"Turkey Lurkey Time" is a song-and-dance number from Act 1 of '' Promises, Promises'', the

Burt Bacharach Burt Freeman Bacharach ( ; May 12, 1928 – February 8, 2023) was an American composer, songwriter, record producer, and pianist who is widely regarded as one of the most important and influential figures of 20th-century popular music. Start ...

Hal David Harold Lane David (May 25, 1921 – September 1, 2012) was an American lyricist. He was best known for his collaborations with composer Burt Bacharach and his association with Dionne Warwick. Early life David was born and raised in New ...

musical, with a book by

Neil Simon Marvin Neil Simon (July 4, 1927 – August 26, 2018) was an American playwright, screenwriter and author. He wrote more than 30 plays and nearly the same number of movie screenplays, mostly film adaptations of his plays. He received three ...

. It was originally choreographed for the 1968

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street ** Broadway Theatre (53rd Stre ...

production by Michael Bennett. The dance takes place as part of an office

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating Nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a Religion, religious and Culture, cultural celebration among billions of people Observance of Christmas by coun ...

party scene.

The dance

As conceived by Bennett "with stunning energy and inventiveness",Long, p. 227 "Turkey Lurkey Time" is a dance performed by three secretaries at an office Christmas party. Their infectious singing and gyrations build into a frenetic chorus dance, as the office staff copy the trio, climaxing with some atop the office desks. According to

, "we were having some problems at the end of the first act ... the number ennettcame up with didn't just solve the problem, it was a sensation." Some of the dancers later claimed they had needed regular trips to the chiropractor, so severe was the strain of Bennett's relentless head-bopping choreography. The secretaries of the original cast were

Margo Sappington Margo Sappington (born July 30, 1947, in Baytown, Texas) is an American choreographer and dancer. She was nominated in 1975 for both a Tony Award as Best Choreographer and a Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Choreography for her work on the play ...

Baayork Lee Baayork Lee (born December 5, 1946) is an American actress, singer, dancer, choreographer, theatre director, and author. Early life and career Lee was born in New York City's Chinatown, to an Indian mother and Chinese father. She started danci ...

and Donna McKechnie. The number was televised at the 1969

Tony Awards The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Broadway Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes excellence in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual cere ...

and also performed in the 2003 movie ''

Camp Camp may refer to: Areas of confinement, imprisonment, or for execution * Concentration camp, an internment camp for political prisoners or politically targeted demographics, such as members of national or minority ethnic groups * Extermination ...

''. The song was also featured in a season four episode of the hit Fox show ''

Glee Glee may refer to: * Glee (music), a type of English choral music * ''Glee'' (TV series), an American musical comedy-drama TV series, and related media created by Ryan Murphy * ''Glee'' (Bran Van 3000 album) * ''Glee'' (Logan Lynn album) * Gle ...

''.

Watch

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Notes

References

*Long, Robert Emmet (2001). ''Broadway, the Golden Years: Jerome Robbins and the Great Choreographer-directors: 1940 to the Present'', Continuum International Publishing Group, *Mandelbaum, Ken (1990). A Chorus Line' and the Musicals of Michael Bennett''. St Martins Press, *McKechnie, Donna; Lawrence, Greg (2006). ''Time Steps: My Musical Comedy Life'', New York: Simon & Schuster, {{ISBN, 0-7432-5520-8. 1968 songs American Christmas songs Songs from musicals Songs with music by Burt Bacharach Songs with lyrics by Hal David Songs about food and drink