SWEET CHARITY

 

 Sweet Charity. Book by Neil Simon. Music by Cy Coleman Lyrics by Dorothy Fields. Conceived by Bob Fosse. Based on the play, book and film Nights of Caribia.

Directed by Joel Horwood. Producer Anne Somes. Associate director Kelly Roberts. Musical director Callum Tolhurst-Close. Assistant Musical Director Darcy Kinsella.Choreographer James Tolhurst Close. Assistant choreographer Charlotte Jackson. Costume designer Fioa Leach.Set design Chris Zuber. Lighting designer Zac Harvey. Sound designer Telia Jansen. Free Rain Theatre Company. The Q Theatre. April 29 – May 18. Bookings: theq.net.au

Reviewed by Peter Wilkins

Kristy Griffin (Helene), Amy Orman (Charity) and Vanessa Valois (Nickie)

 It is difficult to believe that it is almost sixty years since Sweet Charity premiered on Broadway. The heartwarming story of Taxi Dancer Charity Hope Valentine’s desperate search for love and her abuse at the hands of a long list of men exposes the chauvinistic and sexual exploitation that resonates as much today as it did in the swinging Sixties. Charity (Amy ORman) and her friends Helene (Kristy Griffin) and Nickie (Vanessa Valois) are dancers for hire at the seedy Fandango Club on Times Square. The girls dream of escape (There’s Got To Be Something Better Than This) and there is hope for Charity when she is trapped in an elevator with Oscar Lindquist and true love blossoms between two vulnerable and sweet souls. In the end the past metes out a harsh judgement but the hope still remains.

Amy Orman (Chastity), Vanessa Valois (Nickie)

Sweet Charity is not your usual light weight musical. The deft hand of legendary playwright Neil Simon (The Odd Couple) is apparent in every scene. Cy Coleman’s talent for music grabs you by the heartstrings, lyricist Dorothy Field’s clever character driven lyrics and groundbreaking choreography by Bob Fosse ( Cabaret) earned Sweet Charity nine Tony nominations with Bob Fosse winning a Tony for his direction and choreography. Free Rain Theatre has taken on a colossus of the American Musical and come up trumps. Every aspect of the production currently playing at The Q Theatre in Queanbeyan deserves gold star rating. 

An ubertalented company of actors, singers, dancers and musicians does the creators of the musical proud. There is not one weak link in a production that transports you through every occasion of Charity’s used and abused life. She is a victim of the exploitation of her innocence and quest for true love. Director Joel Horwood is an actor’s director, skilfully drawing out fully drawn performances from cameo roles (James Morgan’s narcissistic Charlie, Eamon McCaughan’s film star Vittorio Vidal, Stephanie Waldron’s Ursula March, Emily Morton-Hue’s naïve Rosie and Alissa Pearson’s exploitative manager of the Fandango Club, Herman). As Charity’s friends Valois and Griffin embody the fate that they accept as dancers for hire in the bleak and unsavoury club scene. They capture the inherent goodness of women trapped by circumstance without the means to escape their lot. Their strength is in their camaraderie and their loyalty. Joshua Kirk’s Oscar Lindquist is a masterclass in comedic acting. He is as engaging as the panicking claustrophobe in the stuck elevator or as the brave protector in the stalled rollercoaster carriage. Kirk captures the nuance of Oscar’s dilemma in a final scene that portrays the entrenched prejudices of the conventional male. Simon’s writing has the power to make you laugh one moment and cry the next.

Free Rain has scored a triumph in casting Amy Orman as Charity. Her performance lights up the stage with a richly layered characterization of a woman, desperate to be freed by the man who loves her. Orman’s Charity is child like, naively innocent, hilariously funny in the scene in Vittorio’s apartment, both simple and complex, insecure and yet possessing inner strength in her final affirmation of hope. Orman is a triple threat performer. She sings, dances and acts brilliantly and I hope that her debut performance with Free Rain holds the promise of great performances to come.

The Ensemble in Sweet Charity

Choreographer James Tolhurst-Close layers homage to the great Bob Fosse with his own inventive choreography in terrific ensemble dance sequences while musical director Callum Tolhurst-Close conducts a feisty and joyous orchestra. Audiences will recognize the iconic Big Spender (Nickie, Helene and the Fandango girls), If My Friends Could See Me Now (Charity) and the Hippie Revivalist foot tapping rendition of Rhythm of Life under the Guru influence of Daddy Brubeck (Katie Lis).

Director Horwood has opted for a no frills production of Sweet Charity. He has directed a show of real characters with real problems living life as best they can. Even Chris Zuber’s set of steel frames that can be moved into position to represent a lake, an elevator or a closet lends the production an imaginative sparsity. It is Charity’s circumstance as a victim of male exploitation and her desperate desire that lends this production a powerful voice, a captivating story and a message of hope through song and dance. It proves that one doesn’t need glitz and glamour and high tech to capture an audience’s heart and sympathy.

Free Rain’s Sweet Charity runs for a limited season until May 18^th. Don’t delay. Get your tickets today for this exceptional production.

The Orchestra:

Musical director Callum Tolhurst-Close. Keys Alex Unikowski, Andre Le. Guitar June Dixon. Bass Lizzy Collier. Reed Lara Turner, Lenore Studdert, Jordan London Trumpet Sam Hutchinson. Jesse Hill. Trombone Dominic Harvey-Taylor, Madeleine Upfold. Percussion Jack Holmes.