Sweet Charity
Annie Russel Theater
Book by Neil Simon
Music by Cy Coleman
Lyrics by Dorothy Fields
Starring Annaliese Moon
Directed by Missy Barnes
Winter Park, FL
With Neil Simon and Bob Fosse on a project, something special is bound to happen. Charity (Moon) lives on the upbeat. While little cash and fewer brains, she trusts everyone, doubts no one, but can’t find love. After a boyfriend pushed her in the lake to steal the down payment for their furniture, she eventually stumbles upon famous Italian film Star Vittorio Vidal (Andrew Stuart) who is on the outs with his harrumphing girlfriend Ursula (Taylor Greyard) . They spend the night; nothing naught takes place but they attend the swank Pompeii Club with its Fosse choreographed waiters and patrons. Eventually she becomes trapped in an elevator with a neurotic claustrophobic Oscar (Chase Walker) New York was full of them in the day. At least it looks like she’s going to get a happy ending: so do all the other dance hall girls she hangs with give her a big sendoff party, and all’d well that doesn’t end up in a lawyer’s office.
It’s big, it’s brash, and Ms. Moon dominated everyone else on stage. Moon is on nearly the entire evening, and never loses her energy, not even on the closing night show I snuck into. Mr. Stuart is brash as well, but perhaps not as convincing as an Italian film star. His Ursula gets few lines, all she can do is look annoy at Vittoria as he picks up a new girl. Walker’s Oscar seems nice enough, but everyone here is flawed, and the show is all about how they work with their flaws to make it through life. I give points to choreographer Robin Gerchman for tackling the wild fosse dance scene as well as all the taxi dance numbers. Here we have an American classic made in the waning days of New York’s post was glory, and its bout as feel good a musical as you’ll ever see. It may be a college production, but I give this class an A plus.
