What do you get when you bring together an odd couple like Neil Simon and Federico Fellini?
You get “Sweet Charity,” which offers an adorable heroine, form-bending Bob Fosse choreography, monster hits like “Hey Big Spender” – and still leaves you feeling a bit creepified.
Exiting a recent performance at Boulder’s Dinner Theatre, a woman remarked: “Now, that was a one-woman show.” Even though the cast numbers 15, she’s right. As Fellini’s sad clown Charity Hope Valentine, the great Joanie Brosseau-Beyette proves it’s possible to be sweet on a performance even if her show leaves you a tad sour.
“Sweet Charity,” with a book by Simon based on Fellini’s “Nights of Cabiria,” was a monster Broadway hit for its day. But its day was 1966, and shockingly, it’s Simon’s contribution that doesn’t hold up. Time has turned his pre-Mary Tyler Moore tale – a hopelessly hopeful dance-hall girl dreams of the miracle of simply being loved – into one with no small undercurrent of misogyny (although to be fair, it hates men, too). The songwriters don’t escape, either. A horrifying, hippie- bashing tangent called “Rhythm of Life” plays as particularly spiteful and elitist.
Our unhappy story ends on a heartbreaking note, with Charity pleading for the last “good” man to forgive her for her great sin of dancing with men for pay. He can’t, leaving us frustrated with Charity’s lack of self-esteem and resentful of the cynical male-bashing. Hey, I’m no fan of old-school musical theater pablum, but could you give this gal a break?
Beyette has big shoes to fill. Fellini imagined his heroine as a star vehicle for his wife, Giulietta Masina; Fosse imagined Charity for his wife, Gwen Verdon. Beyette is a wonderful singer with an infectious stage presence. There’s a deeper character to be mined here, but that might serve only to make things more melancholy.
Ironically the highlight comes during one of her few moments off-stage. Not “Hey Big Spender” – this classic tune once thought of as revolutionary has lost its luster. No, director-choreographer Alicia Dunfee’s shining moment is her intoxicating staging of “The Rich Man’s Frug,” a three-part dance opus that sends up the vulgar rich. It’s an orgiastic celebration of style over substance, spiced with cool aloofness. And it showcases lovely young dancer Christianna Sullins.
That it doesn’t leave you toe-tapping is no criticism of BDT, which turns in first-rate work no matter what it’s staging, from guest service to the seven-piece orchestra to the consistent excellence of its cast (though a decision to use a staircase as a pier is plain odd). BDT stalwart Wayne Kennedy is particularly impressive morphing from bumbling good guy to cold fish with remarkable, regrettable believability.
But “Sweet Charity” is just a poor girl’s “Chicago.” Try as I might, I can’t see why it’s come back – either to Broadway last year or to Boulder now.
“Sweet Charity”
COMEDY-DRAMA|Boulder’s Dinner Theatre, 5501 Arapahoe Ave.|Directed by Alicia Dunfee|THROUGH OCT. 28|7 p.m. Wednesdays, 7:45 p.m. Thursdays-Saturdays; 1:45 and 7:45 p.m. Sundays (dinner served 90 minutes before) |2 hours, 50 minutes| $32-$53|303-449-6000 or bouldersdinnertheatre.com. Note: “Forever Plaid” runs concurrently at 7 p.m. Mondays-Tuesdays.
