I saw Sweet Charity, Part Deux yesterday. Miss Applegate gave a credible and solid performance. She is not a dancer but she has done her homework and learned some basic steps and she acquits herself nicely. I don't know if she sits out the big dance numbers in There's Gotta Be Something Better Than This and I'm A Brass Band because of the recent injury or because she isn't a strong enough dancer to do what Charlotte D'Amboise does. I think it's a mix of both. She has a pleasant voice. If she had been a television star in the 50s and 60s she probably would have done her share of albums, a la Shelly Fabares and Paul Petersen and others. She's somewhat breathy at times and she does need two mikes, one at her forehead and another at her ear (you can see them both and that everyone else only has one) but there is a sweetness to her performance and a determination that makes her real. As I said earlier, she has done her homework and though she's not a "musical theatre" natural I don't think she should be trashed as a silly California actor trying to make a name on Broadway. Yes, in a side to side comparison, I prefer Charlotte D'Amboise, but CD is also a Broadway vet with years of training and performance. Miss Applegate's first attempt in a Broadway musical is not the mess that some people were hoping for or expecting. I hope the critics mention this kind of information in the reviews. I only have 90 seconds in my Radio Wales review so it will be difficult to distill all this down, but Brantley (at the NY Times) has lots of room, as do most of the others. I don't think she deserves unqualified praise, but she does not, IMHO, deserve dismissal, either.
