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strong>Sweet
Charity is a musical with
music by Cy Coleman, lyrics by
Dorothy Fields and book by Neil Simon. It is
based on Federico Fellini's
screenplay for Nights of Cabiria.
However, where
Fellini's black-and-white Italian film concerns the romantic
ups-and-downs of an
ever-hopeful prostitute, in the musical the central character is a
dancer-for-hire at a Times Square dance-hall.
Productions
- Original Broadway and West End productions
The original Broadway production, directed and choreographed by Bob
Fosse,
opened on January 29, 1966 at the Palace Theatre and ran for 608
performances.
It starred Gwen Verdon, John
McMartin, Helen Gallagher, Thelma Oliver, James Luisi, Arnold Soboloff,
and
Sharon Ritchie. The production was nominated for 12 Tony Awards, winning
for
Fosse's choreography.
The show was produced in the West End at the
Prince of
Wales TheatreJuliet Prowse. in 1967 starring
- 1969 Film version
The 1969 movie, Sweet
Charity, also directed and
choreographed by Bob Fosse, starred Shirley MacLaine and John McMartin,
re-creating his original Broadway role.
- 1986 Broadway revival
A revival opened on Broadway at the Minskoff Theatre on April 27, 1986 and closed
on March 15, 1987, running for 369 performances and 15 previews. Again
directed
and choreographed by Fosse, Debbie AllenBebe Neuwirth as
Nickie and
Michael Rupert as
Oscar. The production won four Tony Awards including
Best Revival of a Musical.
When Allen left the show, another Fosse "disciple", Ann ReinkingChicago. starred as Charity with
took over as Charity. Reinking would
work with Neuwirth in the 1996 Broadway revival of
- 1998 Concert production
In June 1998, BC/EFA presented an all-star fully staged
one-night-only
concert version of the show. It starred Chita Rivera, Bebe
Neuwirth, Donna McKechnie,
Debbie
Allen and in her last public stage appearance, Gwen Verdon, all in the
shared
role of Charity.
- 2005 Broadway revival
Christina
Applegate starred in another revival of the show, opening on
Broadway at the
Al
Hirschfeld Theatre on May 4, 2005, after a troubled three-city
preview tour.
Applegate broke her foot in Chicago,
the second stop on the tour, and was replaced by her standby, Charlotte
d'Amboise. Then, after the final leg of the tour in Boston,
the producers announced that the production
would not be continuing to Broadway due to lack of interest. However,
two days
later, the Broadway engagement was on after Applegate convinced the
producers to
continue. A week into previews, Applegate rejoined the cast, which also
included
Denis O'HareErnie
Sabella. [1] The show was
nominated for three Tony Awards including Best Revival of a Musical and
Best
Actress in a Musical for Applegate. (Reportedly, pop icon Britney Spears was asked
to replace Applegate when her contract expired, but declined the offer.)
The
show ended its Broadway run on December 31, 2005, after playing 279
performances. and
- 2006 US tour
A national tour of the 2005 Broadway revival began in September 2006
starring
Molly Ringwald and
later Paige Davis as
Charity.
- 2009 Menier Chocolate Factory revival
A revival of the show opened for a limited engagement at London's Menier
Chocolate Factory on 21 November 2009 and closed on 7 March 2010. It
starred
Tamzin Outhwaite as Charity.
- 2010 West End revival
Tamzin is reprising the title role in the West End transfer of the
successful
Chocolate Factory production of the show. Playing at the Theatre
Royal, Haymarket the show
opened officially on 4 May 2010 after previews began on 23 April. This
production holds the distinction of being the first to have the same
actor (Mark Umbers) play
all three of
Charity's love interests: Charlie, Vittorio and Oscar. Similarly, Josefina
GabrielleChicago. plays both Nickie and Ursula while Tiffany Graves plays
Helene.
Both Gabrielle and Graves have starred in the London production of
- 2011 Toronto production
The 2010 West End revival will play in Toronto in March and
April 2011.[2