EDITOR’S NOTE: A regular attendee of Endicott Performing Arts Center shows shared with BAMirror the comments he posted on EPAC’s Facebook site following last week’s opening weekend of Sweet Charity. Performances conclude tomorrow (Sunday, March 24).
Reviewed by Ed Arnold
Another fine evening’s entertainment was provided by the cast and tech crew of EPAC for the musical Sweet Charity. When I go out for an evening, I want to be entertained with comedy, dancing, live music, and this show had it all. A few stream-of-consciousness notes:
Casting may have been this show’s strongest point — Charity (Jana Kucera) and Oscar (Michael Farley) just “looked” like the characters they played. The same for Ursula (Lydia Dozoretz), the male dance hall patrons and the police in the first scene. I sat in the balcony and a good balance was struck between the vocalists and the pit band – good job, sound.
Jean Graham-Otis gets a special nod not only for singing ability, but hand gestures and turns of the head at just the right moments during her songs – very professional. My favorite musical number of the night was her duet with Darla Foti, “Baby Dream Your Dream.” Also recognition needs to go to Vittorio (Lou Ligouri) for a so smooth it was almost Lou Rawls-ish rendition of “Too Many Tomorrows.”
Most original was the subway scene. All of the cast members involved were so well coordinated during the station stops. Props to whoever did the jewelry for Ms. Kucera – it was halfway through the second act when I suddenly became aware of the tasteful choices made.
Emily Foti – as always enjoyed your choreography, a big shout out to your dancers for their always entering performance. Pit band – an extra big shout out to musical director Maureen Helms and crew. Thank you again, everyone, for a wonderful evening.
EPAC is located at 102 Washington Ave., Endicott. For tickets, visit www.Endicottarts.com or call (607) 785-8903.