“Sweet Charity” Morgan-Wixson Theatre
The smash critical and box-office success of Rob
Marshall’s film version of “Chicago” last year
has given way to a torrent of Bob Fosse revivals in the past year,
as smaller theaters scramble to find shows that will guarantee them
a built-in audience. The latest Fosse offering to hit the Los
Angeles area is “Sweet Charity,” a largely
underwhelming production of the Tony Award-winning 1966 musical
from The Santa Monica Theatre Guild. Even in the original musical
and subsequent film version starring Shirley MacLaine, the story,
which was loosely based on Fellini’s “Nights of
Cabiria,” was always secondary to the elaborate musical
numbers despite having the benefit of Neil Simon’s dialogue.
This weakness leaves a director and cast in the position of resting
on the strengths of classic Cy Coleman and Dorothy Fields songs
like “Big Spender,” and “If My Friends Could See
Me Now,” ““ hardly a hardship, considering the almost
universal appeal these songs have gained by now. The trouble with
this version of “Sweet Charity” therefore lies in the
one place where director Anne Gesling should have paid the most
attention: casting performers who can actually sing. UCLA student
Krystal Karpel certainly has enough plucky charm and dancing
ability to pull off her lead role as Charity Hope Valentine, the
dance hall hostess in love with being in love. But her singing
voice isn’t nearly strong nor special enough to prevent
audience members from shifting uncomfortably in their seats every
time she launches into another mediocre solo performance. At least
Karpel looks as if she’s enjoying herself on the stage, which
is more than can be said about the chorus of call girls populating
Charity’s workplace, the Fandango Ballroom. The ensemble cast
members keep stone-cold expressions throughout “Big
Spender,” in a decision no doubt intended to convey that
dark, ironic, sexy quality from the best Bob Fosse shows. The
result here is sadly the opposite, leaving a song as great as
“Big Spender” lacking any humor, fun, or sex appeal.
Gesling and choreographer Lucy Record, borrowing heavily from
Fosse’s original work, have sense enough to fill the
Morgan-Wixson stage with pretty girls in sparkly costumes, but over
and over again the singing performances tend to disappoint.
Jennifer Porter and Sydney Negley, singing “Baby Dream Your
Dream,” may be the only exceptions, as they at least manage
to belt out their duet with enough confidence not to put the
audience to sleep. -Sommer Mathis