Director Jon Cranney has had a long history of reinterpreting classics when he took on the challenge of staging "Sweet Charity" for Bloomington Civic Theater. The flawed musical is one that I've never warmed to. So I approached opening night with the hope of being converted.
Unfortunately, Cranney's production points up the weaknesses of the show, rather than compensating for them. The story of Charity Hope Valentine, a dance-hall hostess with an indomitable faith in romance, despite appalling taste in men, lacks energy, pizazz and any emotional payoff.
The main fault lies in Neil Simon's book. It is superficial and shallow, a jokey cartoon with little real humanity. It is actually a series of sketches, rather than a coherent plot.
For instance, a scene at a hippie church makes no dramatic sense: These characters would never end up there. It's simply an excuse for composer Cy Coleman and lyricist Dorothy Fields to write a great choral number, "Rhythm of Life."
Ed Gleeman has fun with the psychedelic and flower-power costumes, recreating the 1960s style with great wit. And Robin McIntyre's light and airy sets, using cut-out set pieces and projections, capture the show's cartoon-like nature.
The score is the show's saving grace. Hits like "Big Spender" and "If My Friends Could See Me Now" are well-performed under music director Anita Ruth.
The show originally became a hit, in large part, due to Bob Fosse's choreography. Tracy Doheny Erickson proves a poor substitute. The dances never take off, which has as much to do with the capabilities of the chorus.
As Charity, Emily Herringshaw is an engaging performer who knows how to put across a number. But she seems always to be performing, rather than inhabiting a character. She was bright and perky where the story calls for worn and vulnerable, further robbing the show of its emotional payoff.
As two of Charity's fellow dance-hall hostesses, Angela Fox and Larissa Gritti capture the sense of world-weariness and tough optimism that the characters require.
