YMMV / Sweet Charity

• Big-Lipped Alligator Moment: "Rhythm of Life." Appears, is awesome, and is never referred to again. The Movie gave it some relevance, as Oscar is seen getting over his neurosis while hiding in a tire after the church runs from the cops, but that scene is not in the original play.
  • This is because it's the Irrelevant Act Opener in the stage musical.
• Covered Up: Due to Shirley Bassey's bombastic cover version of "Hey Big Spender," most people in Britain are likely unaware that the song came from this musical.
• Funny Moments:
  Charity: I'm so hungry I could eat a horse. (sees dish) I was only kidding!
• Memetic Mutation: The first few bars of "Hey Big Spender" is the theatrical equivalent of the first few notes of Beethoven's 5th.
• One-Scene Wonder:
  • Daddy Brubeck, (Sammy Davis Jr. in The Movie) who sings Rhythm of Life and is never heard from again, yet his song is one of the most famous in the show.
  • Also Suzanne Charny and Ben Vereen doing "The Rich Man's Frug".
• Retroactive Recognition: The Movie versions of "The Rich Man's Frug" and "Rhythm of Life" feature a young Ben Vereen in his first film role.
• Signature Scene: The first few notes of "Big Spender" are to musical theater to what the first notes of Beethoven's 5th Symphony is to classical music. "The Rich Man's Frug" comes a close second.
• Superfluous Solo: "Too Many Tomorrows". The minor character Vittorio inexplicably has this long, slow, boring solo right after Charity's dazzling showstopper "If My Friends Could See Me Now". It has nothing to do with the plot, and he sings it to a thoroughly unimportant character. Notably, this song was removed from the movie.

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