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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 18th. 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.
