English Theatre Sweet Charity

„There ain‘t no use fl appin‘ your wings, ‘cause we are all stuck in the fl ypaper of life.“ Working as a hostess in a dance hall Charity Hope Valentine lives a life with a row of disappointments. Having just been ditched by her boyfriend good-hearted Charity is fed up with her situation and determined to change something – „There‘s gotta be something better than this.“ Dreaming of a life including a big romance and a handsome guy to fall in love with she grasps the first opportunity that presents itself: The famous film star Vittorio Vidal takes her with him. Being in his apartment Charity is starstruck, not believing her luck – „If my friends could see me now“. But even when she seems to have reached her destination, she recognises that „without love, life would have no purpose“; Charity leaves again, meeting Oscar. He appears to be the perfect man and Sweet Charity blames her luck on the „Fickle fingers of fate“. Life could not have been more perfect, when Oscar proposes and the couple prepares their marriage. On the big day, however, he retreats saying he cannot go through with the wedding. He, too, runs off and Charity is left on her own, singing „I‘m the bravest individual“ as the last song.
Including numbers such as „Big Spender“ and „The Rhythm of Life“, „Sweet Charity“ is a production that was originally directed by Bob Fosse – one of the greatest theatre choreographers of all time. With music by Cy Coleman, lyrics by Dorothy Fields and the book by Neil Simon the play still is a celebrated piece of work and ensured great entertainment, when we watched it in the English Theatre in Frankfurt. Featuring Kate Millest in the leading role, she performed absolutely brilliantly – really bringing the character‘s hopes and thoughts across.
All in all the production cared for a fabulous evening with some excellent stage work and greatly talented actors.
Critics are positive only and people having seen it are completely blown, thinking it to be highly recommendable. Our group thus had a fantastic evening, which is why there is a visit every year to one production out of many other really good shows.
So, if you should ever see an advertisement – it is definitely worth a visit!

Rebecca Bauer