Boston Critics Take In Charity with New Lead Charlotte d'Amboise

The Broadway-bound revival of Sweet Charity opened on March 23 in Boston, its last tour stop before heading to the Great White Way. This production, which is directed by Walter Bobbie and choreographed by Wayne Cilento, switched leading ladies when headliner Christina Applegate suffered an injury during the Chicago engagement, forcing standby Charlotte d'Amboise to take over the title role in the tuner. Were Boston critics impressed with the revival of the Cy Coleman-Dorothy Fields-Neil Simon show?

Here is a sampling of what they had to say:

Louise Kennedy of The Boston Globe: "D'Amboise is a terrific dancer, lithe and athletic, and the way she throws her heart into every move suits the character of Charity, the brassy but naïve dance-hall hostess who can't stop believing in love. Her singing is also strong, but it doesn't always carry a lot of emotional shading. When d'Amboise is dancing, we see Charity. When she's singing, we see an actress who's working hard to find her way into a new part. She may well get there, especially with the strong support she's getting from Denis O'Hare… Once he appears, late in the first act, d'Amboise seems to settle a little, and she tones down some of the stridency that overtook her at the start… Charity is outwardly tough, too, but she has to have a sweetness at her core in order to make any sense. Not that she--or the genuinely bizarre musical that Neil Simon, Cy Coleman, and Dorothy Fields constructed around her--will ever make complete sense, at least to a 21st-century audience."

Terry Byrne of The Boston Herald: "D'Amboise certainly has the goods, probably more than original star Christina Applegate, who injured her foot in Chicago. But somehow even D'Amboise's winning charm can't infuse much life into this ho-hum musical… [Walter Bobbie] has chosen a sharp, realistic look for a musical that desperately needs a soft focus. [Bob] Fosse, who was the original director and choreographer of Sweet Charity, took songs like 'The Rich Man's Frug' and turned it into a comment on snobs, with body language and precisely mimicked movements that were unforgettable. Wayne Cilento, who choreographed this revival, has some clever moves, but doesn't seem to get the joke. In fact, all of the choreography is so simplistic it feels repetitive."