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.

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!

What every office Christmas party should be

Wow, Donna McKechnie (the woman in the red dress) absolutely kills this. What an amazing performance of a fun crazy dance number.

This performance of Turkey Lurkey is lightning in a bottle. Absolute perfection in every way. I’m so glad it was captured in video.

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!

IN MY YOUNGER AGENT DAYS I PUT JERRY ORBACH IN PROMISES PROMISES. I LOVED HIM!

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

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.

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.

These Tony clips from that magical era make me so happy. Thanks so much for posting them!

THis was really thrilling to see live - i ssaw it with the original cast 7 times with a frined of mine it was wonderful

I was pit chorus for this show 100 years ago. Dumbest show ever. BUT super super fun.

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.

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.

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.

Oh my goodness, Jerry Orbach is so incredible. Thanks for posting all of these older Tony videos!!!!

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.

OHMIGOD BABY JERRY ORBACH!

A young Jerry Orbach!! He really doesn't look that different from his Law and Order days..lol

Donna's spin at 5:50 is the hit move

Suprised they never made a movie of this show.

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!

It’s amazing

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.

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.

Priceless

I love this Album and will be first in line when it comes to London's West End.

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...

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.

Why can't all secretaries know perfect choreography?

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.

'69 was a very good year

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!

That's the great Betsy Haug in the green skirt, on the center desk, upstaging everyone but Donna.

Also played Baby's father in "Dirty Dancing".....

With all the great song in Promises, Promises why the basket song?

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.

He can singspiel well

Great video. It's too bad the video quality at the beginning doesn't extend into the whole video.

Graciela Daniele was in the original cast of this show. Does anyone happen to know if she's in this performance at all?

Trump claimed to go dancing with Donna McKechnie occasionally but that she couldn't keep up with him.

Announcer sounds like Lyle Waggoner.

I watched this 15 times today and I just noticed a woman lifting her skirt

Dinah Carroll never looks ANY different... WHY???

7:13 ur welcome

What were the producers thinking, by no means are these two songs the best in the show.

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!

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.