FROM STAGE TO SCREEN … SWEET CHARITY

Sweet Charity - 1966

Music by Cy Coleman; lyrics by Dorothy Fields;

Book by Neil Simon, based on film Nights of Cabiria, by Federico Fellini, Tullio Pinelli, Ennio Flaiano.

ACT 1

Song List ..... Sung By

You Should See Yourself ....  Charity and Dark Glasses

The Rescue .....  Passers-By

Big Spender .....  Nickie, Helene and Fan-Dango Girls

Charity's Soliloquy .......  Charity

Rich Man's Frug  Career Girl, Ballplayer and Patrons

If My Friends Could See Me Now ....  Charity

Too Many Tomorrows ......  Vittorio Vidal

There's Gotta Be Something Better Than This .....  Charity, Nickie and Helene

I'm The Bravest Individual ......  Charity and Oscar Lindquist

ACT 2

Rhythm of Life ..... Daddy Johann Sebastian Brubeck, Brother Harold, Brother Eddie and Worshippers

Baby Dream Your Dream .....  Nickie and Helene

Sweet Charity .... Oscar Lindquist

Where Am I Going ..... Charity

I'm A Brass Band ..... Charity and Brass Band

I Love To Cry At Weddings ..... Herman, Mike, Nickie, Helene, Girls and Patrons

New York : Jan.29, 1966

PALACE THEATRE; 608 performances.

Directed & choreographed by Bob Fosse;

Costumes, Irene Sharaff ;

Cast: Gwen Verdon (Charity Hope Valentine), John McMartin (Oscar Lindquist), Helen Gallagher (Nickie), Thelma Oliver (Helene), James Luisi (Vittorio Vidal), Arnold Soboloff (Johann Sebastian Brubeck), Ruth Buzzi (Good Fairy), Barbara Sharma (Rosie).

London: Oct. 11, 1967

PRINCE OF WALES THEATRE; 476 performances.

Cast: Juliet Prowse (Charity Hope Valentine), Rod McLennan (Oscar Lindquist)

The initial concept of the musical was as a one-act play with the second half of the evening devoted to a new work by Elaine May. Eventually director Bob Fosse abandoned the second one-act musical in favor of expanding the first one into a two-act production. Initially Fosse himself did the adaptation of the Fellini film, then Neil Simon was called in. The musical version changed the Roman prostitute to a NY dime-a-dance hostess at the Fan-Dango Ballroom. Charity's romantic, trusting nature gets her involved with an ltalian screen star and a square named Oscar whom she meets in a stuck elevator at the 92^nd St. "Y." Later they also get stuck on a Coney Island ferris wheel: Though Oscar promises to marry Charity, he backs down and our heroine must return to living "hopefully ever after."

 

Awards

1966 Tony Award^® Best Musical  Book by Neil Simon; Music by Cy Coleman; Produced by Fryer, Carr & Harris Inc [nominee]  

1966 Tony Award^® Best Composer and Lyricist  Music by Cy Coleman; Lyrics by Dorothy Fields [nominee]  

1966 Tony Award^® Best Actress in a Musical Gwen Verdon [nominee]  

1966 Tony Award^® Best Featured Actor in a Musical John McMartin [nominee]  

1966 Tony Award^® Best Featured Actress in a Musical Helen Gallagher [nominee]  

1966 Tony Award^® Best Scenic Design  Scenic Design by Robert Randolph [nominee]

1966 Tony Award^® Best Choreography Bob Fosse [winner]  

1966 Tony Award^® Best Direction of a Musical Bob Fosse [nominee]

 

Sweet Charity - 1969

Universal, 1969, Color, 148 minutes

Producer: Robert Arthur
Director: Bob Fosse
Screenplay: Peter Stone
Music Director: Joseph Gershenson
Musical Score: Cy Coleman
Song Score: Cy Coleman and Dorothy Fields
Choreography: Bob Fosse and Gwen Verdon
Set Decoration: Jack D. Moore
Costume Design: Edith Head

Cast:
Shirley MacLaine (Charity Hope Valentine),
Sammy Davis, Jr. (Big Daddy),
Ricardo Montalban (Vittorio Vitale),
John McMartin (Oscar Lindquist),
Chita Rivera (Nickie),
Paula Kelly (Helene)

 

SOUNDTRACK

1 Overture
2 My Personal Property
3 Big Spender
4 Rich Man's Frug
5 The Pompeii Club
6 If My Friends Could See Me Now
7 There's Gotta Be Something Better Than This
8 It's A Nice Face
9 The Rhythm Of Life
10 Sweet Charity
11 I'm A Brass Band
12 I Love To Cry At Weddings
13 Where Am I Going?
14 Finale