It's the Rhythm of Life!

I'm quite happy to be back at the Royal Exchange. In what seems to be a growing Christmas tradition to see their Christmas/end-of-year musical (following Little Shop of Horrors and Into The Woods), I found myself there again last night for the press night (fancy schmancy!) of Sweet Charity - not the most Christmassy of shows but hey ho, I digress.
The show made its Broadway premiere in 1966 and was nominated for 9 Tonys, winning 1 for Bob Fosse's original choreography. Since then, it has been revived many times, on both sides of the pond.
This is pretty much a new show for me, as while I may have recognised a couple of numbers from the Cy Coleman and Dorothy Fields show (and I certainly hope most people do), I had never seen it before, neither on stage nor the Shirley Mclaine film, so I was not really sure what to expect... And, what came out felt like a heart-warming and heart-breaking (by the end of it) 60s rom-com.

Set in 60s NYC, the story follows Charity Hope Valentine, a dance hall hostess who is, shall we say, a bit unlucky in the love department; and starting with Charity herself, Kaisa Hammarlund was just incredible! She may not have the best voice in the cast, but to be honest, I don't think that made any difference, seeing as Charity is more of an actress role (if that even makes sense). From the second she walked on stage, you connected with her, you got behind her, you wanted her to succeed. She was kooky, she was naive, she was vulnerable yet also had this inner optimism that she WILL get out of the dance hall, though is destined to have her heart broken again and again. She was definitely the centre of the show - and also the star.

Hammarlund's not the only one to mention though, as there are other little gems dotted around, starting with a bit of gender-bending; it was definitely a brave decision of having the traditionally male Daddy Brubeck (the leader of the Rhythm of Life Church) to be cast as a woman. As The Rhythm of Life started playing (which I forgot was even in this show even though I've sung it in the past with uni choir...!), it felt a bit odd at first, but no-one could deny Josie Benson (last seen as Camila in In The Heights) gave a FANTASTIC rendition. Other support came from Cat Simmons (last seen as Nancy in Curve's Oliver!) and Holly Dale Spencer (last seen as Grace in the UK tour of Annie) as Helene and Nickie, Charity's slightly more realistic and sarcastic bffs.

Putting on a musical in a theatre in the round, like the Royal Exchange, but director Derek Bond must have had a confidence after doing Little Shop of Horrors, as he has had to adapt something that is just as iconic to Sweet Charity as Audrey II is to Little Shop: Bob Fosse's choreography. There was evidently no possibility that they could use the iconic line for Hey Big Spender (one of the few things I did recognise from the show), instead, re-working it so it starts in the girls' dressing room, looking almost as if the girls are mocking the way they're making a living. Although, there was a little nod to it in I'm A Brass Band (you'll see), and I also really enjoyed how it was used in If They Could See Me Now (also forgot to mention Hammarlund's performance in that song was electrifying).
What I also need to note is how they worked the "stuck in an elevator" and "stuck in a hot-air balloon" scenes, because they were brilliantly done.

Like I said, this is a new show for me and I wasn't really sure what to expect. Well, I was pleasantly surprised and I would recommend you to the Royal Exchange and catch this, especially if you like your rom-coms =)