Theater review: 'Sweet Charity'

“Sweet Charity” celebrates the life of a relentlessly optimistic innocent at the Players Center for the Performing Arts. The Tony Award-winning musical boasts a script by Neil Simon, music by Cy Coleman, lyrics by Dorothy Fields and original choreography by Bob Fosse. It’s an Americanized remake of Fellini’s “Nights of Cabiria”—substituting a taxi dancer with a heart of gold for a streetwalker with the same cardiac anomaly.

Charity Hope Valentine is the heroine’s improbable name. She’s poor, uneducated and living in the male-dominated New York City of the “Mad Men” era. Her job description is basically: “Dance for money while being groped.” Charity doesn’t let it get her down—Hope is her middle name, after all. This hope fiend is still looking for love in all the wrong places.

Plot-wise, the musical is built like a picaresque novel — substituting a clueless innocent for a loveable rogue—a female Candide. Charity goes on a journey, bounces from situation to situation, and never changes. At the musical’s start, her freeloading boyfriend pushes her in a lake in Central Park and steals her life savings. From there, the fickle finger of fate sends her to the Fandango dance hall, an Italian movie star’s hotel room, a broken elevator, a hippy-dippy life-force cult, Coney Island, Times Square and right back into the lake — this time pushed by a nice-guy fiancé who doesn’t take her money but doesn’t want to marry her, either. Charity emerges, dripping wet, and lives hopefully ever after. 

The play hums along like a well-oiled machine under Helen Holliday’s direction. There are many moving parts. But it all clicks — and never stops moving.

It’s a dance-heavy musical with a fun, Austin Powers vibe. Choreographer Kelly Burnette adds her own spin to Fosse’s original choreography—snippets of 1960s dances like the frug, the swim, and the watusi. Jared E. Walker’s mod costume designs fit perfectly. Jeff Weber's sets are creative and minimal. The songs — including “Big Spender,” “If My Friends Could See Me Now” and “There’s Gotta Be Something” — are burned on America’s playlist. The hard-charging, backstage band does a great job blasting them out. As to the singing/dancing actors ...

Tahlia Byers is a high-voltage, high-kicking dancer and a fine physical comedian. (She’s excellent in the silent scene where she’s hiding out in the film director’s closet drinking a beer.) Byers wins the audience over with her 200-watt positive energy. Dylan Jones follows in Peter Sellars’ chameleon footsteps in dual roles as Vittorio Vidal (the puffed-up Italian film star) and Oscar (the claustrophobic nebbish who gets trapped with Charity on a lift). Jones gives each character a completely different body language, posture and vocal characterization. (If not for the program, I’d think they were two different actors.) Amanda Heisey and Jessie Tasetano are winning as two of Charity’s exploited co-workers. Great performances from the rest of the ensemble cast, as well.

The musical’s a lot of fun, though it clashes with contemporary sensibilities. Charity’s many things, but feminist role model isn’t one of them. Men kick her when she’s down; she keeps smiling and hoping. But take heart …

I have it on good authority Charity got her act together after attending a consciousness-raising session in 1969. She went on to launch her own series of pricey, self-help seminars in 1971. Her “Optimist Outlook Training” sessions made her a rich woman. She retired to Longboat Key in 1987.

IF YOU GO

 “Sweet Charity” runs through Jan. 29 at The Players Center for the Performing Arts, 838 N. Tamiami Trail, Sarasota. For more information, call 365-2494 or visit theplayers.org