Sweet Charity chosen as Rotary’s 2013 play

PICTOU – Sweet Charity will be performed in 2013 on behalf of the Rotary Club of Pictou.
Director Don Hill announced Friday that the popular Broadway musical has been chosen and will be presented from April 11 to 13.
“It’s a great production and has had three successful Broadway runs in 1966, 1986 and 2005,” he said. “It was also made into a movie in 1969.”
Adapted from the book by Neil Simon, Sweet Charity features music by Cy Coleman and lyrics by Dorothy Fields.
It is based on Federico Fellini’s screenplay for Nights of Cabiria. But where Fellini’s black-and-white Italian film concerns the romantic ups-and-downs of an ever-hopeful prostitute, in the musical the central character is a dancer-for-hire at a Times Square dance hall.
The musical premiered on Broadway in 1966, where it was nominated for 12 Tony Awards, and also ran in the West End as well as having revivals and international productions in Melbourne, Australia, Mexico City and Sao Paulo, Brazil.
The musical won for best revival among its five Tony Awards in 1986. Fosse’s choreography in 1966 earned him a Tony award.
Bob Fosse conceived, directed and choreographed the original play that opened in January 1966 and closed in July 1967 after more than 600 performances.
Fosse’s wife Gwen Verdon, who played Charity in the original performance, remounted the choreography with him and taught many of the ensemble numbers to the female chorus.
Shirley MacLaine starred as Charity in the movie.
John McMartin recreated his Broadway role as Oscar Lindquist, while Fosse directed and choreographed this film.