Happy 50th Anniversary to SWEET CHARITY!

[Mr. Nowack]

Posted: 1/29/16 at 1:34am

 

It opened 50 years ago today, January 29th 1966. As the first musical to open after the New Year it was much more successful than the first to open the previous year (single performance bomb KELLY) or even the first musical of the 1965/66 season (DRAT THE CAT!). It also triumphantly reopened the Palace Theatre for legitimate use after sparse use the previous decades.

 

Based on the Fellini film Nights of Cabiria the show had unbelievable pedigree - book by Neil Simon fresh off the phenomenal success of THE ODD COUPLE, a jazzy score by Cy Coleman with clever Dorothy Fields lyrics, direction and choreography by then still rising legend Bob Fosse and starring Fosse's muse Gwen Verdon. It went on to be hugely successful, with a healthy initial run as well as two revivals. The film 1969 film adaptation starring Shirley MacLaine was sadly less successful though I think its a pretty great translation.

 

The score is one of the all-time greats. Those melodies those lyrics, even the original orchestrations to a degree, all wonderful and iconic. The supporting cast on the OBC is great too, especially love Helen Gallagher and John McMartin, and the recording is always in heavy rotation for me.

 

Production photos (by Friedman-Abeles)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[CindersGolightly]

Posted: 1/29/16 at 2:25am

50 years is a great milestone for a revival...

 

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 1/29/16 at 2:45am

I wasn't around for the original but I did see the national tour with Molly Ringwald from the front row. I know a lot of people didn't like that revival and tour but I thought the cast was great, the songs some of the best written for the stage and enjoyed the colorful designs. I had a great time in spite of the quibbles from others and look back on the show and experience fondly. 

[gallerygirl]

Posted: 1/29/16 at 3:27am

These photos are wonderful. Thank you!

[smallvillefan16]

Posted: 1/29/16 at 11:12am

CATSNYrevival said: "I wasn't around for the original but I did see the national tour with Molly Ringwald from the front row. I know a lot of people didn't like that revival and tour but I thought the cast was great, the songs some of the best written for the stage and enjoyed the colorful designs. I had a great time in spite of the quibbles from others and look back on the show and experience fondly. 

 

"

I had zero information when I saw the tour with Ringwald, and I fell in love with the musical.

 

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 1/29/16 at 11:17am

Saw the original at the Palace. Great fun great score with Fosse choreography. This is the Broadway I remember and Love. Sad we will never see shows like this again.

Sadly, the movie was not as good as it could have been. No Gwen Verdon and losing some of the stage versions best songs doomed it .It was nowhere near the Mame debacle




Updated On: 1/29/16 at 11:17 AM

[Mr. Nowack]

Posted: 1/29/16 at 2:20pm

Not as good as it could have been is a perfect description of the movie. As you said many of the songs were cut and the lack of Verdon is especially lamentable especially considering her recreation of DAMN YANKEES' Lola on film years earlier.

 

That being said I still enjoy it immensely. Its amazing to see numbers like "Rich Man's Frug" and "Big Spender" recreated on film by Fosse himself. MacLaine is fantastic as Charity and what songs they did keep are presented very well. Not to mention the oh-so-60's production design and costumes by legend Edith Head. Plus Chita.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Fantod]

Posted: 1/29/16 at 3:05pm

Fabulous photos as always, Nowack

[MichelleCraig]

Posted: 1/29/16 at 3:54pm

One of my favorite cast albums. I never get tired of that CD. I think the movie plays a little better today than when it originally came out; feel the same way about HELLO DOLLY in hindsight...

[best12bars]

Posted: 1/29/16 at 3:58pm

Thanks for the photos! So great. I love this show. I saw the '80s Fosse revival with Debbie Allen and absolutely loved it. I can only imagine seeing it live with the brilliant Gwen Verdon.

[Ado Annie D'Ysquith]

Posted: 1/29/16 at 4:32pm

How fitting that Chita Rivera also celebrated a birthday this week.

My most vivid memory attached to Charity is after I saw Our Guy Cy at 54 Below last year...hearing the three ladies sing "Big Spender" and loving it so much that I went and downloaded the song the next day. And for weeks afterward, that one counterpoint of "Fun, laughs, good time!" just played repeatedly in my head. Earworm alert!

[CarlosAlberto]

Posted: 1/29/16 at 4:33pm

One of my absolutely favorite movie musicals....EVER!

 

I think it's it's just brilliant in every possible way.

 

I also saw the 1980s revival with Debbie Allen, Michael Rupert and Bebe Neuwirth.

 

I think the movie is brilliant as well - - - If you had to find a bankable star to replace Gwen Verdon then Shirley MacLaine was the best choice.

 

Here is Miss Verdon herself coaching MacLaine on the Universal set of the film version.

 

I have an expanded version of the film's original motion picture soundtrack/score. A lot of the musical numbers on the original release of the album were severely edited for space on vinyl. A very good friend scored master quality tracks of the musical numbers as they are heard in the film and he gifted me a copy because he knew I loved it so much.  

 

 

Updated On: 1/29/16 at 04:33 PM

[best12bars]

Posted: 1/29/16 at 5:02pm

That's amazing, Carlos! I too love the movie and the score, and I wish a more complete version had been commercially released. I think the film is underrated, mostly because it came out at a strange time for musicals in general, and it's in that "transitional" period between old-school styles and a new/modern approach to telling stories with song and dance. But I love everything about it, and MacLaine gives one of her best screen performances in it.

[Mr. Nowack]

Posted: 1/29/16 at 7:28pm

So right about its awkward placement at the very end of the Golden Age of the movie musical. It was an extremely pricy lavish roadshow 3hr spectacular, one of so many that failed to recreate the successes of My Fair Lady and The Sound Of Music earlier in the decade because thats not what people wanted to see (despite the artistry involved). But it was such a modern show that if made a few years later, perhaps after Cabaret with a less classical approach like that one, it probably could have been more successful and more respected. Though I do think it's nearly perfect as is.

 

I too have always been dismayed at the lack of an expanded soundtrack. I would love to have the extended numbers available for listening, but seeing that Decca/Universal pretty much quit its musical re-releases its unlikely an official release will ever be done.

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 1/29/16 at 7:37pm

Doubt they even exist now and there is basically not much interest in them.

[best12bars]

Posted: 1/29/16 at 11:03pm

I decided to watch the movie again tonight because of this anniversary of the Broadway show.

 

Just as good as ever. I really do love it.

 

"And she lived hopefully ever after."

[CarlosAlberto]

Posted: 1/30/16 at 1:28pm

Besty, great minds think alike. I also watched this last night and I just realized that Kristoffer Tabori was one of the flower children that greet Charity in the park at the end of the film. 

 

And as small as her role is I just love seeing Barbara Bouchet as "Ursula" and of course the very limber Suzanne Charny leading the "Rich Man's Frug" along with Ben Vereen and Lee Roy Reams!

 

P.S.: Universal, where is the blu ray?!?!? I need this in high def. Thank you!

Updated On: 1/30/16 at 01:28 PM

[Robyn2]

Posted: 1/30/16 at 1:33pm

I remember my mom taking me to see Sweet Charity with Debbie Allen when I was in high school (late 80s).  We lived in southern California and I don't remember going to New York to see it.  Did it ever play in LA or San Diego?

 

[CarlosAlberto]

Posted: 1/30/16 at 1:41pm

Yes it did play LA just before coming to Broadway. It probably played the Ahmason or the Panatges and super model Carol Alt made her stage debut in that production. She played "Ursula".

[best12bars]

Posted: 1/30/16 at 1:47pm

Carlos, I saw it in HD about a year ago (or even less) on Netflix or Amazon Prime. Forget which, but it looked fine enough to release as a catalog title on Blu-ray, so ... I hope they do it! The DVD is certain watchable though! Not bad picture and sound even if it's not remastered. Yes, I love that both Kristoffer Tabori and Bud Cort (of Harold and Maude) as well as that blonde girl from "Dark Shadows" are the hippie kids that greet her with "love" at the end. That scene is so moving to me after all that she has been through. Very simple. It's also in the vein of a foreign film (not unlike "Cabiria" to do something like that. I love the music as it builds and swells through that whole sequence. Even though it reaches "triumphant," the movie leaves me feeling bittersweet each time. Hopeful for her, yes, but wishing it would have happened. Very romantic.

Updated On: 1/30/16 at 01:47 PM

[Mr. Nowack]

Posted: 1/30/16 at 2:17pm

I'm actually surprised it hasn't been released on Blu-Ray yet, I thought it had been. I still have yet to fully transition my collection so I'm not familiar with what has and hasn't been.

[CarlosAlberto]

Posted: 1/30/16 at 3:03pm

Besty, I was trying to figure out who the other guy was and meant to go to imdb and look it up but i got sidetracked and it turned out to be Bud Cort! Wow, that's funny. 

 

I agree that I do love the bittersweet ending....it's very touching and I have to admit I get a bit misty eyed....damn I'm really such a sap! LOL! 

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 1/30/16 at 4:55pm

How does the movie end? I know the recent revival ended differently than previous productions. How does it end in the movie?

[best12bars]

Posted: 1/30/16 at 6:04pm

It ends with Charity, back on the bridge in Central Park after being dumped by Oscar at the courthouse where they were to be married. She has her suitcase with her and removes the paper sign taped to it saying, "Almost Married!" and chucks it into the water. She watches it float away.

 

Then she sits on a park bench and falls asleep (she has nowhere to go now, having moved out of her apartment with Nicki and Helene, thinking she was moving in with Oscar after their honeymoon). She wakes up to find a small group of very young (late teens) hippies, who are walking up to total strangers in the park and handing them each a single flower, saying "Love." That's when the music first starts to swell. The hippies give the peace sign and smile and move on. They approach Charity on the bench, who sits up and takes the flower. She looks at it. They each say, "Love," and offer her a peace sign and a smile. You can see her struggling with it in her face, as her misery melts away and her beliefs and dreams kick in. The music swells again, and she says, "Love," herself and smiles.

 

As the hippies move on, Charity gets up and starts walking out of the park in the early morning hours. The camera pans up through the trees as the music reaches its peak. Then we see a superimposed closeup of Charity's smiling face, with the words: "And she lived hopefully ever after."

 

Fade to black. THE END.

[sabrelady]

Posted: 1/30/16 at 7:07pm

*clapping hands* Again, Again, Again daddy "