*Official* Sweet Charity review thread.- Page 5

[justme2]

Posted: 5/5/05 at 12:47am

"Sweet Charity" is a musical with drama, comedy and unexpected twists and turns. Unfortunately, all of that happened offstage."

Ok...now THAT was funny.

Now...for us west coasters.....what the hell is TDF?

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 5/5/05 at 12:47am

Washington Post is Mixed

"But valiant behavior is no replacement for musical talent or the know-how acquired in years of stage experience. Applegate possesses neither. She has limited musical theater instincts -- she wanders off-key rather often -- and though she makes admirable attempts to move like a real dancer, you're aware in every pivot that she isn't one. (The character, after all, is supposed to dance for her supper.) These deficiencies are as fatal to the production as root rot is to a garden."
_______________________________________________________________

Director Walter Bobbie, who guided the revival of "Chicago" to Broadway mega-success, can crack no similar code for "Sweet Charity." He's got less to work with here, and it shows. The production conjures the '60s in loud paisley backdrops and tie-dyed miniskirts, though William Ivey Long's costumes are, for once, not particularly witty. The choreography by Wayne Cilento, meanwhile, quotes Fosse in predictable ways. Cilento's pale version of "Rich Man's Frug," a number that cleverly sends up the dance crazes of the period, incorporates Fosse gestures but is drained of sexiness. "The Rhythm of Life," a satirical number set in a New Age church that opens the second act, is performed here without an iota of the necessary tongue-in-cheekiness.
_____________________________________________________________

Pros like Ernie Sabella and Janine LaManna strive to make something of wispy supporting roles, but their contributions don't matter much. It's impossible to get past the miscast lead. You end up feeling sorry for this Charity Hope Valentine for all the wrong reasons."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/05/04/AR2005050402422.html

[Tiny-Toon]

Posted: 5/5/05 at 12:49am

justme,
TDF = THEATRE DEVELOPMENT FUND
http://www.tdf.org

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 5/5/05 at 12:49am

TDF = Theatre Development Fund which provides heavily discounted tickets for theatre professionals and educators. They also run the TKTS booth in Times Square.

[justme2]

Posted: 5/5/05 at 12:50am

Thanks guys!

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 5/5/05 at 1:36am

Newark Star-Ledger is Mixed:

"Although bolstered by a brassy, sassy score from composer Cy Coleman and lyricist Dorothy Fields, the 1966 musical looks pretty frail in director Walter Bobbie's uneven production.
_______________________________________________________________

An old-fashioned star vehicle, "Sweet Charity" requires a protean artist in the driver's seat to make the show go. It quickly becomes apparent that Applegate, while talented, still has her learner's permit.

The slim, blond Applegate sports a good deal of winsome appeal as Charity. As a comedienne, she honestly comes by her laughs. She does her darnedest to sing and dance effectively. Yet Applegate lacks that indefinable, essential quality known as star power that beams out to viewers and warms them like a ray of sunshine.
_______________________________________________________________

Wayne Cilento's choreography tends to be spotty. The dance hall opener, "Big Spender," is a slinky, sinuous invitation to sin, and "Rich Man's Frug" is a witty medley of '60s moves, but the should-be groovy "Rhythm of Life" number gets cluttered. It's obvious that simpler choreography has been devised for Applegate while the ensemble dances rings around her."



Newark Star-Ledger

[munkustrap178]

Posted: 5/5/05 at 4:08am

Well, you all know that I love Christina Applegate and that some of these reviews make me sad, but to look on the bright side - they could have been a LOT worse.

I'm looking forward to USA's and the Post's.

I've now seen the show twice, and the problems are far more evident the second time around - and while part of me hates the fact that it's being compared to Fosse, I thought about it and I really can't blame them. Cilento is an incapable, terrible choreographer - and he is the second worst person for the job - second only to John Carraffa. What pisses me off about Cilento's choreography is that he didn't even TRY to be totally original - he tried to rip off as much Fosse as he could without being blatant about it. I think Cilento and CHARITY are a terrible match, and it only makes me want to walk up to Barry Weissler and shake him senseless and ask him WHY he didn't hire someone more capable - ANNE REINKING!!!!! Even Susan Stroman or the busy Jerry Mitchell would have been far more equipped for the task than Cilento - king of weird. I can only hope that for their sake, the creative team behind THE PAJAMA GAME has learned a lesson from CHARITY's mistakes.

And while I'm the first to admit that Applegate isn't the most equipped person in the business, I think she's absolutely fantastic in the role. I won't even try to justify my love for her - there's just something about her I find absolutely irresistable and fabulous. And I don't throw around the word fabulous!!!!!

I spoke to her briefly at the party tonight and just congratulated her on her success, and I wished her the best of luck with everything, and she could have just been bull****ting me, but she seemed very moved by our words (we said other things - can't remember) and appreciative that we wanted to honestly wish her well. I'm not saying I'm important and she valued my words - she probably absolutely did not - and I'm not important in any way - but I'm really pulling for her. I know I've said this all before, but I really can't get enough of her - she's fantastic.

LaC*ntAFolles2 or whatever the hell your SN is: Enough comparing the two god damn shows. Neither are perfect. Neither recieved stellar reviews. Comparing the two is just making yourself look even more desperate for your sweet LA CAGE to take home the Tony. PACIFIC OVERTURES deserves the Tony anyway - and I think after being torn about these two mixed, misguided revivals, PO might just win. But since in recent Tony Years, they seem to be awarding mediocrity rather than greatness, I wouldn't be surprised if your drag show on wheels won. But don't get me wrong - I would love to see CHARITY win.

And Mamam Mia.

And Brooklyn.

And goodnight.................


it's late

[Princeton78]

Posted: 5/5/05 at 7:46am

I sometimes wonder Munk why people who dislike certain shows so much waste their time posting on threads about them. If they were so confident in their own show's attributes, they might not feel the need to be so condescending to others...

And for the record, "A Light In The Piazza" which is a favorite of many and has been getting a truckload of nominations lately, was selling Opening Night tickets on TKTS as well.

[LaCageAuxFollesFan2]

Posted: 5/5/05 at 9:09am

Opening Night IMHO should not have to be sold on TDF or at the Boards. After all the industry comps, one would hope that they could fill the house will single ticket buyers at full price. That's all I'm saying. Yes, I know LA CAGE is on TDF, but it didnt hit the TKTS boards till a while after it had openned and had a very healthy till there at the beginning.

[LaCageAuxFollesFan2]

Posted: 5/5/05 at 9:18am

In Case I missed it...here's the Post. Now nowhere does it say who wrote the Review, I would assume it was Barnes. And as far as things go..it's certainly the nicest of the Big 3 - not a Rave, but pretty positive.

"BROADWAY Rule No. 1: When a show is in previews, pay no attention to out- of-town reviews, word of mouth or gossip. Particularly gossip.

Granted, it's hard to see any show with a completely open mind, especially when it's "Sweet Charity," which almost unexpectedly opened at the Al Hirschfeld Theatre last night after a saga of misadventures that made the Perils of Pauline sound like a theme-park ride.

Surprise, surprise: It's pretty damn good. And Christina Applegate — much maligned for her talent and condescendingly admired for her spunk and persistence — is damn good as well.


________________________________________________________________

The choreographer Wayne Cilento doesn't simply Fosse-lize the dances, but gives them their own punch and individuality.

The always dazzling, always unexpected Denis O'Hare does such an exultant, cartwheeling star-turn as the shy but prissy suitor Oscar that he almost overturns the applecart, not to say Applegate.

Fundamentally, though, it's all about Charity. D'Amboise, currently Broadway's best star dancer, not unexpectedly danced and sang a great deal better.

But Applegate has the edge of youth and a natural vulnerability compared with the more contrived vulnerability of both Verdon and later D'Amboise.

Of course, the role of Charity is better than the musical itself, but when Coleman's music is blazing along like Sousa in a dark jazz overdrive, if the Charity is right, as here, you'll have a great time. "

[Princeton78]

Posted: 5/5/05 at 9:38am

Nice! Can we have a link?

[Princeton78]

Posted: 5/5/05 at 9:46am

Chicago Tribune is mixed...leaning towards positive, but based on the Chicago tryout.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/features/lifestyle/chi-0505040355may05,1,4450694.story?coll=chi-leisuretempo-hed&ctrack=1&cset=true


"Such drama. How did it all turn out?

It's better than it was in Chicago, which is why you go out-of-town in the first place. (Obvious, and not cheap, but true.) To be sure, during a press preview performance Sunday at the Al Hirschfeld Theatre, Applegate appeared to be going easy on her diminished choreographic requirements, while favoring her good foot in the book scenes. The twirl around the lamppost -- the scene in which she busted her foot -- has been cut.

Applegate's singing and dancing skills remain what they were in Chicago -- not lousy but not dynamic -- but she is at least sharper and more confident in the acting department. The foot has forced her to be a more creative physical comic. And now, when Charity and Oscar (Denis O'Hare, a more discerning neurotic than before and all the better for it) meet at the Mexican restaurant for their reconciliation, it nearly feels like a reconciliation worth the effort.

The new ending almost works too. Charity's given a more up-yours attitude in the farewell. It's still a drag and hopelessly snarled up in an ancient code of virgin/whore gender relations. But director Walter Bobbie has found the right tune for Applegate to reprise, at last: "I'm the Bravest Individual."
----------------------
"I wouldn't have pegged Diaz and Sandy as must-gos, but while Diaz and Sandy weren't really part of the problem, the new casting proves they weren't part of a solution, either. Janine LaManna and Kyra Da Costa are. They're buoyant stage company, and they lighten the load."
-----------------------
"Applegate knows what she's doing in the book scenes, and as for the singing and dancing ... well, averageness didn't prevent Matthew Broderick from winning a Tony for "How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying."

This much can be said: Applegate did it. She got here, and she likely will end up with a Tony nomination. "

[Princeton78]

Posted: 5/5/05 at 9:50am

Here's the link to the rave from the Post..and yes, it was written by Clive Barnes. Yahoo!

http://www.nypost.com/entertainment/23752.htm

[Princeton78]

Posted: 5/5/05 at 9:55am

http://www.ctnow.com/stage/reviews/hce-sweetcharityrev.artmay05,0,7938437.story?coll=hce-headlines-theaterreviews

Here's another rave from the Hartford Courant

"Having recovered from a broken foot suffered in an out-of-town tryout, she gives her all, and then some, to Charity Hope Valentine, and wins even the most skeptical hearts."
-------------------------
"As breezily directed by Walter Bobbie and smartly choreographed by Wayne Cilento, this "Sweet Charity" steams along on its dance numbers, with the sardonic Janine LaManna and the knockout Kyra Little Da Costa leading the girls on the first Fandango strut, which features the naughty line: "I don't pop my cork for ev-ry guy I see."

Not much of Bob Fosse, the original director-choreographer, remains in the new production, and certainly Applegate is no Gwen Verdon when dancing. Yet she sings tellingly and strongly, especially in her upper register, and projects something of Verdon's vulnerability and waifish sadness. Applegate has adopted a slight outer-borough accent, which is true and cute; her light dancing has grace and endless enthusiasm and she uses her hands and arms charmingly and expressively."
----------------------------
"But as the brisk, quick Act I comes to an end, it seems that Charity's luck is changing when she is trapped on a YMCA elevator with a claustrophobic accountant, Oscar Lindquist. As acted with quivers and panicked screams and swingingly sung by the amazing Denis O'Hare (who can do everything but Macbeth, it seems), the neurotic Oscar emerges as Charity's Prince Charming."
--------------------------
"This is a tale of survival, not grabbing the golden ring - except for Christina Applegate, who wins what she has always wanted: a standing ovation on Broadway."

[Michael Bennett]

Posted: 5/5/05 at 10:01am

LaCage Fan --

I have no problem with your bias towards LA CAGE as a piece of theatre, but trying to up the ante on LA CAGE's "success" at the expense of the CHARITY revival is getting embarressing.

LA CAGE for the most part did not receive better reviews, and I happen to know for a fact that the show has done major papering throughout its run, including opening night.

These shows are both equal in their apparent mediocrity.

And for the record, a lot of shows are on TKTS opening night, as opening night is no longer what it used to be symbolically as all critics have written their reviews at earlier performances.

[Princeton78]

Posted: 5/5/05 at 10:14am

Thanks MB...
As I said earlier in this thread, it has not been the most interesting season on Broadway, but the Tony Awards are shaping up to be more interesting than they've been in a long time. Best Musical, Best Revival, Best Actress, both supporting categories and best director are still (in my opinion) anyone's to grab. I'd say for the musical categories, only best actor (Norbie) and best choreography (La Cage) are safe bets.

[baddadnpa]

Posted: 5/5/05 at 10:16am

It will be interesting to hear the cast recording for Charity which I believe is already scheduled to be recorded, unlike La Cage which looks like it won't get a recording.

[Princeton78]

Posted: 5/5/05 at 10:17am

Well one thing that many BWWers and critics have noted is that the orchestra over at "Sweet Charity" is amazing. The overture gave me chills. So that alone would be worth the recording.

[brdlwyr]

Posted: 5/5/05 at 10:18am

Princeton - I thought the Tribune was fairly rough on Christina.

[uncageg]

Posted: 5/5/05 at 10:20am

Don't know why I waited for the reviews before I buy my ticket. (I usually don't care about reviews if it is a show I really want to see) but I am going to see it while in New York on vacation later this month. Finkle on Theatremania.com was the only review I read so far that really liked the show. Now I have to see it because of the mixed to negative reviews. So I will see miss Applegate during the week of the 23rd! Can't wait!

[ljay889]

Posted: 5/5/05 at 10:57am

Wow. A very nice positive review from Clive Barnes.

[justme2]

Posted: 5/5/05 at 12:55pm

So, with the release of the latest reviews, I think it's fair to reclass the reviews as "fair to positive", with a big dash of Cilento hatred on the side.

[ljay889]

Posted: 5/5/05 at 1:25pm

This show sure got some interesting reviews. This is how I see it.

A couple raves
Some positive reviews
A lot of mixed reviews
a couple negative reviews

I really don't know how to label the reviews as a whole.

[justme2]

Posted: 5/5/05 at 1:30pm

maybe "fair to middlin"?

I don't know...but I am really glad that somebody (even if it was the POST) finally had the nerve to say:

"BROADWAY Rule No. 1: When a show is in previews, pay no attention to out- of-town reviews, word of mouth or gossip. Particularly gossip."

[ljay889]

Posted: 5/5/05 at 1:38pm

I agree Justme - about someone finally mentioning that.

I adore Barnes review. I enjoyed his review much more than Brantley's review.