"...the play pulses with a sexual energy..."

A very enthusiastic audience left the packed Consolati Performing Arts Center after watching Sweet Charity, the opening presentation of Barrington Stage Company’s tenth anniversary season.

Based on Federico Fellini’s Academy Award winning film, Le Notti Di Cabiria, the play pulses with a sexual energy aided by red lighting which infuses the stage and carries over to clothing, jewelry, even a shopping cart.

That pounding sexuality punctuates the play from the first big ensemble dances to the last. The play opens on The New York Skyline etched in black and bathed in red.

On comes Charity Hope Valentine, to meet her self absorbed boyfriend, who worries more about slicking back his hair than listening to Charity, a dance hall date, whose optimism about life rarely falters.

Charity of the big generous heart only wants someone to love her but when her boyfriend pushes her into the lake and steals her purse, onlookers who save her give her a second chance for love.

Director Rob Ruggerio, sets a fast pace for the cast in a show that never slows down but still manages to bring a quiet poignancy to Charity, Nickie and Helene as they wish for a better future instead of a life of returning night after night to “defend themselves” against their preying partners.

Chorographer Ralph Perkins inspires his dancers to high kicking, high energy, large scale always sexy dancing that reflects a big, New York city experience. In the Pompeii Frug, well dressed dancers make moves that range from bumps and grinds to a version of the Monkey interspersed with am African beat.

The later Rhythm of Life ensemble dance which includes a Volkswagen as a centerpiece and a spirited dance as a way to express a religion that started in San Francisco then moved to NY.

The cast comes up high from stars to bit players.

The Broadway veteran Valerie Wright, as Charity Hope Valentine, spends almost the entire play on stage but never wavers in her singing and dancing. In an inspiring performance she brings Charity alive with her insecurities and hopes as real as her ever prominent optimism.

Mary McCloud as Nickie, Charity’s dance hall friend, creates a tough lady with humor and understanding who knows the ropes but accepts them.

Nat Chandler, Vittorio Vidal, the movie star exudes suavity as he invites Charity to experience a taste of the high life before he retreats to his real girlfriend.

Karl Kenzler, as the fussy, old fashioned beau Charity always wanted, hits the perfect pitch, staid and ordinary.

The sets bring added punch to the story, the opening skyline simple but effective. In what seems like seconds the crew removes the city set and replaces it with Vidal’s luxurious bedroom with a perfectly perceived bed, softened with a bank of pillows and a closet.

The musicians in the band give the actors and dancers exactly what they need.

Barrington Stage Company’s Sweet Charity proves a perfect way to celebrate ten years of Julianne Boyd’s well-done, highly-acclaimed productions.