When Canberra Theatre Centre director Bruce Carmichael heard how good the last professional Sydney production of the musical Sweet Charity was, he tried to buy a ticket.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
However, none was available, he said, " for love or money".
The four-and-a-half-week Sydney season in February had sold out in three days. It would win three Helpmann Awards (out of eight nominations) for its lead actress (Verity Hunt-Ballard), director (Dean Bryant) and choreographer (Andrew Hallsworth).
Now, Carmichael will have a second chance to see the show, as the production – with most of the original cast, including Hunt-Ballard – is coming to the Canberra Theatre Centre's Playhouse in February.
It is being presented by the centre in association with Luckiest Productions, Neil Gooding Productions, Tinderbox Productions and Hayes Theatre Co.
Sweet Charity's Canberra season was announced on Monday and Carmichael said it was intended to herald the return of professional touring musical theatre to the centre.
The 1966 musical – with book by Neil Simon, music by Cy Coleman and lyrics by Dorothy Fields – tells the story of eternal optimist Charity Hope Valentine, who works in a dance hall but dreams of finding true love. Its score includes the numbers Big Spender✓ and The Rhythm of Life.
"We worked professionally with Opera Australia to present My Fair Lady and The Pirates of Penzance but their more recent productions have been too big for Canberra. We don't have the space and they're too big; they can only play in the big capital cities," Carmichael said.
Sweet Charity seemed an ideal show to bring to Canberra.
Richard Carroll, a co-producer of Luckiest Productions and a board member of Hayes Theatre Co, said it was an intimate production to fit in the 111-seat Hayes Theatre in Sydney and its relatively modest size – 12 actors and four musicians – made it suitable for touring.
"A big part of its appeal, we were told, is how wonderful it is to see great performers up close: you don't often get the chance in musicals," Carroll said.
He said the enduring popularity of the show could be attributed to its tuneful score and its lovable lead character.
Both Carmichael and Carroll hoped this would be the start of an ongoing collaboration between the Canberra Theatre Centre and the newly formed Hayes Theatre Co (formerly the Darlinghurst Theatre).
Carmichael said he had been meeting several companies to discuss ways in which they could collaborate on mounting and touring musicals with wide public appeal to market locally and further afield.
"Canberra has a lot of cultural institutions: the visual arts are well represented, but the performing arts aren't. If we could get three or four shows a year, we could get people coming in from the regions and they could have three or four cultural experiences here," he said.
Sweet Charity is on at the Playhouse, Canberra Theatre Centre from February 11 to 22. Tickets $55-$100 go on sale on September 18 at 9am. Bookings: canberraticketing.com.au or 62752700.
