Sweet Charity (Nottingham Playhouse) [2018]

[notmymuse]

I've seen this show three times, and (perhaps unsurprisingly) it's really how Charity is played and by whom that makes all the difference. I saw the West End version a few years ago and hated it. I had to see a friend in an Am Dram version a while later and loved it. The woman who played Charity was sweet, believable, vulnerable and you rooted for her.

So I'd usually give this a miss, but I can't wait to see what someone of Rebecca Trehearn's calibre can do with Charity. After her Show Boat I think she may make this really special.

[sf]

Feb 9, 2018 11:24:24 GMT @aspiringthespian said:

Rebecca Trehearn is playing Charity!!!

She's wonderful, and the score is wonderful, and she'll sing the hell out of it... and maybe I don't need to see another production of a show whose plot essentially consists of a woman getting slut-shamed over and over and over again, the final time because (shock! horror!) she isn't a virgin.

[learfan]

Apologies if there is a thread already but i couldn't see one. Just travelling back after today's matinee. First time seeing it on stage. This was excellent, Rebecca Treahern gave a crackerjack performance. I saw her in Showboat and she won the Olivier for that. The dancers were sharp and witty. Four stars.

[BurlyBeaR]

Merged

[AddisonMizner]

I too saw the matinee of this yesterday, my first time seeing it onstage. I enjoyed the production, and thought there were some very strong performances, but I have major issues with the material itself.

The story just isn’t very gripping, which I think is partly down to its episodic structure. Characters come in, and then disappear. There is also very little conflict to keep an audience interested, and it just sort of meanders along. It runs at almost 3 hours, and it feels like it. The ending is not satisfying at all. I liked how it didn’t go for a happy ending, but it seemed to be at odds with what characters had been saying, and I didn’t really see the motivation.

There are many hit songs in this show that have been a success outside of the show, and they are indeed very catchy. However, I don’t think the score as a whole is very good either. The songs, with a few exceptions, stop the show cold. They do not develop story or character in the way that good musical theatre songs should, and seemingly come out of nowhere. “The Rhythm of Life” is one such example, and whilst it is a showstopping moment in this production, I was left thinking what the hell was happening, and what it had to do with anything in the show. Charity’s “Somebody Loves Me” is equally as random, with the parade and American flags. The dance also goes on forever, and again hardly develops the story.

So certainly not in my top 10 of shows, and I probably wouldn’t see another production.

[robertb213]

I pretty much agree with all of the above, I thought it was a first-rate cast and a fabulous leading lady delivering a great production of an average musical. It did feel too long and my mind wandered quite a lot. The performances are without question the strongest element, there wasn't really a weak link among them. Rebecca was just brilliant, although I didn't think she looked entirely comfortable in the dance moments. But her acting was spot on and every time she sang, she was sublime 😀