'Sweet Charity,' sweet indeed
Everyone knows the "showstopper," the number that so delights an audience, they can't stop applauding. Most musicals count themselves lucky to have one.
Drury Lane Theatre Oak Brook's outstanding "Sweet Charity," has four. The first, the iconic "Big Spender" --the aggressively seductive come-on featuring choreographer Mitzi Hamilton's spot-on homage to original director/choreographer Bob Fosse -- comes 25 minutes into this swingin' 1966 tuner with its bouncy, Cy Coleman score buoyed by Dorothy Fields' sassy lyrics and an amusing book by Neil Simon.
The last comes early in second act courtesy of the sparkling "The Rhythm of Life," featuring a breezy solo by Darren Matthais. In between there's "Rich Man's Frug," an uber-cool, deliciously choreographed number (with more knockout moves by Hamilton and an impressive performance by dancer Erin Thompson) worth the price of admission.
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The wonderfully giddy "If My Friends Could See Me Now," featuring lithe, leggy Summer Smart (Nessarose in Chicago's "Wicked") follows. Smart's a dynamo and her pouty, hip-shaking, high-kicking, tush-wiggling turn as the guileless Charity Hope Valentine -- the dance hall hostess with a good heart and bad taste in men -- suggests a star in the making. See her here, and someday you may say you saw her when.
Jim Corti's razor-sharp, exuberantly directed production earned every bit of its extended applause. Credit also rests with music director Tom Sivak's bold, brassy nine-piece pit band and a top-drawer ensemble including Nicholas Foster as neurotic nice-guy Charlie, Charity's latest love; Vanessa Panerosa's tough-cookie taxi dancer Nickie; Ericka Mac's equally hardened Helene and Matthais' smooth-as-silk jazz cat turned guru, Daddy Brubeck.
Also deserving mention is Brian Sidney Bembridge's fab set --vivid and minimalist -- with sliding pieces that make for seamless transitions. Tatjana Radisic's mod costumes (candy-colored hippie garb straight from the corner of Haight and Ashbury; flashy dancehall couture and sparkly, sexy, little black dresses) capture perfectly the era's free-wheeling sensibility.
In light of a couple of recent Drury Lane misfires that paired top-flight talent with sub-par material, the theater's stellar "Sweet Charity" is indeed a sweet treat.
"Sweet Charity"
Location: Drury Lane Theatre Oak Brook, 100 Drury Lane, Oakbrook Terrace
Times: 1:30 p.m. Wednesday; 1:30 and 8 p.m. Thursday; 8:30 p.m. Friday; 5 and 8:30 p.m. Saturday; 2 and 6 p.m. Sunday; through May 18
Running Time: About 2#189; hours with intermission
Tickets: $24-$54, not including lunch/dinner
Box office: (630) 530-0111 or www.drurylaneoakbrook.com
Rating: For most ages