Sweet Charity. Book by Neil Simon. Music by Cy Coleman. Lyrics by Dorothy Fields. Directed by Dean Bryant. Luckiest Productions, Neil Gooding Productions, Tinderbox Productions and Hayes Theatre Co in association with Canberra Theatre Centre. The Playhouse, Canberra Theatre Centre until February 22. Bookings: canberratheatrecentre.com.au or 62752700.
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We seldom get touring professional musicals in Canberra for reasons of cost and logistics. This award-winning Sydney production was small-scaled enough to tour, with a cast of 12, and is very impressive. It's a reminder that the material and the performers are the essence of a show: as the saying goes, you can't come out humming the scenery.
Sweet Charity resets the Fellini movie Nights of Cabiria in New York City. Charity Hope Valentine (Verity Hunt-Ballard, supern in a role a world away from her starmaking Mary Poppins) is a hostess in a seedy dance hall who yearns for something better but has no skills or qualifications and is perennially unlucky in love. The three men she is involved with during the course of the show - crooked Charlie, suave, vain movie star Vittorio and neurotic accountant Charlie - are in a psychologically resonant touch, all played by the versatile Martin Crewes (my companion didn't realise it was the same actor).
The original production was directed and choreographed by Bob Fosse and his cynicism as well as his showmanship have seeped in resulting in a slightly awkward hybrid of musical comedy - Neil Simon's script has plenty of laughs - and a darker-hued tale. The score is uneven, but its highlights - including Big Spender and If My Friends Could See Me Now - are memorable.
Director Dean Bryant and choreographer Andrew Hallsworth don't slavishly imitate Fosse's style, bringing plenty of their own touches, right up to the ending (the break between acts seems oddly chosen though). And some lucky early arrivals are chosen from the audience to dance with the girls before the opening number.
The scenery is simple, with a row of chairs and a couple of semi-opaque glass panels on wheels used create everything from a lake to a dressing room. While this can be occasionally confusing, it generally works well and the resourcefulness is impressive.
The band under musical director Andrew Worboys is small but effective, making plenty of sound (a little too much at times: there's some heavy amplification) and the members of the ensemble, taking on various roles, are impressive, though Kuki Tupoki is slightly underpowered vocally in The Rhythm of Life.
This isn't the only way to stage Sweet Charity and it's a problematic, slightly dated show, but this is a production well worth seeing - there's a lot of talent on display.
