rOcKS @ 'Sweet Charity'

With all of the hoopla surrounding this show, I am happy to report that it is an excellently executed revival that absolutely must be seen. I adored this show from the first chord the orchestra played right down to the second the curtain fell at the end. It deserved the Tony for Best Revival, without a doubt. It was 200 times better than La Cage and I will never understand how they got the same level reviews.

--The orchestra sounded absolutely phenomenal. One of the best orchestras I’ve heard in a long, long time. I’m listening to the CD right now and the orchestrations sound ridiculously bad. I guess you have to hear it live to appreciate it.

--The sets were wonderful, truly. They seemed a bit I don’t know...small for a Broadway caliber show. At times, I wanted more set-wise but it never came. The costumes were wonderful and I truly enjoyed how Christina didn’t change during the show. I don’t know why but it seemed to really strike a cord in me, maybe symbolizing something? I don’t know...just thinking out loud. The lighting was utterly brilliant. I really enjoyed the lights here. They seemed to be a bit too much at times but the bright and vibrant colors always fit the scenes very well.

--Now, onto the choreography. This has been a heated topic all over (well, mostly on here but yeah... ). Many think that Wayne Cilento should have just taken Fosse's original choreography and used it with perhaps a few tweaks here and there. Well his choreography is not Anne Reinking's (whose choreography for Chicago was done "in the style of Bob Fosse") but it was, I thought pretty well done. I thought Rich Man's Frug was a bit messy here and there and it definitely wasn’t the highlight of the evening but it wasn’t painfully bad either. His best work here lies in ...Brass Band and ...Could See Me Now. It really wasn’t as bad as people have made it out to be and he did, with all due respect, keep a few Fosse quirks in the choreography here and there that I and maybe two other people in the theater noticed and appreciated.

--The direction, in my opinion, was very fast paced yet transferred from scene to scene very smoothly. It was flawed a bit but it all seemed to work out in the end. Bobbie's best work is with the ensemble scenes rather than the intimate scenes with two or three people on the stage. He really makes the transfers on and off stage smooth and natural looking during the company scenes.

Now, onto one of the best casts on Broadway...
--Christina Applegate: Here I go. What a phenomenal talent this girl is!! She is entirely right for the role on so many different levels and totally captures the essence of Charity Hope Valentine with such a clear and raw quality. It’s been said about 300 times on here but Christina IS Charity Hope Valentine. Her singing was spot on. She was on pitch the ENTIRE evening and hit every note clearly and perfectly. Her singing is in tip-top shape, IMO. Her dancing blew me away. The fact that she is up on that stage 8 times a week performing with a still broken foot doing high kicks and leaps into the air is astonishing all by itself but the idea that she is graceful and lovely and downright wonderful doing it is another thing all by itself. Her book scenes were hysterical (the scene in the closet is so wonderfully funny and clever on her and Bobbie's parts). From the moment she walked on the stage, the audience could NOT take their eyes off of this little fireball of energy and talent. People were hysterically laughing at the little things she did with 20 other people on the stage and I realized that they couldn’t take their eyes off of her and for a good reason! She is excellent in the role and has the stage presence of a goddess. She was very, very, VERY funny and at the end *MINI-SPOILER*, she had me nearly in tears because of how real and emotionally expressive she was. *END MINI SPOILER* I could not get over how wonderful she was in the role. And how sweet she was at the stage door! (She called me a youngin'! )

--Denis O'Hare is almost stealing every scene from Applegate. If he entered a little earlier in the show, Applegate would have had to take out the big guns to upstage him. They do, however, work splendidly on the stage. O'Hare is giving one of the best supporting performances in recent memory and at least deserved a Tony nomination. He has such an exuberant and wonderful voice. He had the entire audience belly-laughing like there was no tomorrow during the elevator scene. He is an EXCELLENT Oscar!

--Janine LaManna and Kyra DaCosta: Two of the best supporting performances I’ve ever seen. Ever. They blew me out of this world. They were funny, moving, and had voices that would make the world's best singers jealous. Their acting was spot on and they made '...Something Better Than This' and 'Baby, Dream Your Dream' highlights. These are songs I would usually skip over on the OBC but now (and I’ve had the CD for about 4 hours) I’ve listened to them both about 12 times each. They are amazing as Nickie and Helene. Two must-see performances.

--Rob Bartlett was wonderful as Herman and did what he could with such a small role. He was very funny and although he wasn’t quite Mr. Muschnik, I’m very excited to see him in The Odd Couple. He was very good.

--The ensemble was wonderful beyond belief!!! The girls, especially. Big Spender had chills running down my spine. The ensemble is in very, VERY fine form.

Overall, this is a must see, knockout revival, IMO. I absolutely loved it! Christina's performance will, I believe, go down in musical theater history for multiple reasons but the main one shouldn’t be that she saved the show from closing. It should be that she defied critics and dissenters and was adorably bold and perfect. The show cannot be missed. It is absolutely brilliant and strikingly fun. Please, go see it!


4/4 STARS