Saturday Music from Sweet Charity

Recently, THE FUTURIST! was brought to mind of a Broadway musical revival of SWEET CHARITY he saw in 2005. The revival starred Christina Applegate and THE FUTURIST! had a bit of trepidation about attending the evening show with two friends. He had agreed to go, but had some reluctance due to seeing a TV star in the famous starring role. Those feelings were dashed after he saw how well Ms. Applegate performed and how enjoyable this musical, based on Fellini's Nights of Cabiria, was as a production and entertainment.

The sequence below is from the 1969 film version of the musical starring Shirley MacLaine and had choreography by Bob Fosse. The number below is entitled THE RICH MAN'S FRUG and is performed when Charity is escorted to a very classy nightclub by an Italian movie star. The dance is lengthy, but it seemed to make this viewer want even more. Performed live, this number is a marvel to witness ... the body movements of the lead female dancer, the robotic odd stork-like strides of the two main male dancers with their cigarettes perfectly poised and the rest of the company in perfectly timed physical syncopation are all pure Bob Fosse moves. The cigarette puffs that emanate from the men's mouths even seemed expertly choreographed.

Listen ... and watch:


THE RICH MAN'S FRUG
from the motion picture Sweet Charity (1969)
music by Cy Coleman