Sweet Charity Review

Star, dance numbers help make 'Sweet Charity' fun Waugh seems perfect fit for role of title character

Friday, January 12, 2007
BY JENN MCKEE
News Arts Writer

What can I say? Director Edmond Reynolds appears to like the ladies. The last musical he directed for the Ann Arbor Civic Theatre, "The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas,'' featured an ensemble of - ahem - working girls. And now, with A2CT's new production of "Sweet Charity,'' Reynolds oversees a troupe of taxi dancers.

For this reason, many may consider Reynolds lucky; yet "Charity'''s title character (Kathy Waugh) is anything but. She first gets dumped and robbed by her married boyfriend, then spends an evening with a movie star who's hung up on another woman.

So when Charity meets a nice tax accountant named Oscar (Erik Wright-Olsen) while stuck in an elevator, she dares to hope that she's finally found Mr. Right.

"Charity'' - with a book by Neil Simon, music by Cy Coleman, and lyrics by Dorothy Fields - runs nearly three hours and has truckloads of dancing. Choreographer Jeff DiFranco is more than up to the task, aping Bob Fosse's distinct style while also making the numbers his own. ("Big Spender'' and the fantastically fun "Rich Man's Frug'' are worth the price of admission alone.) The cast generally performed them well opening night, though with so much dancing, the energy flagged a bit in numbers near the end ("I'm a Brass Band'' and "I Love to Cry at Weddings'').

Of course, more than anything, "Charity'''s success always falls squarely on its star's shoulders. Waugh looked tentative during the show's opening dance number, but after that, she seemed a perfect fit for the role. In addition to having a strong voice, she impressively managed to make Charity an appealing optimist rather than a doormat. January Provenzola and Katherine Hoeg, as Charity's friends and fellow dancers, also had chances to shine. And though Wright-Olsen struggled with some vocals opening night, he made a great Oscar (particularly in the elevator scene).

Yet I must confess: though I know well that "Charity'' is of a different era, Oscar's judgment of Charity, based on the number of her former lovers, had me seeing red (and wondering why Oscar's sexual past wasn't up for discussion); and when boyfriends kept tossing Charity into a lake, I couldn't stop wishing that she'd climb out of the water, just once, and return the favor.

"Sweet Charity'' continues at 8 tonight and Saturday and at 2 p.m. Sunday at Lydia Mendelssohn Theatre, 911 N. University Ave., Ann Arbor. TIckets: $24 ($21 for students). Tickets may be purchased at the door before each performance, or you can make reservations by calling 734-971-2228, or visiting www.a2ct.org.