Sweet Charity 2005 Revival: What Went Wrong?

Posted: 2/19/07 at 6:48pm

I saw the tour a few months ago and enjoyed most of it. Does anyone have any old info, rumors, or stories about the revival?
Thx

[purpleprince101]

Posted: 2/19/07 at 6:49pm

it just never caught on

[TonyaFanatic]

Posted: 2/19/07 at 6:50pm

Wayne Cilento and the mysterious firing of the two best performers in the show.

[JustChillin8908]

Posted: 2/19/07 at 6:53pm

Other than the actors themselves, what made the revival so bad? (I'm seeing the tour in April)

[FlyingMonkey1223]

Posted: 2/19/07 at 6:55pm

I never got to see the Broadway revival with Christina Applegate, although I hear it was a lot of fun. The National tour was a lot of fun too, so much that I saw it twice. Molly Ringwald was good as Charity, and I personally thought her singing voice was "Ok" for the role but her dancing needed a lot of work and took away from some of the numbers in the show. I know the national tour is plagued by problems (poor reviews for Molly and the show, poor sales) and I think these were the same complaints for the revival on Broadway.
Updated On: 2/19/07 at 06:55 PM

[mallardo]

Posted: 2/19/07 at 7:00pm

I loved Christina Applegate - whatever went wrong it sure wasn't her fault.

Posted: 2/19/07 at 7:04pm

I heard that they were trying to revive the show and had set try-out dates since 2000 (ie 2004, SF w/ Marisa Tomei).

[C is for Company]

Posted: 2/19/07 at 7:05pm

The choreography was bland as hell IMO. The sets were dismal and the show was cute, but nothing really impressive aside from some of the actors. Vittorio was really good though I remember.

[Yankeefan007]

Posted: 2/19/07 at 7:05pm

Uncharismatic cast, unimpressive staging.

[ahmelie]

Posted: 2/19/07 at 7:06pm

The Tony performance (on the site that must not be named) from the revival is just painful to watch.

[theaterlover45]

Posted: 2/19/07 at 7:10pm

I thought Christina Applegate did a phenominal job as Charity. I agree about the choreography, it just was boring. But overall i thought the show was fun.

[ray-andallthatjazz86]

Posted: 2/19/07 at 7:14pm

The show was just kind of doomed to fail from the beginning, the interminable number of actresses attached to the project that failed (including a fired Krakowski who allegedly refused to say some of the dialogue due to its sexist nature, kudos to her btw), the changes made from the original that had to be put back in to resemble the Fosse production, Applegate's injury combined with her thin voice and adequate dancing (in a show written and staged specifically for Broadway's most famous triple-threat), the out-of-town closing notice that lasted 3 or 4 days, the mediocre Wayne Cilento choreography, the cartoonish Walter Bobbie staging, and the firing of some talented performers for mysterious reasons...It spelled F-L-O-P and it was.

Posted: 2/19/07 at 7:47pm

Krakowski refused to say some of the dialogue because it was sexist? Oh my God, she did understand it's a PLAY right? People are ACTING? God, how stupid.

If I can add my two cents it was a really ugly show. I've seen community theatres that have desgned Sweet Charity better. The costumes were ugly from start to finish-- and why in the world did she wear that same cheap red dress from start to finish?

And Rhythm of Life was really disappointing. I need to stop. Needless to say I didn't like it.

[Yankeefan007]

Posted: 2/19/07 at 7:53pm

There was a long list of people who did workshops before Applegate (who had Simon's seal of approval).
There were:
Marissa "Why must I take two steps that way (as dubbed by Riedel)" Tomei
Jenna "I Dunno How To Ride A Towel" Elfman
Jane "This Line Demeans Women" Krakowski
and finally Christina "I'll Sue Weissler if We Don't Open" Applegate.

I give Jane Krakowski an extreme amount of credit for standing up for her beliefs. Simon's script is extremely sexist and if she didn't feel comfortable saying lines, more power to her.

[BobbyBubby]

Posted: 2/19/07 at 7:57pm

Wayne Cilento
Wayne Cilento
Walter Bobbie
Wayne Cilento

That's what went wrong with the revival. The worst director and work choreographer working today doing lazy work in a show known mostly for the stylish work of Bob Fosse.

[jewelchk]

Posted: 2/19/07 at 8:23pm

I have to agree with most of the other opinions in this thread. Terrible choreography in a show that the dancing is pretty important in along with bland characters did it in-- though Applegate handled it much better than I expected her to, which was a nice surprise (saw it near the end of the run). It didn't matter that her voice was thin as much as it could have because she was doing a character voice anyway. JoeKv-- I'm with you, too. It was an ugly show, which didn't help matters.

[WickedGeek28]

Posted: 2/19/07 at 8:30pm

The revival was my first exposure to the show and I really enjoyed it. I can easily see the flaws: a non-professional singing lead, pale choreography (but in the shadow of Fosse, who can truly shine?), and colorless sets. Overall, I found the show, and especially Christina Applegate and Dennis O'Hare to have a lot of heart and put 100% into the show. Her charm and his talent cannot be denied.

[withoutlovewithoutU]

Posted: 2/19/07 at 8:30pm

The cast actually wasn't that bad, but the direction was crap witha capital C.

[BobbyBubby]

Posted: 2/19/07 at 9:01pm

ONe only needs to watch the film to see everything wrong with the recent Charity.

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 2/19/07 at 9:02pm

I loved it. This production was also my first exposere to the piece and I only saw the National Tour so can't comment on Walter Bobbie's direction as the tour was directed by Scott Faris, but I liked the direction for the tour. Wayne Cilento's choreography was spastic at best, and his "Rich Man's Frug" had me in hysterics, but I'm not a huge fan of Fosse's choreography for Sweet Charity either though I do enjoy the restaging of his "Rich Man's Frug" on the Fosse DVD.

I enjoyed Molly Ringwald's performance as Charity. I think she's a great comedic actress as well as being able to deliver some intensity in the dramatic scenes near the end. I think she's a stronger singer than people give her credit for and her dancing is serviceable. I really hate to say she's not a good dancer when she's dancing choreography by Cilento. I give credit to anyone that can dance his crap without laughing.

I liked the sets too. I sat in the front row and was very entertained by all the moving pieces and light up signs and kooky poka-dotted "panels". It was all really colorful and entertaining. I especially loved the elevator, the farris wheel and the patchwork preshow drop. It was all breathtaking from the front row.

As far as what went wrong I can only say that it just wasn't able to find a big enough audience. It found its audience. It found me on tour -- we just weren't enough to keep it open.

Posted: 2/19/07 at 9:13pm

I love Krakowski but it's funny she'd have no prob playing the role she does on 30 Rock and objected to this?!?

I think ti was a mistake not trying to recreate the Fosse choreography--too much of it (Particularly Frug--ic an't even picture a new Frug and Spender--and Brass Band and See Me Now to a lesser extent) is too stuck in peoples heads. Did Cilantro try to make Fosse style choreography? i don't think I saw any of his dances. (frug being perhaps my fave dance ever--thank god we have it faithfully on the movie DVD and in Fosse).

Ray you said :"the changes made from the original that had to be put back in to resemble the Fosse production, " what do you mean?

One thing no one has mentioned is... I think Sweet Charity is a classic example of a problem show... It's also one of my all time faves so don't jump on me--though it seems that most of my favorite musicals of the 60s onwards are "problem" shows (Zorba, Follies, Merrily etc). It seems to never add up to quite the sum of its great parts.

The movie is a great example--though Iknwo the movie was MUCH alrger than Fosse's stage version it's a great movie musical and one that i have a hard time sitting thru and watching from start to end often--i suually have to take a break.

Something about the play--I mean even the original productionw asn't the huge success many think it was--Gwen's starring role was a huge reason it lasted as long as it did. I think part of the problem may be there are so many great songs, great dance moments, all strung on a pretty tiny story. I also think (like Follies and some of the other shows I mentioned--maybe Pippin too) a huge reason it worked so well originallyw as its original production. While Fosse didn't write it he DID conceive it and was there thru the writing process so it could be argued his staging is as integral to its success as the libretto (which is dated but still has some great moments--and is less dated than Simon's Promises Promises anyway) and songs.

I wish more of the Broadway original or revival had been filmed (for commercial use) i'd love to see how the set worked--are there even pics of the original set--if anyone has a link let me know--I've seen the 2 Ed Sullivan clips but have no sense of the set? i know some scnees closed up like the iris of a camera apparantly...

Anyway it's a musical that i think on paper many think "oh this iwll be easy to revive--it's a classic show" but then forget that there are a lot of "problems" in the work and it's not an easy one to stage




How was the tour different than the Broadway?

[Glebb]

Posted: 2/19/07 at 9:16pm

Everything went wrong.
Applegate couldn't act, couldn't sing, couldn't dance.
Terrible sets.
It was embarrassing, imagination free and charm free.

[ray-andallthatjazz86]

Posted: 2/19/07 at 9:42pm

Re Jane Krakowski: Allegedly, during the initial workshops of the show she said "I can't say this, it's sexist" to which Neil Simon replied "You won't have to." I truly admire her for not wanting to be part of yet another cultural artifact that demeans women, it is called acting but if she did not agree with the politics of the show then why should she endorse it by saying those lines? It's the same as a gay man working in a homophobic play, etc. And her role in 30 Rock actually mocks that ideal of the typical blond "sexy" shallow actress, it's a self-referential, self-mocking role, it's not supposed to be taken seriously.
About the changes that were made. At first I believe the opening notes of the overture had been cut, two trunk songs had been added, "You Should See Yourself" and "I Love To Cry At Weddings" were cut, the neon signs and fairy tale-ish sense of the show was changed, and most importantly the ending was completely altered. By the time the show got to Boston, the opening notes of the overture and the cut songs were put back and one of the trunk songs was gone. This is what happens when a creative team decides to take a piece that is closely identified with a director/choreographer and tempers with it which is why John Breglio is so protective of Michael Bennett's legacy.

[jv92]

Posted: 2/19/07 at 9:46pm

What went wrong? Lousy choreography. Lousy star and cast. LOUSY, LOUSY, LOUSY orchestrations and a total lack of respect for what the show once was. I believe that Charity is one of those shows that cannot have its original staging, or at least its style, toyed with.

[Horton]

Posted: 2/19/07 at 9:53pm

Why were two great performers fired?