Sweet Charity

Reviewed by Holly Bartges

Naive, hopeful, determined Sweet Charity danced her way into the hearts of Americans in 1966 with Bob Fosse choreography. It returned to Broadway in 1986 and again in 2005 where it ran for a mere 279 performances. Currently it graces the Temple Buell Theatre’s stage through December 17 under the production of NETworks Presentation and LLC. Unfortunately, the more it returns, the more it seems to fizzle.

Molly Ringwald as Charity Hope Valentine in Sweet Charity. Photo by Andrew Eccles

With its optimistic nature, strong musical lyrics, fine-tuned energetic choreography, the demands of Sweet Charity require an awesome cast with talent that goes through the roof, creative bold direction, sparkling characters with actors who have the courage to allow their stage personas to flourish, and knock-out choreography.

Sweet Charity opened at the Buell Theatre Tuesday night sporting some of the requirements, falling short of others.

Starring Molly Ringwald as Charity Hope Valentine, a Taxi Dancer at the Fandango Ballroom filled with naive eternal optimism in the world of men, Ringwald may thrill her fans at being able to see her, but falls short of fulfilling the shoes of Charity.

The real star of this production lies in the set design by Scott Pask and matching lighting design by David Grill. A feast for the eyes, the set provides a smooth, sharp gliding set of professional Broadway design keeping the production interesting when the production itself only points in the direction of where it could be and wants to be. There are some outstanding moments but the over-all energy falls short of the production’s demands.

The first big dance number, “Hey Big Spender” by the cast in the Hostess Room of the Fandango Ballroom sizzles giving false expectations of what is to come. This dance number is smashing with ingenious chorographical moves embracing exciting execution, but the creative momentum wobbles throughout the rest of the production.

Operated by Herman (Richard Ruiz) the Fandango Ballroom give men a chance to wander in, pick a girl who piques his lustful imagination, and drive her around the dance floor for 30 minutes. Most of the girls see this as a temporary job on their part, even though their stint may last eight years. Ruiz stops short of showing us Herman with a Danny DiVito impersonation. There’s more to Herman than his lines, but Ruiz holds them too close to his chest to allow the character to breath.

Adam Perry with his slouched disinterested bored Charlie in the first scene demonstrates Charity’s poor choices in men. Perry’s moment on stage as Charlie is fleeting, but he captures the essence perfectly in juxtaposition to the ever so hopeful Charity. She knows he’s married, but she refuses to hear his reality because of the wedding bells dancing in her head. Of course he wouldn’t shove her in the lake, she slipped, so she believes.

Charity’s down to earth friends at the Fandango, Nickie (Amanda Watkins) and Helene (Kisha Howard) do come alive with strong offerings in their characters. Cynical in their realism, their compassion for Charity shines with clever moves and strong dance patterns consistently throughout the show.

Charity’s eagerness to rebound from the lake incident brings her to the street outside the Pompeii Club where she observes a heated argument between Vittorio Vidal (Steve Wilson) and his self imposed girlfriend Ursala (Angel Reda). Wilson and Reda carry their weight in their stage personas, but the scene could have been bigger, stronger, and far more humorous between the Charity monologue with the disinterested doorman.

Ringwald does justice to Charity in Vittorio’s luxurious apartment with her song “If My Friends Could See Me Now.” Here Ringwald allows the power of her voice to come to the forefront, but even she is overshadowed by the marvelous lighting dance of the huge red painting on Vittorio’s wall. Even with Charity standing on the back of the sofa in front of the painting, she can’t compete with the striking dance of the painting. Coming as a serendipity surprise, the jazzed painting overshadows everything surrounding it.

Costumes designed by William Dey Long capture the colorful world of the Taxi Dancers, and the surrounding characters. Charity’s red dress fits her soul, heart and attitude, but definitely not Ringwald’s cup of tea.

Caught in Vittorio’s apartment by Ursala and hiding in the closet provides Charity with some very funny business, but it only touches on the possibilities not going far enough. Charity’s leaving the apartment claiming the hat, cane and photo Vittorio gave to her without Ursala noticing is a moment of great timing. Sweet Charity wants that kind of timing all of the way through, but doesn’t get it.

The elevator scene with Charity and Oscar Lindquist (Guy Adkins) trapped in his claustrophobic prison demonstrates grand comedic timing. However some of the elevator antics appear to be humor for the sake of humor without remaining consistent to his claustrophobic nature. He literally climbs the walls, but that seems to be overdone for the sake of a laugh. The scene is big, but wanted to be bigger.

Adkins does provide a wonderfully crafted character with his psychosomatic warped Oscar that stands out and commands attention whenever he is on stage.

The scene at Barney’s Chili Hacienda with Oscar in one booth and Charity in another back to back because she doesn’t want him lo look at her as she struggles to tell him what she really does for a living belongs to Oscar, and he carries the scene high on his shoulders.

When the tables are turned at Coney Island and Charity and Oscar find themselves stuck in the air on the Ferris wheel, and Charity admits to being afraid of heights, the scene belongs to the illusion of the Ferris wheel ingeniously constructed.

Although the orchestra conducted by Ross Scott Rawlings is small, it delivers some big sounds and exciting music behind the jazzed notes featuring Elizabeth Nantus on the Keyboards, Tony Neenan on Trumpet and Flugel, and Rob Murphy on Drums and Percussion.

One of the other mind-grabbing dance numbers belongs to Charity and the Ensemble’s “I’m A Brass Band. The Ensemble stands out with execution of fun and unexpected choreography. The Ensemble struts their thrilling technique. On the other hand, it also dispels Ringwald as a dancer detracting from the over-all effect.

Sweet Charity produces some exciting talent, a few strong highlighted moments in the confines of an awesome set, and worth getting reservations. Hold the expectations with abeyance. This is not a major Broadway production. The cracks in the façade command attention, but there is enough to find enjoyable and fun.

For those who missed Boulder’s Dinner Theatre production of Sweet Charity starring Joanie Brosseau-Beyette missed an exquisite portrait of what Sweet Charity is really all about. The current production at the Buell points the camera in the right direction delivering only a fuzzy portrait of what could be. Delivering some highlighted moments, the overall show remains a disappointment.