Sweet Charity

by Neil Simon

Genres: Plays, Theatre, Musicals, Drama

Hardcover

First published November 12, 1966

About the author

Marvin Neil Simon was an American playwright and screenwriter. He wrote more than 30 plays and he received more combined Oscar and Tony nominations than any other writer. He was one of the most reliable hitmakers in Broadway history, as well as one of the most performed playwrights in the world. Though primarily a comic writer, some of his plays, particularly the Eugene Trilogy and The Sunshine Boys, reflect on the twentieth century Jewish-American experience.

Reviews

[Shawn Deal · Rating 4 out of 5]

A wonderful if bitter sweet story. Great music.

[Jojo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Final book of 2024!
Summary: Charity works at a dance hall and doesn't have much luck when it comes to men until she gets stuck in an elevator with Oscar. The two hit it off and begin seeing each other though he takes it a lot slower than she's used to. She's also lied to him about what she does for a living. But then when she admits her job, he doesn't shun her and in fact, winds up proposing to her. She accepts and plans a new life with her beau, including leaving the dance hall. But then Oscar changes his mind because he's a big fat prude/misogynist. It ends kinda weirdly with a fairy turning up and Charity hopeful for her life.
Review: This was a fine play though it is also a musical apparently so it's a bit weird to read lyrics to songs. Yeah, nothing super exciting about it. There were a few funny bits though.
Grade: C-

[Eva B. · Rating 3 out of 5]

I knew he was too good to be true.

[Sarah Vaughn · Rating 4 out of 5]

This script was hilarious, but I wish Charity could’ve had a happy ending 😔

[Mark Woodland · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nothing for it, I pretty much hate this script and the score that goes along with it. The main character is vapid and shallow; a dance-hall taxi girl (dances with men for money) meets and falls in love with a customer. This is set in the 20s when such things might occur, but the story contains little of the potential fun that the era offers. Instead, we're made to endure scene after scene of the prospective couple; eventually he asks her to marry him. The other scenes are standard-issue numbers involving the other girls from the dance hall, none of whom believe that our heroine can ever escape the limited life they share. The problem is, we're given so little information about either leading character that it's difficult to get involved with either of them. While I found myself generally rooting for it to work out, I didn't care that much. Then, the story ends very suddenly, without much lead-up or explanation, in a scene where he tells her that he can't marry him, so she leaves to "live hopefully ever after". Thus, the inherently unhappy ending is supposed to be happy because she picks up her pluckiness and moves on. The piece, on the whole, fails to work in my opinion, and I find it to be some of Neil Simon's weakest writing.

[Stuart Piper · Rating 4 out of 5]

The lyrics of "Where Am I Going?" are one of the greatest internal character monologues from musical theatre history, especially when juxtaposition to the buoyant I'm A Brass Band.
I love this musical, for its heartbreak and hilarity, in equal measure - deeper than it first appears.