Sweet Charity

Fun, Laughs and a good times were had by all at Brychall High School for NADOS’s latest production of Sweet Charity.

Charity Hope Valentine’s problems aren’t unique—a dead end job, a string of dates with flawed feller’s and a knack for making all the wrong choices. She knows, in her heart of hearts, that there's gotta be something better than this. Jean Carter exuded confidence and style and took real ownership of the role giving a portrayal with the exact amount of Hope, Faith and Charity and the all-important vulnerability.  Her vocals were strong backed with tons of feeling and her dancing was flawless. I loved the fact that she came out soaked after being pushed into the lake – I have seen so many productions where this attention to detail is lacking.

Vicky Dilworth as Nicky gave a confident performance making the most of every opportunity to shine with great ability in her singing, acting and dancing.

Aileen Wiswell as Helene was great however I would have liked to see her relax into the character with more confidence at times.

Andrew Marsh played Charity’s squeaky clean accountant boyfriend, Oscar Lindquist. Andrew gave an outstanding portrayal with perfect comic timing and a great on stage relationship with Charity. Your glasses at times some presented a glare against the lights and hid some of your facial expressions, which could have been prevented if the lenses had been taken out. The ‘lift’ scene was a particular highlight with some really funny moments.

We understood the complexity behind Oscars personality and even though he is very much ‘the comedy part’. Andrew didn’t play him for the laughs. It was an unforced and very natural performance that made him so much more likeable.

Joe Wiswell played Vittorio Vidal. Vittorio needs to charming and sophisticated and ooze sex appeal.  Altough Joe didn’t convince me that he was the famous Italian movie star he played the role with confidence and tackled a difficult song well.

Ursula March was a great cameo role for Dawn Wright as she threw her diva strops left, right and centre stage.

The Fan-Dango Ballroom dancers were excellent – a real mix of shapes and sizes to cater for all tastes!!!! The characterisations were bang on, each giving a thoroughly consistent performance throughout.  Emma Fairhurst as Rosie really stood out for me capturing the innocence of her character beautifully.

Jake Hankey needs to be congratulated for his outstanding portrayal of Daddy Brubeck. ‘Rhythm of Life’ was one of the best numbers in the show and ably led by this 15-year-old star of the future.

Further congratulations must be offered to Josh Hankey for so ably stepping up to the mark and taking on various cameo roles at very short notice – I am sure the production team and cast were impressed with your efforts as much as I was.

The company really stepped up and performed in way I’ve never seen. They executed every dance number with an impressive amount of energy and precision and in characters which were consistent throughout the whole show.  Considering the mix of abilities of this particular company, they should all be commended for their hard work and determination to execute moves with such flair and great fosse style.

Lisa Griffiths, Director and Choreographer really took the production to pieces and put it back together with a fabulous cast and company. The scenes were beautifully directed with real attention detail and the choreography was excellent whilst being true to the style of Fosse throughout. It was quite something. The “Frug’ was outstanding and probably matched the flair and sophistication I saw on the West End a few years back.

Barry Dilworth was not only the Musical Director for this production but he also turned around as the character Herman which I thought was a very clever and creative idea.

Barry ably led the band who sounded just great and kept the show going with plenty of pace and energy.

Overall, another superb and thoroughly enjoyable production by NADOS.

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