Promises, Promises: Molly Shannon stars as Marge

"Saturday Night Live" alumnus and "Superstar" Molly Shannon makes her Broadway debut in the Broadway revival of Promises, Promises as 'Marge MacDougall' on 12 Oct 2010.

Shannon assumes the role from original cast member Katie Finneran who won a Tony Award for her performance as 'Marge MacDougall.' Finneran played her final performance on 10 Oct 2010.

Shannon spent six seasons as a member of the repertory company on "Saturday Night Live," primarily known for the eclectic characters she created, such as Mary Katherine Gallagher and Sally O'Malley, and her parodies of Courtney Love, Liza Minnelli, Monica Lewinsky, and Meredith Vieira. In 2000 she received an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Individual Performance in a Variety or Music Program.

This year Shannon was featured as a recurring guest star on FOX's TV series "Glee" where she traded barbs with Jane Lynch's prickly Sue Sylvester. Finneran, who married actor Darren Goldstein on 22 Aug 2010, is leaving the show as she is expecting a child this winter.

Next year Shannon will be seen on the big screen in director Jake Kasdan's new comedy "Bad Teacher" alongside Cameron Diaz, Jason Segel and Justin Timberlake. Some of Shannon's other film credits include "Superstar," "Marie Antoinette," "Year of the Dog" and "Wet Hot American Summer."

The musical stars **Kristin Chenoweth and Sean Hayes and now features Molly Shannon (Marge MacDougall), Tony Goldwyn (J.D. Sheldrake), Brooks Ashmanskas (Mr. Dobitch), Dick Latessa (Dr. Dreyfuss), Peter Benson (Mr. Kirkeby), Sean Martin Hingston (Mr. Eichelberger), Ken Land (Jesse Vanderhof) and an eighteen member ensemble.

**Due to a vacation week and prior commitments, Kristin Chenoweth will not be performing from Fri 15 Oct through to the matinee Wed 27 Oct, returning to the show in 27 Oct for the evening performance. During the final week Chenoweth will not perform Wed 29 Dec at 8pm, Thu 30 Dec 2pm and 8pm and Sat 1 Jan 8pm, but will return for the final performance on Sun 2 Jan at 3pm.

This new production of Promises, Promises, directed and choreographed by Tony and Emmy Award winner Rob Ashford with Neil Simon's book and Burt Bacharach and Hal David's score, opened at the Broadway Theatre on 25 Apr 2010, following previews from 27 Mar 2010, where it will close on 2 Jan 2011.

Promises, Promises tells the story of the Consolidated Life Insurance Company and Chuck Baxter (Sean Hayes), one of its charming young employees. In an effort to advance at the company, Chuck lends executives his apartment for their extramarital romantic trysts. But things become slightly complicated when Fran Kubelik (Kristin Chenoweth), the object of Chuck's affection, becomes the mistress of one of his executives.

The score to Promises, Promises contains the 1969 Grammy award winning song "I'll Never Fall in Love Again."

The musical features scenic design by Scott Pask, costume design by Bruce Pask, lighting design by Donald Holder and sound design by Brian Ronan.

The original production of Promises, Promises debuted on Broadway in 1968 at the Shubert Theatre and ran for 1,268 performances through 1 Jan 1972. The production was nominated for eight Tony awards, winning for Best Actor in a Musical (Jerry Orbach) and Best Featured Actress in a Musical (Marian Mercer). The original cast recording was honored with a Grammy Award in 1969.