Stage Review - Sweet Charity (Tacoma Musical Playhouse)
Stage Review - Sweet Charity
Presented By: Tacoma Musical Playhouse - Tacoma, WA
Show Run: April 10 - May 03, 2026
Date Reviewed: Friday, April 17, 2026
Run Time: 2 Hours, 45 minutes (including a 15-minute intermission)
Reviewed by: Breanne Jensen
This is the somewhat sour life story of sweet Chairty, also known as Charity Hope Valentine. A name full of positivity in a world full of negative outcomes and luck for our sweet leading lady. “Sweet Charity” follows the life of Charity, who is a private taxi dancer at the Fandango Ballroom in New York city during the 1960’s. She is affectionately naïve and painfully trusting when it comes to anything important, especially men and love. Searching for love in the wrong places (including work) she keeps finding herself being heartbroken, abandoned and/or stolen from. One day, in a wild turn of events, she meets a famous Italian actor who shows her an incredible, fancy and yet odd evening out. Later she gets stuck in an elevator with a very handsome clean-cut businessman. This mysterious elevator man is different than her usual type and she feels that must be a sign after the evening that she’s had, this could be it, this could be true love! But as I mentioned, her story isn’t as sweet as she is. So many things transpire in this show, and I hope that everyone gets to experience it at least once in their life. Having been in a version of the show myself in 2013, truth be told much lesser quality than what is currently on stage at Tacoma Musical Playhouse through May 3 in a production directed by Harry Turpin, the way I always describe it is, “a very weird, underrated, great dancing show”.
The proscenium of Tacoma Musical Playhouse for this show is outlined with a mod like pattern and symbols of flower power and love with the boxes the proscenium is made up of, changing colors to amplify every scene, even before, during and after the show as an audience member. I had to take a picture of it, because I loved how it went with the entire mood of the production. The sets, from Harry and Dennis Kurtz, are minimal, which truly works in favor of the production to create room for the grand dance numbers and easily be able to move locations and settings with ease. The minimalistic sets alluded to me how Charity doesn’t take herself too seriously.
Bob Fosse is the original choreographer and director for the Broadway production, just like our directing and choreographer duo for TMP’s production, Harry Turpin and Christina Naficy. The direction is clear and effective, that leads to concise storytelling, and the choreography hits every mark for what Sweet Chairty is known for. The Frug dance completely stands out (brava cast, I know it’s a long – weird- one) and is impressively executed by everyone involved. All dance numbers were created and performed wonderfully and are the solid backbone of the show. The costumes (love the frug headpieces) from Krista Lofgren, lighting (John Chenault), set design and scene changes are all well thought out and fluid. When Charity and Oscar get brought out in the fly system, it brought the production level up another notch to remind us of the professionality.
The leading lady of our show, Charity, is played by the excellent Whitney Shafer who is on stage most of the time with very little down time. Shafer sings the role perfectly, bringing the quirky and gullible elements to the character and still allowing her to be loveable and someone you’re rooting for, all whilst dancing with ease and grace. She is Charity in this production and deserves to be seen. Her counterpart, Oscar, played by Jesse Geray, has a beautiful voice and sings his role effortlessly. Geray brings humor, anxiety and frustration as Oscar, leaving the audience unsure at times what is going on in that head of his! A standout moment for me personally, is the frug dance, because not only is it very specific and deliberate, but also highly lengthy and exhausting. Lead dancer Erika Tomiko shined in this role and made it impossible to keep your eyes off her whenever she is on stage, as well as dancing cast member Brittany Todd. Kyle Laird, who plays Daddy (promise that is not a typo), brings soulful vocals, comedic timing and hysterical stereotypes to his role, leaving the audience with a smile on their face and the question, “what did I just watch?”. The entire cast worked cohesively as team and created a fun, lighthearted, impressive production, wonderful job to everyone!
Our leading character really is a sweet woman and the show is a realistic view of life whether it is the 1960’s or the 2020’s. Tacoma Musical Playhouse’s production of “Sweet Chairty” teaches us to be careful and not trust that easily, but to never harden yourself due to what others or the world may do to you. To always listen to your girlfriends, work hard, don’t be afraid to show exactly who you are and dream your dreams. The most important lesson, however, is to never tattoo your boyfriend’s name on your arm, just in case you need the reminder. Whether you are a fan of the 1960’s, Bob Fosse and his choreography, great dancing, catchy music or a good chuckle, “Sweet Charity” has it all. You’ll be sitting in the audience thinking, “If my friends could see me now” they would definitely wish they had seen this show too. Get your tickets now and enjoy their themed and cleverly named cocktails in the lobby!
Sweet Charity runs on stage at Tacoma Musical Playhouse through May 3. For more information, including ticket availability and sales, visit https://www.tmp.org/.
Photo credit: Dennis Kurtz
