Minneapolis Critics Spend a Little Time With Applegate and Sweet Charity

Hey, Big Spender—Sweet Charity has arrived. The latest big-budget revival of the tuner, starring Christina Applegate in the title role, recently opened its first pre-Broadway tryout at the Orpheum Theatre in Minneapolis, where it is running through February 20. Stops in Chicago and Boston are to come before the show arrives at Broadway's Al Hirschfeld Theatre on April 4. Were critics happy they spent a little time with this Sweet Charity?

Here is a sampling of what they had to say:

[Editor's note: The Star Tribune visited Sweet Charity twice during its Minneapolis run. Below are excerpts from both reviews.]

Rohan Preston of The Star Tribune February 13, 2005: "Though she has moments of fearlessness when her character seems to connect to something other than lip gloss, Applegate stays pretty and perky for much of the musical, serving cuteness instead of character. Her performance, under director Walter Bobbie, seems even more inert and Botox-stilled because it occurs in the midst of this sure-footed, adaptable-voiced and deft company. These singing and acting hoofers include quirkily funny co-star Denis O'Hare as oddball accountant Oscar Lindquist, stage goddess Solange Sandy as hot-to-trot mama Helene and Paul Schoeffler in a winning turn as bed-hopping Italian movie idol Vittorio. In fact, the company, supported by a 15-piece orchestra under the capable baton of conductor Gordon Lowry Harrell, gives this long-awaited revival of Charity something to sing about. The design elements are also fetching, with hot pink, red and tangerine dreams popping off many of Scott Pask's scenic designs and augmented by Brian MacDevitt's evocative lighting... Whatever Applegate's weaknesses and strengths, the show has other problems. Sweet Charity is of so many pieces—choreographically and in the narrative—it feels like a puzzle, albeit one with bold colors. Wayne Cilento's dances sometimes re-create some of the choreography of Bob Fosse, who choreographed and directed the first stage version in the 1960s. This homage, on 'Big Spender' and 'Rich Man's Frug,' for example, invites a comparison that does not favor this new version. At other times, the dances seem incongruously updated."

Rohan Preston of The Star Tribune February 22, 2005: "In its two-week run at the Orpheum Theatre, this musical revival evolved from something formulaic and lackluster into a spirited production, more viable for Broadway... Sunday night's closing performance revealed a production that has been dramaturgically tweaked and tightened, and whose performers evince more sass and confidence... Because the narrative line has been beefed up—and maybe director Walter Bobbie cracked his whip a little harder—the cast seemed to believe more in the show on its closing day. Star Christina Applegate, who plays the optimistic Charity Hope Valentine, went deeper into her character and as a result was much more credible. The company around her, which earlier had seemed to hold back like seasoned runners waiting for a laggard to catch up, let go with gusto. Denis O'Hare brought to mind Gene Wilder in his beautiful, funny turn as Oscar. And the company of women surrounding Applegate—including Solange Sandy and Natascia Diaz as wiser coworkers—shone without showing Applegate up. It's too bad that this last performance was not where Sweet Charity began in Minneapolis. Then again, it was a try-out."

Dominic P. Papatola of St. Paul Pioneer Press: "Applegate is a gamer, clearly willing to do whatever director Walter Bobbie and choreographer Wayne Cilento ask as she throws herself into the part. In the role of good-hearted dance-hall hostess Charity Hope Valentine, she's up to the technical requirements: Her singing voice, while not particularly mighty, is sufficient to the task. As a dancer, she moves very nicely indeed and as an actor, she imbues Charity with a rough-hewn, gawky sense of charm. But, while Applegate hits all the notes, she doesn't-at least at this point-make any music. She still has the small, constrained presence of a screen performer, and her personality and character seldom project beyond the lip of the stage. She's following directions; she's just not transcending them... But Applegate's lack of star power is only part of the problem in the show. Though original librettist Neil Simon has worked over the original script and the show now starts with a bang—the familiar 'Big Spender' number—the book is still plagued with problems. The second act drags, unaided by the interpolation of a couple trunk songs by the original composer/lyricist team of Cy Coleman and Dorothy Fields."