Charlie Girl

Charlie Girl, the British musical with a book by Hugh & Margaret Williams, and music by David Heneker and John Taylor, was a modern Cinderella story set at a down-at-heels English estate. When it opened in the West End on December 15, 1965, it received negative reviews, in part because it seemed like a throwback to a much earlier era, while London was swinging at the height of '60s pop culture. But if critics couldn't love it, audiences did; it ran 2,202 performances and was also a big hit in Australia when a production got there in 1971. That it was never mounted on Broadway is some indication of the generally low regard in which British musicals were held in the '60s, but also some measure of its localism. The biggest reason, however, may be that the score, despite some English music hall songs, seems to aim more at the Las Vegas of the '60s than Broadway. Several songs, among them the title tune, "What's the Magic?," and "Like Love," have the swinging swagger of something a middle-of-the-road pop singer like Tony Bennett or Vic Damone might perform rather than what was typical of Broadway at the time. Charlie Girl came back to the West End on June 19, 1986, in a revival that starred Paul Nicholas as the plucky Cockney who wins the heart of the title character (Prince Charming doesn't get Cinderella in this version), while veteran movie star Cyd Charisse appeared in the prominent role of an American heiress. Of course, Charisse was primarily a dancer whose singing voice was usually dubbed onscreen, and she didn't have to handle much of the score. Consequently, she is a minor figure on the cast album. But Nicholas, Lisa Hull as Charlie, and Mark Wynter as Jack, the Prince Charming character, take up the slack. Still, this remains a slight show with derivative, merely pleasant songs. ~ William Ruhlmann|