Sweet Charity: A New Musical Comedy (1966 Original Broadway Cast) [Cast Recording, Original recording remastered, Extra tracks]

Gwen Verdon, John McMartin, Helen Gallagher, Thelma Oliver, James Luisi, Sweet Charity (Related Recordings), Cy Coleman, Dorothy Fields | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (June 30, 2010)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Cast Recording, Original recording remastered, Extra tracks
• Label: Sony
• ASIN: B00000J28T
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #47,793 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #53 in Music > Broadway & Vocalists > Musicals > Classic Musicals

Track Listings

1. Overture

2. Charity's Theme

3. You Should See Yourself

4. Big Spender

5. Charity's Soliloquy [#]

6. Rich Man's Frug [First Release][#]

7. If My Friends Could See Me Now

8. Too Many Tomorrows

9. There's Gotta Be Something Better Than This

10. I'm the Bravest Individual

11. The Rhythm of Life

12. Baby Dream Your Dream

13. Sweet Charity

14. Where Am I Going?

15. I'm a Brass Band

16. I Love to Cry at Weddings

17. Finale: If My Friends Could See Me Now

18. I Love to Cry at Weddings [First Release][#][*]

19. You Wanna Bet [*]

20. Where Am I Going? [*]

See all 27 tracks on this disc

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

This document of Bob Fosse's 1966 Broadway production is almost enough to make one forget the dreadful and dated 1968 film version with Shirley MacLaine (who, though brilliant, never rose above the film's concessions to the era--who'll ever forget Sammy Davis Jr.'s "psychedelic" production number on "The Rhythm of Life"?). Ironically, it was the late, great Fosse's film debut. More's the pity he simply didn't just provide a visual document of his original Broadway show; after all, it was Fosse who'd conceived the notion of a musical comedy based on Fellini's 1957 film Nights of Cabiria as a vehicle for Broadway star Gwen Verdon (Mrs. Fosse at the time) and then put writer Neil Simon together with composer Cy Coleman and lyricist Dorothy Fields. Onstage, it simply worked great. The score produced two huge hit standards--"Big Spender" and "If My Friends Could See Me Now"--and proved that fantasies about hookers (even though Charity's called a "taxi dancer" here) with hearts of gold could provide mainstream entertainment years before Julia Roberts became Pretty Woman. Sony gives the rerelease its regular Broadway Masterworks series update treatment, with previously unreleased tracks, elongated songs (featuring material cut from the original album), interviews from opening night, and even composer Coleman performing three songs from the show with an orchestra for a long-unavailable album he cut in the late '60s. --Bill Holdship

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars the original and still the best; Gwen Verdon's greatest role, October 11, 2003

By 

Byron Kolln (the corner where Broadway meets Hollywood) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 100 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Sweet Charity: A New Musical Comedy (1966 Original Broadway Cast) (Audio CD)

SWEET CHARITY is one of the greatest of Broadway musicals. Very rarely has it been bettered than in the original 1966 cast album.

Gwen Verdon found her greatest stage role in Charity Hope Valentine, the down-on-her-luck dancehall hostess with a heart of gold. Verdon's performance would have won her yet another Tony, but she lost to Angela Lansbury's equally-good performance in MAME.

Verdon is joined by a dream cast including John McMartin (INTO THE WOODS), Helen Gallagher (NO NO NANETTE), Barbara Sharma, James Luisi, Ruth Buzzi, Thelma Oliver and Arnold Soboloff.

Gwen Verdon belts out her numbers in her own trademark style. Verdon could sing out entries from a phonebook and stop the show. She's quite fetching in the quirky character pieces "You Should See Yourself" and the snappy wordplay of the clarifying "Charity's Soliloquy". She later brings down the house with the certifiable showstoppers "If My Friends Could See Me Now", "I'm a Brass Band", "Where Am I Going?" and "I'm the Bravest Individual".

As Charity's two gal pals Nickie and Helene, Helen Gallagher and Thelma Oliver sing the caustic "Baby Dream Your Dream", and join Verdon for the showstopping "There's Gotta Be Something Better Than This".

An essential cast album in any collection, this reissue of SWEET CHARITY on the Columbia Broadway Masterworks label includes rare audio of Fred Robbins interviewing the cast at the opening-night party as well as a longer 'first release' version of "I Love to Cry at Weddings".

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Definitive version of Broadway classic!, February 8, 2005

By 

Nelson Aspen "Author/Journalist" (Los Angeles & NYC, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Sweet Charity: A New Musical Comedy (1966 Original Broadway Cast) (Audio CD)

This is a Braodway musical that has it all, and the great songs from this classic are all beautifully preserved on this CD.

The best thing, though, is the performance of Gwen Verdon in the title role. Just through her vocals, you will be able to imagine her in her prime..hoofing, mugging and charming you as she did with so many lucky audiences over her long, illustrious career.

A great tribute to all the creative forces involved in the creation of this durable, toe-tapping, musical production!

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars What can you say..., February 6, 2001

By 

Michael A. Benedetto (New York, NY USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Sweet Charity: A New Musical Comedy (1966 Original Broadway Cast) (Audio CD)

...about a score that includes "Big Spender" and "If My Friends Could See Me Now", but in which they aren't the best songs?

Cy Coleman's other work has been distinguished and attractive enough, but it was with this show that he left a permanent mark on the history of the American musical theatre. The story of Charity (essayed unforgettably by the late Gwen Verdon) is an uproarious and very moving fable about love, trust and their implications. This potent mix of emotions didn't entirely translate to the movie (where Charity's humiliation was a bit too realistic for comfort), but it emerges fully from the original cast album.

Coleman's score (with fine lyrics by Dorothy Fields) is dazzling, ranging from the aforementioned standards to the haunting "Where Am I Going?" to the exhilarating "I'm a Brass Band". And this recording, despite its small omissions (the third part of the "Rich Man's Frug" dance sequence, for example), stands as the definitive account, and would do so even without the interesting bonus tracks.