Musical not quite on song

SWEET CHARITY, George Lawton Hall, Mossley

THE trouble with this Sixties musical is that it isn’t half as good as it might be, given a script by Neil Simon.

The show was written when musicals were undergoing big changes, when three acts and obvious scenes were giving way to long narratives almost arbitrarily chopped into sections with no obvious start, middle or end — leaving scene-change and rhythm problems to cope with.

So it is here: the script seems to have more of an eye towards the cinema than the stage, even though the Broadway version came first.

And the other problem is that of central character Charity. She isn’t a dope, nor someone of easy virtue, nor an innocent abroad, yet she appears to be pretty much all three or none of them, depending on who she is with.

Which adds up to a musical that might seems straightforward but is in fact horrendously complicated, not least of which because of the brash Cy Coleman score with its great songs, admittedly, but also with its blaring brass and frequent changes of tempo, chord and style, all of which must be followed to the note.

Which is a roundabout way of saying Ashton Operatic Society didn’t quite do it justice, not on opening night anyway, on its second visit to Mossley’s George Lawton Hall.

The show looked decidedly unsure of itself, with so-so timing of Simon’s sharp one-liners and quickfire exchanges — the result being a rather plodding overall feel, despite a pretty hot orchestra under Paul Firth.

There is fun though, especially from Andrew Summers and his ridiculously over-the-top Italian accent as film star Vittorio (though the closet scene is rather messily handled); and there are laughs from the best performance of the night, courtesy of David Noble as timid suitor Oscar who gets the timing and mannerisms spot on and sings confidently.

Not quite on song yet is the performance of Samantha Bates as Charity, which since she is is on stage pretty much all night leaves something of a hole.

Samantha uses a strange, nasal accent and childlike vocal mannerism that don’t really fit the character, and clearly hasn’t been given enough business by director Martyn Preston, nor lively, simple choreography by Jean Griffiths, to remain on top of the role and the show’s driving force.