Preview 2004-2005: I'm the Bravest Choreographer
This season, the Weisslers are hoping that lightning will strike again. On April 21, they are bringing to Broadway a Walter Bobbie-directed revival of Sweet Charity, a show whose original production also starred Verdon and was staged by Fosse.
Like the hit Nine and the one-nighter La Strada, Sweet Charity was based on a film directed by Federico Fellini, in this case the lovely, Oscar-winning Nights of Cabiria 1957. The show was initiated by Fosse as the vehicle for his wife's return to Broadway, where she had not been seen since Redhead 1959. Fosse even thought he could write the script for the new show, and early ads for Sweet Charity attribute the book to "Bert Lewis," a pseudonym for the director-choreographer. But Fosse wisely chose to turn the libretto over to Neil Simon, with whom he had worked on Little Me. The score was composed by Cy Coleman Wildcat, Little Me, with lyrics by veteran Dorothy Fields.
Reopening for legitimate theatre the Palace, which had for some time been a movie house, Sweet Charity premiered January 29, 1966 and played 608 performances, with business falling away when Verdon was succeeded by Helen Gallagher, who had won a Tony nomination for playing the supporting role of Nickie in the show. During the run, Verdon sometimes omitted two of her numbers, with "You Should See Yourself" and "Where Am I Going?" going in and out of the show.
Chita Rivera played the title role on the national tour. And Sweet Charity was hailed in London when Juliet Prowse who also headed the Las Vegas company opened at the Prince of Wales Theatre in 1967. The London production played a year, with Prowse succeeded by Gretchen Wyler, who had replaced Verdon in Damn Yankees and Rivera in Bye Bye Birdie.
It was still common at this time for Broadway musical hits to make it to the screen, and Sweet Charity's cause was helped by the existence of Shirley MacLaine, the former Broadway gypsy who had already filmed a number of stories boasting vulnerable heroines of questionable virtue. The Charity film 1969 was the occasion of Fosse's screen directorial debut, and the film preserves a fair amount of the original stage choreography, notably in "Big Spender," "Rich Man's Frug," "If My Friends Could See Me Now," and "There's Gotta Be Something Better Than This."
The film dropped two of the stage songs, "Baby, Dream Your Dream" and "Charity's Soliloquy." The latter had been cut from the show as of the national tour and London productions, and hasn't been used in revivals. Two new numbers "My Personal Property," "It's a Nice Face" replaced other songs, and the title song got a new melody.
For a show that has gone on to become a staple of the international repertoire, Sweet Charity was underrated in its day. Everyone admired Fosse's choreography, which received the show's only Tony, and everyone continued to love Verdon, who lost the Tony to Angela Lansbury's Mame. But there was insufficient acclaim for Charity's score, probably Coleman's best. And even more overlooked was the originality of Fosse's overall conception. His Charity was a stylized fable which made use of such cinematic devices as titles in lit bulbs on the side of the proscenium, freeze frames, and sliding panels that functioned like the iris of a camera. In terms of movement and fluidity, a show like Mame, while tremendously entertaining, was positively musty compared to Sweet Charity.
In 1986, the Tony Award for Best Revival went to a new Sweet Charity, mounted at the Minskoff Theatre and starring Debbie Allen. Tonys were also won by the featured leads, Michael Rupert and newcomer Bebe Neuwirth, who also understudied Allen's Charity. The new Charity started off strongly, but when Allen departed and Ann Reinking took over, business declined, and the production closed, at a financial loss, after 368 performances. The revival was sent out on a tour starring Donna McKechnie; Fosse died while sprucing it up for its Washington, D.C. engagement.
The '86 revival featured book trims, used the film's title-song melody, and came up with a new tune for the song "I'm the Bravest Individual." But in its look and staging, it was a painstaking recreation of the original. What critics and audiences responded to above all was Fosse's choreography, scrupulously reproduced and looking better than ever. But then so did the whole show, not least because the revival opened two weeks after Big Deal, the disappointing new Fosse show that would be his last. It too was based on an Italian movie.
Sweet Charity's most recent New York appearance was in the form of a grand, one-night-only gala benefit concert performance, in 1998 at Avery Fisher Hall, with a company that included Verdon, Rivera, Allen, Neuwirth, McKechnie, and Verdon's original leading man, John McMartin. The same year, Sweet Charity had its first London revival, at the Victoria Palace Theatre, with Bonnie Langford the star and with Chet Walker reproducing Fosse's dances.
The second Broadway revival of Sweet Charity faces a couple of daunting challenges. While the show has been presented around the world without the original choreography, it's hard to imagine a Broadway revival avoiding it, as it ranks with the very best of golden-age dance. Even with a scintillating score and funny script, the show is loose and episodic, and it was Fosse's staging, along with Verdon's performance, that made it a hit.
An experienced Fosse dancer, Wayne Cilento Tommy, Aida, Wicked is a brave man indeed to take on the choreography of the new Sweet Charity. It's not yet clear if the choreography will be mostly new or if it will feature elements of the original. But it's hard to imagine an all-new "Big Spender" or "Rich Man's Frug," particularly as the original versions of both were recently available on Broadway in Fosse.
Also brave is the new production's star. Sweet Charity has never had a major revival without an experienced musical-theatre pro in the lead. Marisa Tomei who appeared in the 1998 benefit, Jenna Elfman, and Jane Krakowski were all announced at one time or another for the latest version. But the title role has gone instead to Christina Applegate, making her Broadway debut. Known for her work on television "Married...with Children," an Emmy for her guest appearance on "Friends" and in films Don't Tell Mom the Babysitter's Dead, The Sweetest Thing, Anchorman, Applegate does not appear to have any significant stage credits, let alone musical-theatre roles. Perhaps it's worth noting that Tyne Daly had never done a major musical production when the Weisslers hired her to play that ne plus ultra of musical roles, Rose in Gypsy.
Denis O'Hare will be Applegate's leading man, and her two dance-hall cohorts will be played by Natascia Diaz and Solange Sandy. The new Charity will feature set design by Scott Pask Urinetown, Nine and costumes by William Ivey Long. The revival will also feature some textual revision, apparently including a new song and switching "Big Spender" to the opening. The new Charity is scheduled to premiere in Minneapolis in February, then play Chicago and Boston before coming to a Broadway house still to be announced.
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