Sweet Charity review

Sweet Charity review

Sweet Charity Review - Broadway musical

The musical is based on the Italian-French film ‘Nights of Cabiria’, filmed in 1957. The scenario was written by great F. Fellini. The production was one of the first works of Robert Louis (Bob) Fosse as a director and choreographer. How his wife, Gwen Verdon, told, they accidentally saw this Italian film. The picture has made an indelible impression on Bob Fosse – he could not even sleep that night. Early in the morning, the man woke up his wife and showed the outline of a script for a new musical. Became famous in the mid-1960s, Fosse could already make productions according to his taste. He bought out the rights from F. Fellini to make it a libretto for the play for 25 000 dollars and invited Neil Simon for cooperation. Subsequently, the director did not mention his name as a librettist in this theatrical.

Fosse met many dancers for a fee, so he decided to change a profession of the protagonist. Through this experience, the choreographer wanted to create a number, where the women lined up trying to attract the attention of men, so they hired them as partners for the dance. The implication was that many of them would be able to continue communication with own customers on a more intimate level. The music for the show has been done in the style of vulgar jazz, performed in cabaret. Dance performances were deliberately grotesque. The main character played by Gwen Verdon. Premiered on Broadway, it has caused a major stir, since the musical was markedly different from counterparts across the country. After this show, Bob Fosse has received fame as a provocative creator.

Because of its unusual style, the theatrical received only one award from the Tony, although it was nominated in 9 categories. And yet, Mr. Fosse’s victory as a choreographer has become a landmark. He competed in this category with the legendary Jack Cole, founder of jazz dance. Gwen Verdon received an award from the Outer Critics Circle. After the furor of the Broadway show, it was decided to film it in Hollywood. Producers confirmed Shirley MacLaine for the lead role. The actress said that she would shoot only if the director would be Bob Fosse. Since producers required to make a film in Hollywood-style, the picture failed at the box office. But thanks to the innovation of director in the movie, a new style of dance numbers has appeared. Subsequently, based on it, video-clips began to be shoot like this.

The second Broadway production also realized Bob Fosse. During rehearsals of the musical, he died at the hands of Gwen Verdon, who was the second director of the show. Performance has been 5 times nominated for the Drama Desk, receiving 1. Also, the play won 4 wins out of 5 categories at Tony. Musical was noted by Outer Critics Circle and Theatre World. The third Broadway production was 3 times nominated for Tony and four – on the Outer Critics Circle. This show also won 1 from Theatre World and 1 from Drama Desk. There are about 10 versions of this histrionics, staged in different parts of the world.
Last Update:July, 13th 2016

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