The 1986 Revival of Sweet Charity...?

[ljay889]

Posted: 1/29/05 at 11:55am

I was wondering, did anybody here happen to see the 86 Revival of Sweet Charity? Was it any good?

Did anybody get to see Ann Reinking as Charity? I really want to know how she was as Charity?

And does anyone know if Bebe Neurwirth ever got to go on as Charity? Since she was the stand by. I wonder how she was also.

So, how was the 86 Revival of Charity? Anyone see Ann Reinking? and Did Bebe ever goe on as Charity?

[me101]

Posted: 1/29/05 at 11:56am

I thought Debbie Allen was Charity in '86

[Jwei123]

Posted: 1/29/05 at 11:58am

i do believe it was Debbie in 86, but i could be wrong...

It just occured to me that Christina is following broadway legends (gwen, ann, and debbie!)

[ljay889]

Posted: 1/29/05 at 12:08pm

Ann Reinking was Allen's replacement.

[ljay889]

Posted: 1/29/05 at 12:12pm

] Updated On: 1/29/05 at 12:12 PM

[Mr. Tuttle]

Posted: 1/29/05 at 12:43pm

Debbie was the original Charity and the tour/Broadway show did great under her. When she left and Ann replaced her, the show took a nose dive at the box office.

Bebe did go on for Allen a few times when Allen had Fame committments.

Michael Rupert was great. Mark Jacoby was great. A well done show.

[Jwei123]

Posted: 1/29/05 at 12:48pm

Ann's eyes are the two most piercing objects on earth.

[ljay889]

Posted: 1/29/05 at 12:50pm

Well, I doubt Ann was the reason the show closed.

I wonder how Bebe was as Charity. Ann too, I love me some Ann Reinking.

[Jwei123]

Posted: 1/29/05 at 12:53pm

im in love with ann...scratchy voice, and all! It makes her unique!

Updated On: 1/29/05 at 12:53 PM

[WISHIHADATONY]

Posted: 1/29/05 at 1:38pm

I saw it twice......Debbie Allen starred and was later replaced by Ann Reinking.............co starring with Debbie Allen were Bebe Neuwirth and Michael Rupert (I know Rupert won the Tony, I think Bebe may have as well).

The show was ultimately boring, dreadful and pretentious. The only exciting, thrilling moment was the HEY BIG SPENDER number. Other than that......SWEET CHARITY is second or third rate Cy Coleman, Neil Simon and Bob Fosse at best.

Jane Krakowski was wise to have "book" arguements, ultimately severing her from the revival.

SWEET CHARITY was a moderate success when it premiered in the late 1960s............but all folks really liked was HEY BIG SPENDER and the allure of Gwen Verdon and her performance of IF MY FRIENDS COULD SEE ME NOW.........

With Man of LaMancha and Mame opening the same season, it is surprising Charity is remembered much at all.

However, I must say that the Bob Fosse staging of the song HEY BIG SPENDER is a thrilling theater moment. If you see the show......you can leave after that number......which is very close to the beginning of the show.

[ljay889]

Posted: 1/29/05 at 1:44pm

Wow. I usually only hear good things about Sweet Charity.

Personally, I love the score. But you know for the new Revival they are heavily reworking the book, and changing the score around? It's probally going to be much better this time around.

[WISHIHADATONY]

Posted: 1/29/05 at 1:46pm

ljay889, I hope you are right and I hope the new production is wonderful.......but you might want to bring something to read, just in case.

[Iris Chacon]

Posted: 1/29/05 at 2:07pm

I have seen numerous productions of this very entertaining show. Fun is the key work. How anyone could be bored with it is beyond me. Anyway; just a little correction. Debbie Allen didn't do the tour. Donna Macenzie did. And Bob Fosse died right before the touring company opened.

[VeuveClicquot]

Posted: 1/29/05 at 2:12pm

Debbie Allen made a spastic, over-the-top Charity. But Bebe and Michael Rupert were brilliant. They both won Tonys that year.

I saw it again after Ann took over, I didn't much like her. She was busy trying to perfect that odd Gwen Verdon impersonation she now uses for everything she does.

I have a good story though:

At one performance that Ann did, during the "If My Friends Could See Me Now" number, she went to drink from the glass of champagne, and there was cleaning fluid in it instead of water. She was rushed to the hospital, and her understudy played the rest of the performance.

While it was never proven, the rumor around the Rialto at the time was that it was no accident that the cleaning fluid was left in the glass -- she supposedly wasn't beloved by the crew. Updated On: 1/29/05 at 02:12 PM

[magruder]

Posted: 1/29/05 at 2:45pm

Couldn't agree less with WISHIHADATONY. I thought the '86 revival was top-notch, and given that the situation for new musicals in 1986 was so dire, a show like Charity that was considered somewhat second-tier when it originally opened, looked like a masterwork. Thought Debbie Allen's Charity was totally endearing - I didn't find her spastic or over-the-top, though I've found her unendurable in just about everything since Sweet Charity. And there are some excellent production numbers throughout the show, not just "Big Spender". What's wrong with "Rich Man's Frug," "If My Friends Could See Me Now," "There's Got to be Something Better than This," "Rhythm of Life," or "I'm a Brass Band"?

Anyway, long story short, to the original poster, I'd put the '86 Sweet Charity on a short list of my theatregoing highlights of the 1980s.

Updated On: 1/29/05 at 02:45 PM

[MisterRussell]

Posted: 1/29/05 at 3:31pm

Ann Reinking lovers, check out her performance as Joan of Arc in GOODTIME CHARLERY: Not a great show, but a great performance.

[Razz77]

Posted: 1/29/05 at 3:41pm

I bet Donna McKechnie was incredible in the subsequent tour that followed this revival -- she did "If My Friends Could See Me Now" at the recent Cy Coleman benefit and was really incredible - -and this is 20 years after she did the role.

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 1/29/05 at 3:45pm

I thoroughly enjoyed that revival and have fond memories of Big Spender, Rich Man's Frug and There's Gotta Be Something Better than This. I thought Allen was very charming and Rupert and Neuwirth being hilarious standouts. A terrific production.

Updated On: 1/29/05 at 03:45 PM

[ljay889]

Posted: 1/29/05 at 7:02pm

Does anyone know where I can find the Cast Recording for this Revival? Amazon and Half.com has it used for over 20 dollars. Ebay doesn't have it atll.

I know it's out of print, but does anyone have a clue where I can find it, or atleast hear it?

[wildcat]

Posted: 1/29/05 at 9:37pm

Bob Fosse's original staging of SWEET CHARITY would have to be one of the most exciting and entertaining pieces of musical comedy EVER!! I am stunned and saddened that WISHIHADATONY found it so tedious. I saw the show nine times and it never failed to thrill me.

[Marquise]

Posted: 1/29/05 at 9:42pm

i saw this revival. it was as macgruder put it "top notch" allen was great in the role. bebe neuwirth, rupert, even alison williams as helene were all very good. super model carol alt played ursula, vittorio's girlfriend when i saw it. i also have the recording on cd. first rate production all the way. Updated On: 1/29/05 at 09:42 PM

[Mr. Tuttle]

Posted: 1/29/05 at 10:11pm

It indeed was top notch and Allen was great. It's a shame she didn't do more roles.

[magruder]

Posted: 1/31/05 at 8:24am

Peter Filichia, in his TheaterMania column today about his memories of the opening night of the original Sweet Charity, says the following about the 1986 revival...

"In his review dated Sunday, January 30, 1966, Walter Kerr did some counting up, too: "There are at least six things that will interest you in Sweet Charity -- the dances, the scenery, the songs, Gwen Verdon, Gwen Verdon, Gwen Verdon." Indeed; and yet, when the show was revived 20 years later, it did quite well even without Ms. V. In fact, the piece itself seemed stronger to us. (That's because we'd been through a number of shows that weren't nearly as good)."

[South Fl Marc]

Posted: 1/31/05 at 8:40am

I saw the revival and , though I loved her in "West Side Story" years before, thought Ms. Allen was dreadful. I was lucky enough to catch a performance with Bebe and she was grreat.

I have to say though I am biased against Ms. Allen. I've always thought the TV series Fame was a good example of taking a good movie and ruining it. I also think Debbie Allen is laughable as a choreographer. One doesn't have to look past her lame dances for the Oscars to prove that. But then there was her embarrassing work in "Carrie"

[rlbgbc]

Posted: 1/31/05 at 8:48am

I saw the revival of CHARITY in '86. I enjoyed it, with one exception -- Debbie Allen. While very talented, I thought she was horribly miscast. And her greatest deficiency in the show? Her dancing.

Oh, I don't mean that she's a terrible dancer -- far from it. I remember seeing her on the Tonys doing "America" when she was Anita in the revival of WSS. She was explosive in that, and wonderful.

No, her problems with the Fosse choreography in CHARITY was she was the complete wrong body type to effectively do it. Fosse choreography needs lithe bodies, fully capable of doing the isolations that are required. Allen looked like a fireplug to me: short and compact. She simply didn't have the "line" to pull it off (you dancers out there will know what I'm talking about).