Charity Hope Valentine has a coronary heart of gold.
That coronary heart is matched solely by her substantial singing and unbelievable dancing chops. On the stage, in entrance of a crowd, she is pure savant.
But that confident confidence doesn’t translate as soon as the stage lights on the Fandango Ballroom fade to black. Taking walks with a person beneath the glitter of moonlight bouncing off a shallow stream of water presents no romance. If something, that shallow physique is the place Charity’s goals go to drown.
Charity Hope Valentine (Ruby Day) along with her geeky beau, Oscar Lindquist (Jeffrey Brian Adams) within the musical “Sweet Charity” at San Jose Stage. (Dave Lepori for San Jose Stage Firm)
San Jose Stage’s manufacturing of the 1966 musical “Sweet Charity” survives an uneven begin and finds its sea legs because it progresses, and is superbly carried out all through. The manufacturing, which caps the theater firm’s forty second season, runs by June 29.
It is a musical that feels traditional but empowering, and Neil Simon’s classic wordplay inside Dorothy Fields and Cy Coleman’s wealthy rating holds up properly.
The bouncy Charity (Ruby Day) lives in a fantasy world, the place the lads in her life in all probability spend their days coining richly poetic phrases to impress her. The truth is that these males are usually not of the chivalrous selection, and Charity, who actually wears her coronary heart on her shoulder, is left melancholy.
A near-drowning results in her likelihood encounter with Italian movie star Vittorio Vidal (Noel Anthony), and he or she results in his condominium. Regardless of the thrill of being in a significant star’s presence, she in the end finds herself hiding in a nook whereas he engages in passionate lovemaking along with his viciously jealous girlfriend, Ursula (Adria Swan).
Except for being a singing and dancing superhero, Charity can be a league chief in likelihood conferences. A kind of has the potential to finish Charity’s shedding streak of horrid males when she will get caught in an elevator with claustrophobe Oscar Lindquist (Jeffrey Brian Adams). He’s a geeky tax accountant charmer who provides the “Sweet” adjective to her title.
Sadly, there may be one other phrase that may describe Charity — secretive, as in, she is reticent to let Oscar know she’s an entertainer for males, a paid taxi dancer.
It’s an fascinating tact on her half, one borne of unhappiness and misogyny, a girl compelled to stay with disgrace for her occupation. By way of the pervasive smiles, she by no means feels worthy that real love with a real soul is hers to entry.
The wide-ranging efficiency of Day is revelatory; each inch of Charity’s pleasure and heartbreak is a masterful flip. Simply discover Day’s variance by Charity’s bright-eyed heartbreak, the tenuous grasp of her many fleeting loves, and the pure pleasure when her toes are burning the ground. The efficiency is constructed from the stuff of 1 who understands the wants of a traditional main woman, embracing the magnitude of what “title character” really means.
The veteran performer Adams is a powerful advocate for Oscar’s thriller. Assembly the right lady and marrying her is a world that Oscar desires to occupy, however the present’s tragic payoff is dealt with superbly in director Kenneth Kelleher’s staging, simply among the best moments within the present. All of it’s each infuriating however is smart for Oscar, who proves to be in means over his head, regardless of Charity’s passionate pleas.
Different elements of the present contribute to the piece’s efficient unity. Songs akin to “Big Spender,” and “If My Friends Could See Me Now,” are drastically enhanced by Bethany Deal’s good interval costumes, whereas Monica Moe’s choreography pops in every single place.
Along with the robust tech elements, supporting characters are allowed to stay and breathe freely. Each Erin Rose Solorio and Jaqueline Neeley nail their model of “Baby Dream Your Dream,” and Nick Mandracchia’s booming model of the chuckly “I Love to Cry at Weddings” is an efficient contact to additional put together the viewers for the denouement that really stuns within the ultimate tableau.
Sadly, till the suitable man gives polish, Charity’s golden coronary heart could also be doomed for eternal tarnish.
‘SWEET CHARITY’
E-book by Neil Simon, Music by Cy Coleman, Lyrics by Dorothy Fields, offered by San Jose Stage Firm
By way of: June 29
The place: San Jose Stage, 490 S. 1st St., San Jose
Working time: 2 hours, half-hour with an intermission
Tickets: $47-$60; thestage.org
Initially Printed: June 21, 2025 at 4:34 PM PDT
