Running until 17 February 2013
Tickets from 29 Euros, various concessions
'Sweet Charity' is a real feel-good musical with laugh-out-loud scenes aplenty. This slick production recreates the swinging dance halls of sixties New York. We follow the fortunes of happy-go-lucky dance hostess Charity Hope Valentine.
Kate Millest dazzles in the role, like a little whirling fireball she sings, quips and flips through the piece. Cast amongst an ensemble of long-legged and somewhat jaded dance hall vixens, she stands out as a plucky little fighter who never gives up hope of finding a better life.
Mostly, this involves finding the man of her dreams to whisk her away into happily married life. Unfortunately, she often ends up with the wrong type of guy.
Ian Virgo plays each of Charity's consecutive boyfriends: hipster Charlie, pony-tailed movie star Vittorio Vidal and geeky Oscar Lindquist. As the stars of the show Virgo and Millest dominate the stage with their dynamic characters and delight with their numerous one-on-one scenes.
The highlight for this reviewer was when Charity and Vittorio banter and flirt in his penthouse bedroom as Vittorio's outrageous Italian accent only heightens the pathos when he repeats his famous movie line 'Without love, life has no meaning.' For her part, Charity has her own motto when people ask her why she is a dance hall hostess: 'fickle finger of fate' and the two of them fool around with this seductive little refrain. Her verbal armoury also includes 'Up Yours!' for any wiseguy punter who crosses her path. The scene reaches farcical proportions when Vittorio's angry mistress, Ursula, barges into the room and Charity is bundled into the closet.
The supporting cast are excellent and dance, rock and sing their way through numbers such as 'Hey, Big Spender' with aplomb.
Indeed, the musical lives up to the reputation of the theatre which has also put on hit productions of 'The Full Monty', 'Hair' and 'The Who's Tommy' (all by the same director as 'Sweet Charity' - Ryan McBryde). In some ways, such professional Broadway-like shows would be deserving of a bigger theatre. A packed house night after night, may suggest the need to expand above the 300-seat capacity. If the theatre's current success continues, this will become a necessity. Then the live band would not have to be hidden out of sight as is the norm.
But then again, who would want to miss an intimate evening of fun and games with Sweet Charity?
