Theater Review—

‘Sweet Charity’ Indeed: DCT Pulls Out All The Stops

Now That It Has A Second Chance At Life

By Julie Stern

BRIDGEPORT — After long months of agonizing over its future, Bridgeport’s Downtown Cabaret Theater has been given a new lease on life in the form of several grants which have enabled them to open their official season by doing what they do best: a dynamic visual delight in the form of the Bob Fosse extravaganza,  Sweet Charity.

With a book by Neil Simon and music by Cy Coleman and Dorothy Fields, this fable of a trusting, tender-hearted but dim-witted taxi-dancer who dreams of finding true love has its roots in an original screenplay by Federico Fellini, so you can imagine that it is not something that would feel at home on the Hallmark channel.

What makes it so smashing and wonderfully entertaining is Scott Thompson’s faithful reproduction of the original choreography by Fosse, who conceived and staged the original 1969 Broadway production.

Charity Hope Valentine — played by Leslie Stevens with the wistful naïveté of a young Shirley MacLaine — ekes out a precarious living by dancing with lonely and lustful strangers at the Fandango Ballroom. Unlike her more hardboiled sister- hostesses, Charity retains her innocent faith in the goodness of human nature, even after (in the opening scene) the boyfriend whom she has been supporting — and whose name she has tattooed in a heart on her arm — steals her purse and shoves her into the lake in Central Park.

“At least I got my shoes back,” she assures the policemen who pull her out of the water.

Between late night stints at the Fandango, Charity’s quest takes her through the various regions of the city, from the elegant Pompei Club, the luxury apartment of an Italian movie star, and even an Art Deco office building to The Rhythm of Life Church (an obscure religious sect dedicated to marijuana that meets in the shadows under the Manhattan Bridge), the parachute jump at Coney Island, a marching band parade on a nameless street, and finally to a park bench outside City Hall where happy couples go to get m…

While the actual sets are rudimentary, this great diversity of place is conveyed by means of two of DCT’s  longtime assets: Lesley Neilson Bowman’s stunning costuming, and Hugh Hallinan’s evocative lighting. Each scene brings with it another glorious dance number, performed by a dance ensemble that is large enough (and good enough) to fill the stage and delight the audience. There is the Fandango girls’ “Hey, Big Spender!”  and “Rich Man’s Frug” to “If My Friends Could See Me Now,” “Rhythm of Life” on down to “I Always Cry At Weddings,” this is the kind of show that you wish would go on for another couple of hours.

Although as a parable there is not a great demand for dramatic realism here, there is some fine acting, especially by Ellen Harvey as Charity’s tough friend Nickie, and also James Strauss, as Oscar Lindquist, the shy, tightly buttoned insurance accountant whom Charity meets when they are trapped together in a jammed elevator.

Given this second chance on life, DCT has pulled out all the stops with this production, demonstrating that they are indeed the finest musical theater in the state.

Go down to Bridgeport and see this show and have a wonderful time!

(Performances continue Friday and Saturday evenings, and Saturday and Sunday afternoons, until April 30.

Tickets are $45.50, with discounts for students, seniors and groups. Rush rickets are also available.

Call 203-576-1636 for orders and details.)