O.C. Musical Cries for More ‘Charity’

If ever there were a musical with a rooting interest, it’s “Sweet Charity.” Every moment of the Neil Simon (book)-Bob Fosse (dance)-Cy Coleman (music) musical is calculated to have us hope against hope that New York dance-hall gal Charity gets out of her rut and gets her guy.

Because it’s based on Federico Fellini’s ironic, melancholic “Nights of Cabiria,” all the rooting won’t be rewarded. But Charity has a way of bouncing back, and we want her to.

We’d especially want her to in director Gary Krinke’s Buena Park Civic Theatre revival if Lynda Blais had the chops for Charity.

There’s a reason Charity attracted the likes of Gwen Verdon (on Broadway) and Shirley MacLaine (on film); this a quintessential acting-singing-dancing role of musical comedy.

Blais can act, but she can’t sing or dance, and it muffles the joy this show can exude.

Fellini’s Cabiria is a feisty hooker whose unlikely naivete allows her to be used by men. Simon and Fosse soften Cabiria into Charity, but she’s still trapped in a world where she sells her sexuality while assuming the best about people. The musical replaces the film’s overarching sense of doom with Simon’s ear for quips (this came after “Barefoot in the Park” and “The Odd Couple”) and Fosse’s eye for erotic-comic body movement. Charity is in the spotlight, with no death wish in sight.

All the more need for a showstopper. Blais speaks and behaves with a charming, Runyonesque floozy quality, but it feels more like shtick than inhabiting a character.

The best voices here are men in small roles: Benjamin Perez as screen star Vittorio Vidal and Robert Hoyt III as gruff dance-hall boss Herman.

Pardee’s Oscar is all gangly, nervous goodness. As Charity’s dance-hall buddies, Melanie Baptista and Ramona DuBarry combine the kind of knockout moves and vocals we want from Charity.

Musical director Jo Monteleone and conductor Bob Marino provide vibrant support. Jim Book’s light effects come off as a bit too computerized, and Ernest Avila’s black-and-white set effectively serves as comic-art backdrop.

BE THERE

“Sweet Charity,” Buena Park Community Recreation Center’s Patio Theatre, 8150 Knott Ave. 8:15 p.m. Thursday-Saturday (except tonight). $6-$12. Ends Aug. 29. (714) 562-3844. Running time: 2 hours.