ty Evenson). Chuck ends up in a bar on Christmas Eve and meets the equally tipsy Marge MacDougall (Christy Kreidler), who protests too much that she is not a lonely widow, nor is she looking for company. Kreidler, whose comedic timing and facial expressions are spot on, nearly steals the show in this scene, and the two are just drunk enough, without being over-the-top.

Meanwhile, Fran realizes the futility of her relationship with Sheldrake, and Chuck takes a heroic opportunity to help her out of her situation with the assistance of his neighbor, Dr. Dreyfuss (Randy Skotarczyk). Dr. Dreyfuss is another reason the comedy is heightened in Act II: we see his progression from being frustrated and annoyed by the commotion constantly going on in Chuck’s apartment, to admiring what he perceives as Chuck’s prowess, both from a social and medical point of view.

Audiences will recognize the style of the musical numbers as classic Bacharach/David. At least two songs will be familiar to the audience: “I Say a Little Prayer,” performed again by the dancing secretaries, and “I’ll Never Fall in Love Again,” a sweet and touching duet between Chuck and Fran, accompanied only by acoustic guitar. “She Likes Basketball” is very reminiscent of the popular “What’s New Pussycat?” another Bacharach/David tune. Vocally, both Aaron and Brittany Smith are impressive technically, although the earlier numbers feel dynamically subdued; we finally get to hear Aaron Smith belt out his emotions in “Promises, Promises” at the end of the show. And the quartet of executives complaining about the difficulty of finding decent places to take their mistresses (“Where Can You Take a Girl”) is good for laughs along the way.

Real-life husband and wife Aaron and Brittany Smith easily and realistically convey both the shyness and awkwardness of Chuck and Fran’s relationship. And, thankfully, the show does not end with Chuck and Fran in a passionate kiss, but rather with them getting to know each other in a more old-fashioned way. All in all, Promises, Promises provides good, “old-fashioned” musical fun.

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