Also, the second critic to call this revival "gritty" - wasn't somebody just arguing with me in this thread that the show is not and should not be gritty?
ACL2006 said: "I wouldn't guarantee a Tony to any leading female. We'll [likely] have Sutton, Midler, LuPone, Ebersole & either Noblezada, Soo or Osnes. At this point, nobody's a lock to win this award."
If it ends up transferring next season, it would probably be a smart move as this season is already too crowded. There's already 8 potential candidates for this year's Lead Actress in a Musical Tony such as..
Christy Altomare-Anastasia
Denee Benton-Natasha, Pierre, & The Great Comet of 1812
The new ending does sound a little too dark. I like Charity dancing off into the sunlight at the end, the 2005 revival wisely kept that, although they rewrote the ending as well.
"The talented supporting cast, whose members usually register as a little too fresh for the jaded urbanites they portray. (Emily Padgett’s shopworn taxi dancer is entertainingly on target.)" Really loved this part of Brantley's review, as well as the rave for Sutton. I think everyone's main problem is the band not being big (or brassy) enough, which is my only problem, too. I get what they're doing, but Charity needs some brass.
They/them.
"Get up the nerve to be all you deserve to be."
that Times review is going to kill any transfer, the current political climate has made everything rather dark, i dont think the timing of a dark take on Sweet Charity is something worth putting 10 million into putting on broadway right now
LightsOut90 said: "that Times review is going to kill any transfer, the current political climate has made everything rather dark, i dont think the timing of a dark take on Sweet Charity is something worth putting 10 million into putting on broadway right now "
It'll transfer. Brantley's review of Patti's GYPSY didn't stop anything.
"Oh look at the time, three more intelligent plays just closed and THE ADDAMS FAMILY made another million dollars" -Jackie Hoffman, Broadway.com Audience Awards
Clearly, he wasn't watching the show. This isn't a "he interpreted it differently" thing, this is a "he didn't care about what the production was doing and didn't bother to think about it" thing. Hopeless? Please.
Idinabellfoster is right. GYPSY famously transferred with TWO bad reviews from the Times, then got a massive rave once it transferred. Also, WAR PAINT is transferring with a lukewarm review from Brantley, he also loved the leads in that one, like his review for Sutton.
I do think the producers of this revival should heed that Brantley review and take their time if they seriously want to consider a transfer. I agree the political timing right now is perhaps not ideal; they would be better to wait and push this out to next season.
“I knew who I was this morning, but I've changed a few times since then.”
If anything, the biggest complaint seems to be the orchestrations. I see no reason why they couldn't up the amount of musicians to 10 for a transfer. They should really look at Joseph Joubert who did a magical job with 7 players in the Color Purple revival. I know Campbell is well respected and talented musical director, but Joubert is a more experienced orchestrator, although MMC's Company orchestrations were pretty fantastic.
Well, changing the orchestrations or adding instruments is the least of their worries. There is obviously nothing that says the production needs to transfer "as is" unless they want it to open on Broadway in January. They could certainly take their time to re-explore any aspect of the production if they wanted to.
“I knew who I was this morning, but I've changed a few times since then.”
Sutton is giving a star quality and possibly award winning performance. I am sure they can work the production around her performance for a transfer, which some of the critics suggested.