Charity Hope Valentine is reborn as Caridad Esperanza Valentin in the new Latin-accented revival of “Sweet Charity.” But while the ethnic flavoring adds some spice to the 1966 musical about a dance-hall hostess desperately looking for love, this enthusiastic but wan production is sorely missing the brassiness of previous incarnations.
How could it not be, considering the skimpy five-piece band playing the tuneful score by Cy Coleman and Dorothy Fields? When the accompaniment on “I’m a Brass Band” features but one lonely trumpet, you know that something’s missing.
The show, adapted from the Fellini film “Nights of Cabiria” and featuring a jokey book by Neil Simon, was originally conceived by Bob Fosse, whose flashy staging and choreography compensated for the thinness of the material. But there’s little that’s flashy about this rendition, despite its large cast of 28 performers featuring several CCNY students and recent graduates.
Even the Latin touches seem half-hearted in this production by the New Haarlem Arts Theatre. Other than a few lines of dialogue and several signs featuring Spanish phrases (“El primo beso,” when Caridad and her new boyfriend Oscar have their first kiss) and the substitution of a Santeria priestess for a church minister, there’s little that substantially different.
To be fair, director Julio Agustin and choreographer Lainie Munro do a more than decent job with such classic numbers as “Big Spender,” “Rich Man’s Frug” and “There’s Gotta Be Something Better Than This,” occasionally referencing Fosse’s signature moves without slavishly imitating them.
Puerto Rican newcomer Edlyn González is appealing in the title role originally played by Gwen Verdon, with her pixieish features and splayed limbs well conveying the character’s innocent sexuality. But while the performer’s dynamic dancing is first-rate, her singing lacks the oomph necessary for songs like “If My Friends Could See Me Now.”
Of the supporting cast, Allicia Lawson and Aili Venho are fun as the more cynical dance-hall girls; Cedric Leiba Jr. strikes the right preening notes as Vittorio Vidal, changed here from a movie to telenovela star; Jasmine Romero is very funny as his fiery Latina girlfriend; and Jeff Wojcicki is endearing as the neurotic Oscar.
The production also features a new ending that’s more in keeping with modern times but doesn’t really work any better than the original. It seems that Caridad/Charity — who at one point plaintively sings “Where Am I Going?” — seems forever destined to never find out.