Theater Review -- Tom Titus

Tom Titus

In the beginning, there was Gwen Verdon. Then came Shirley MacLaine to

amplify the role for movie audiences. Around this part of the world, in

the 1970s and ‘80s, if you were discussing “Sweet Charity,” you were

talking about Roberta Kay.

Today the torch has been passed to the illustrious Kerri Vickers,

who’s kicking up her heels with a vengeance in the title role of the

rarely revived paean to the 1960s, an eminently enjoyable version of

“Sweet Charity” at the Newport Theatre Arts Center.

Those of us who lived through the ‘60s usually wince when a show

celebrating that era is produced. It was, after all, the most stereotyped

decade in American history, with its peace signs, flower children and

antiwar protesters. Yet “Sweet Charity,” while firmly implanted in that

period, is more the story of a hard-luck dance hall hostess who just

happens to be stuck in that time frame.

Charity Hope Valentine is the eternal optimist, a cheap date with a

heart of gold who just seems to have it broken at every turn. At Newport,

this character is completely nailed by Vickers, a skilled singer and

dancer with the goofy, self-effacing comedy stylings of a Carol Burnett

and the boundless energy an actress must possess to even consider playing

this role.

Director Michael Ross puts a comic gloss on this high-stepping

musical, with an enormous assist from choreographer Marie Madera,

re-creating some of Bob Fosse’s signature dance moves for a chorus line

with a rainbow of colorful wigs and individualistic moves. The dance

numbers (including the popular “Hey, Big Spender”) come at you in waves,

challenging you to take in all the various stylistic ingredients of this

delicious confection.

Occasionally, the choreography seems a bit repetitious, lingering

perhaps a minute or so too long. But that’s just giving Vickers -- who’s

on stage more than 90% of the time -- a chance to catch her breath before

moving on to the next big number. And in her hands, each number is a

biggie.

The supporting cast is replete with striking individual contributions,

particularly from Lewis P. Leighton as the claustrophobic milquetoast who

encounters Charity in a stopped elevator and seems destined to become the

man of her dreams. Leighton is as introverted as Vickers is extroverted,

and the combination clicks wonderfully.

The busiest actor in the cast is Jack Millis, who takes on a plethora

of cameo assignments before kicking into high gear as Big Daddy Brubeck,

pastor of the hippie Rhythm of Life Church in one of the show’s biggest

numbers and the one most likely to stir memories of TV’s “Laugh-In.” Thom

Gilbert smoothly plays an Italian matinee idol who invites Charity to his

apartment, then stashes her in the closet when his real girlfriend (a

hyperactive Emily Frantz) arrives.

Stressing the obvious point that “There’s Got to Be Something Better

Than This” are Charity’s fellow taxi dancers, warmly played by Karen

McCord and Broni Masters. Frank Valdez Jr. gives the cigar-chomping dance

hall proprietor a good heart beneath his gruff exterior, and the rest of

the huge cast revels in varying degree of 1960s flash and splash, richly

attired by TLC Costume Design.

“Sweet Charity” actually is a rare Neil Simon musical (he adapted it

from the Federico Fellini movie “Nights of Cabria”) with music and lyrics

by Cy Coleman and Dorothy Fields. But Simon’s gags are upstaged by the

Fosse-inspired dances and both play second banana to the marvelous

performance of Vickers in this elaborate comic retrospective from four

decades past.

* TOM TITUS reviews local theater for the Daily Pilot. His reviews

appear Thursdays and Saturdays.

FYI

WHAT: “Sweet Charity”

WHERE: Newport Theatre Arts Center, 2501 Cliff Drive, Newport Beach

WHEN: 8 p.m. Thursdays through Saturdays, 2:30 p.m. Sundays until June

30

COST: $15

PHONE: (949) 631-0288