‘She’s (Not) There’: Musical theatre ghosts, Gwen Verdon and the Broadway revivals of Sweet Charity

The memory of acclaimed theatre performances (what Marvin Carlson refers to as ‘ghosts’) pervade the musical theatre repertoire and frequently emerge from a given work’s inaugural first-class production. In many cases, the originating actor’s performance circulates through popular culture for a protracted period of time by way of repeated stage revivals or mediated records: cast albums, television performances and feature film adaptations. The greater the number of performance documents or the longer the association with the role, the more enduring the musical theatre ghost. Gwen Verdon’s turn as Charity Hope Valentine in the inaugural Broadway production of Sweet Charity (1966) represents an exception to this rule as recorded documents of her performance are comparatively nominal, she did not remain closely affiliated with the role once the inaugural production closed and she did not appear in the feature film adaptation. Even so, reviews of Sweet Charity ’s 1986 and 2005 Broadway revivals confirm that Verdon’s performance haunts the property. In this article, I contend that her ghost persists due to her long association with the inaugural production’s director, Bob Fosse, and the fact that she co-authored the musical’s original choreography with him.