The 1966 Broadway musical “Sweet Charity” will be coming to the Southern Utah University stage as the final show of the department of theatre, dance, and arts administration semester. The show, with music by Cy Coleman, lyrics by Dorothy Fields, book by Neil Simon and directed and choreographed by Mindy Cooper, opens Nov. 22. Performances take place Nov. 22 and 23 and Dec. 2 and 6 at 7:30 p.m., with matinees Nov. 23 and Dec. 7 at 2 p.m.
“Sweet Charity” follows the story of dance hall hostess Charity Hope Valentine as she navigates life, love, friendship and her career.
“Everything about her oozes love and joy and happiness,” said Ashley Thormahlen, who plays Charity. “She is definitely a hopeless romantic, and I think she’s just looking for someone to be with, that’s kind of her end goal.”
The cast and crew behind “Sweet Charity” have felt that the show is a valuable piece to perform now, due in part to parallels between the world at the time of the show and the world now.
“I think this show strives to bring happiness to its audiences and to leave audience members trying to find more hope in the world,” said Thormahlen. “[It] calls upon levity and it calls upon happiness, and it is kind of calling the audience to say, ‘hey, things are bad, and that’s okay.’”
“Sweet Charity” is music directed by SUU professor Lisa Quoresimo, who brought Cooper on as the show’s director. The two are long-time collaborators, having met at UC Davis, and are the co-founders and directors of Catalyst: A Theatre Think Tank. Quoresimo had long wanted Cooper to bring her expertise to SUU, and for Cooper to see the talent the university has to offer.
“I had told her how fabulous our students are. I couldn’t wait for her to meet them and get to see the talent we have here on this campus, and she was as blown away as I expected her to be by the level of talent that we have here,” said Quoresimo. “It’s been really fun to see them connect, to see them having a great time together.”
Cooper herself is a Broadway veteran, having started her career as a dancer before performing in the original cast of the “Chicago” revival, choreographing for Broadway, and eventually transitioning into directing.
“I started assisting every choreographer in the Broadway community just to be in the room and get process, and that led to me choreographing,” said Cooper. “Choreographing led to directing. It’s a natural progression.”
The original Broadway production of “Sweet Charity” was directed and choreographed by theatre legend Bob Fosse, who serves as a massive inspiration to Cooper.
“He is one of my idols, and I wanted to do justice to his work,” said Cooper. “This is definitely a show you cannot tell the story of without dances.”
In addition to directing a show at SUU this semester, Cooper also taught a comedic acting styles course from Oct. 16 to Nov. 22. Because of this, some students in the cast of “Sweet Charity” had the opportunity to learn from her in multiple settings.
“I get to see her as a professor, as somebody in the rehearsal room, as a director, as a choreographer,” said Micah Cajilig, who plays Daddy Brubeck in the show. “It has been really, really great to see the multifaceted personality that she brings.”
In the rehearsal process alone, students have had the chance to learn valuable skills from Cooper.
“Mindy is a hoot and a holler. I love Mindy so much. She brings a light into [every] room that she walks into, and she also trusts her actors,” said Thormahlen. “She’s taught me so much about trusting my own instincts and being able to let the blocking and the movement come from within me, instead of looking outwards to be told what to do or where to move.”
“Sweet Charity” performances will take place in the Randall L. Jones Theatre. Tickets are free to SUU students, faculty and staff.
“Come support and relish in how talented your friends are, your friends and your colleagues,” said Cooper. “Let the story transport you and come out singing, come out humming, come out elated.”
Author: Tessa Cheshire
Photographer: Tessa Cheshire
Copy Editor: Kayd Johanson
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