SWEET CHARITY – Free Rain Theatre

 

Joshua Kirk (Oscar Lindquist) – Amy Orman (Charity Hope Valentine) in “Sweet Charity)

Book by Neil Simon – Music by Cy Coleman – Lyrics by Dorothy
Fields

Directed by Joel Horwood – Associate Director: Kelly Roberts

Musical Direction by Callum Tolhurst-Close – Assistant
Musical Director: Darcy Kinsella

Choreographed by James Tolhurst-Close – Assistant Choreographer
-Charlotte Jackson

Costume design by Fiona Leach – Set Design by Chris Zuber

Lighting Design by Zac Harvey – Sound Design by Telia Jansen

The Q – Queanbeyan Performing Arts Centre 1^st –
18^th May 2025.

Opening Night Performance on 1^st May reviewed by BILL
STEPHENS

Amy Orman (Charity) – Eamon McCaughan (Victorio Vidal) and ensemble in “Sweet Charity”.

 

“Sweet Charity” is a musical inspired by the 1957 Federico
Fellini film, Nights of Cabiria. The film follows the adventures of an
ever-hopeful sex worker.

Broadway choreographer and director, Bob Fosse, re-imagined
the film as a musical to showcase the talents of his wife, dancer Gwen Verdon, setting
it in a dance hall with the central character a dancer-for-hire named Charity
Hope Valentine.

“Sweet Charity” premiered on Broadway in 1966 with a book by
Neil Simon, music by Cy Coleman and lyrics by Dorothy Fields.    

J.C. Williamsons brought this musical to Australia in 1967,
with Fosse’s choreography reproduced by Betty Pounder, and Nancye Hayes, long-time
Artistic Patron of Free Rain Theatre, achieving star status with her
incandescent performance as Charity Hope Valentine.

 Other notable
Australian artists who have played this role in various iterations of “Sweet Charity”
include Kelley Abbey, Sharon Millerchip and Verity Hunt-Ballard. Locally, Janie
Lawson starred in a production by the Canberra Philharmonic Society in 2000.

Now, almost 60 years after Hayes’ legendary performance,
Free Rain Theatre is presenting its own “Sweet Charity”, in a vastly different production
to that in which Hayes dazzled Australia.  

Stephanie Bailey (Betsy) – Amy Orman (Charity) – Vanessa Valois (Nickie) in “Sweet Charity”

For this version director, Joel Horwood has assembled an outstanding
cast headed by Amy Orman as Charity Hope Valentine. Orman brings impressive overseas
professional experience to the role which demands triple threat expertise to capture
the vulnerability and indomitable spirit of the girl who, in her search for
love, wears her heart on her sleeve, quite literally, in the form of a
love-heart tattoo.  

Orman has these qualities in spades, which she demonstrates
in a star performance, singing and dancing up a storm in “If My Friends Could
See Me Now” and “I’m a Brass Band” and breaking hearts with “Where am I going?”

Her performance will be even more impressive when she
overcomes her tendency to pull faces, rather than trust the material to work
for her, as she does so effectively in the wardrobe scene in Victor Vidal’s
bedroom and the stalled-lift scene with Oscar Linquist.

Vanessa Valois (Nickie) – Amy Orman (Charity) – Kristy Griffin (Helene) in “Sweet Charity”

Orman’s is not the only star performance in this production.
Vanessa Valois, unrecognisable as Charity’s friend Nickie, and Joshua Kirk as Charity’s
neurotic beau, Oscar, both offer pitch-perfect characterisations, with strong
performances coming from Kristy Griffin as Helene, Alissa Pearson as Herman, Stephanie
Bailey as Betsy and Eamon McCaughan as Vittorio Vidal in a show rich in cameo
opportunities.

Among many outstanding features of Horwood’s production are the
superb orchestra under the musical direction of Callum Tolhurst-Close, and Chris
Zuber’s striking stripped-back setting, which initially threatened drabness.

However, as the show progresses Zuber’s design reveals its
virtues in the way it allows Horwood to achieve seamless scene transitions; lighting
designer, Zac Harvey to highlight Fiona Leach’s colourful costumes; and choreographer
James Tolhurst-Close the space to create a series of spectacular production
numbers that cleverly respect the original Fosse legacy of the show while stamping
them with his own creativity.

Rachel Thornton (c) and company performing Rich Man’s Frug in “Sweet Charity”

With this innovative realisation of a challenging musical,
Free Rain Theatre have achieved a production that is not only entertaining, but
also an exciting showcase for the depth of musical theatre talent currently on
show in the Canberra region.  

 

                                            Images by Ben Appleton, Photox.

 

    This review
first published in the digital edition of CITY NEWS on 2^nd May 2025.