SWEET CHARITY Revival — Page 6

For those interested, Nights of Cabiria is one of the best films ever made and has the best ending of any film EVER. It is a precious film that is sadly out of print and not seen enough. I know you can find it on iTunes.

It did not come framed and it is actually on poster paper versus window card. The friendly sales agent at Pershing was very careful as he rolled it up for me and slid it in protective plastic.

Along with t-shirts and cups, they were selling these two other versions of the poster.

I caught this last night and I loved it. I had one or two qualms about things in it (which I'll get to), but this was such an enjoyable nigh out. Sweet Charity is one of my all time favorites and I enjoy just about any version, but seeing this reignited that flame. I thought the Christina Applegate 2005 revival was very enjoyable, but I think this version is trying to bring back what the original version was like (at least that's what I got. I was born in the '80s, my knowledge of the original is all from a clip here and there and what I've read).

This is another Sutton Foster takes on the world and blows us away role. She owns this role and truly is perfect. She does well with the physical comedy aspects (which I hadn't really seen her do before) but her singing and dancing are spot on. Someone earlier in the thread mentioned how the last revival felt cheerful and sanitized. I agree. This is much more gritty and raw. You get from her portrayal that this a woman who truly has no idea where she's going, but is aware that what she's been through and how people have treated her is absolute crap. This role could be the role that convinces the few non believers that Sutton Foster is the real thing and doesn't just take on fluff.

The supporting cast is great--go Joel Perez! They're backing Foster's Charity up, but they make their roles distinct. Emily Padgett is great. Funny and sexy and all around succeeding in the role. The small ensemble is very talented and well suited for their parts.

Shuler Hensley as Oscar was an interesting choice, but his take on the role is very different. He reads older and less like a sweet nerdy guy. Rather, his Oscar seemed to be someone who is sad, lonely, and has been troubled for some time. Hensley's Oscar isn't just a neurotic guy; I personally got the feel that he was supposed to have some kind of mental illness (The person I was with spent all of intermission and quite some time after the show trying to diagnosis him). Like Scarywarhol said, he's possessive and inventing someone that doesn't exist. There's definitely anger in him, not just frustration.

My only real issue with the show was the music. The small band (six piece, I think), didn't cut it at all. It felt like it was lacking. There's some big voices in the cast that can over power what we have. If this show continues on to broadway (and I hope it will), they have to increase the band size and bring back some brass. Even in the smallest house on broadway, this would sound too small. The theater it's in now is tiny and it felt small in there!

My only other (small) complaint is that the ensemble felt just a little small. I understand they're going for stripped down, but I think this small would get lost unless they had moved to some place like Circle in the Square or the Hayes. Adding one or two more would make it feel a little larger and fuller.

For those wondering, Foster's wig isn't nearly as bad as it was shown earlier. Much less Carol Brady. It's not the best wig or the most flattering on Sutton, but I think that's part of the look they were going for. The costuming, though, I loved!

But it's Fosse, everything he did had some grittiness. His intention certainly wasn't to have a colorful bubblegum production like the 2005 revival. The Fosse film is quite gritty, and melodramatic or not, MacLaine is heartbreaking in the finale. Also note how this new revival is following the film by moving "Where Am I Going?" to after the Oscar break up.

I think that's intentional. Charity wore the same black dress throughout the Fosse productions and the same red dress throughout the Applegate revival. Charity lives an endless cycle of hope and heartbreak, nothing ever really changes, including her dress.

Updated On: 11/6/16 at 11:05 AM

My guess is that this new production is re-imagining the material and trying to turn it into a more 'dramatic', 'gritty' and 'real' piece.

I was in France a couple of months ago and the original film was released on Blu-ray there.

"Gritty" has many meanings, not just realism. It could also be synonymous for "bold" and "tough." The Fandango scenes in the film always had a sleazy boldness to me. The word could also mean "spirited" and "courageous" and the character of Charity is certainly both of those.

And yet another ending......

When the 2005 revival was out of town, it ended with a short reprise of "There's Gotta Be Something Better Than This" and Charity holding onto the lamppost, as opposed to the Broadway ending of her dancing off into the sunlight, which was a nod to the original ending.
https://youtu.be/KYZEa4Dh15E?t=6635


"You Should See Yourself" was bizarrely cut out of town, but restored when it got to Broadway. Also, "I Love To Cry At Weddings" was replaced with a song called "If There Were More People," but "Cry At Weddings" returned for Broadway.

Updated On: 11/6/16 at 12:03 PM

ljay889 said: ""Gritty" has many meanings, not just realism. It could also be synonymous for "bold" and "tough." The Fandango scenes in the film always had a sleazy boldness to me. The word could also mean "spirited" and "courageous" and the character of Charity is certainly both of those.



The fandango girls are a bit rough around the edges, but again they are broad caricatures of those type of tough as nails broads they were supposed to be.

Fosse referred to them as broken dolls. He visualized this in the 'Big Spender' number. They are all lined up waiting to be selected by the patrons at the barre. From the waist up all poised and erect but from the waist down their legs are all askew...knock kneed...twisted ankles...crooked feet.

Charity is spirited, yes...courageous? Maybe. Naïve: definitely. Hopeless romantic against all odds: absolutely.

Updated On: 11/6/16 at 01:56 PM

I have seats dead-dead-dead center front row for this Tuesday night. As a Bob Fosse nut, I know SWEET CHARITY inside and out so I'm excited for this new interpretation. I even loved the 2005 Broadway revival as it was exciting and refreshing to see a new interpretation. Yes, Bob Fosse's original is legendary but it's always cool seeing someone else reinterpret something. Just in the same way Sam Mendes and Rob Marshall reinvented CABARET.

I kind of like how this show is so many different things to different people.

CATSNYrevival said: "I kind of like how this show is so many different things to different people."

I noticed this, funnily enough, after our mutual agreement on loving the Applegate ending. This show is so universal and accessible. There's something really comforting about knowing that it'll never be just one thing to anyone.

Not that I am judging a show before I've seen it or by one character's wig but I have to say that the wig is odd to say the least.