STAGE REVIEW : Wittiness Is a Rarity in ‘Charity’ : The ensemble in the Golden West College production is too often noisy and cute when it should be witty and winking.

Charity in “Sweet Charity”--the Neil Simon, Cy Coleman and Dorothy Fields musical--is perky, loud and unsinkable. No matter how many times she gets pummeled by men and circumstance, Charity keeps bobbing up, that silly smile on her face.

In short, she’s annoyingly upbeat, just too plucky to be true. Charity may be the only low-rent taxi dancer without an attitude. No wonder Charity’s boyfriends keep dumping on her. Hey kid, get an edge and get a life!

At Golden West College, Myrona DeLaney plays Charity like many before her, just the bouncy way she’s written in the musical. It may not be DeLaney’s fault that she starts getting on the nerves pretty early on, but she does. DeLaney has a good voice and talent (she proved that as the witch in UC Irvine’s outstanding “Into the Woods” last year), but she’s too shrill this time out.

She’s not the only one. The primarily student cast in this John Ferzacca-directed production tries but doesn’t connect with one of the best features of this mediocre musical--the mocking of Pop Art culture in New York City during the late ‘60s. Too often the ensemble is noisy and cute when it should be witty and winking.

The show does do a decent job with a few key scenes. Ferzacca puts the Bob Fosse-inspired choreography of Rochelle McReynolds to good use in the “Hey Big Spender” number inside the seamy Fan-Dango Ballroom, the musical’s most memorable sequence.

The claustrophobic elevator passage--where Charity meets sweetheart Oscar (Joe Fletcher)--also is effective, mainly due to Fletcher’s ability to panic on cue.

One of the best performances is given by David Chrisman as Vittorio Vidal, the movie star who lifts Charity out of the mundane for one bittersweet night. His tired romantic demeanor gives him the air of a dime-store Marcello Mastroianni, which works nicely since “Sweet Charity” was loosely inspired by “Nights of Cabiria,” the far superior 1957 film by Mastroianni’s favorite director, Federico Fellini.

‘Sweet Charity’

A Golden West College production of the musical by Neil Simon (book), Cy Coleman (music) and Dorothy Fields (lyrics). Directed by John Ferzacca. With Myrona DeLaney, Ellen Itkoff-Heuer, Leslie Rowe, Mariakay Chakos, Maria Ramirez, Suzanne Vera, Heather-Loren-Bornfeld, Marissa Melhuse, Melissa Sharp, David Chrisman, Laurie Embler, Joe Fletcher, Eric Anderson, Robert Townsend and Marc Munoz. Choreography by Rochelle McReynolds. Sets by Charles P. Davis. Costumes by Wilma Meli. Lighting by Bill Georges. Sound by Scott Steidinger. Musical direction by David F. Anthony. Plays Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m. and Sunday at 3 p.m.at the Mainstage Theater, 15744 Golden West St., Huntington Beach. Tickets: $8 to $12. (714) 895-8378.