208. GOODTIME CHARLEY. From my (unpublished) ENCYCLOPEDIA OF THE NEW YORK STAGE, 1970-1975

Joel Grey, Susan Browning (seated)

GOODTIME CHARLEY [Musical/Biographical/France/Period/Politics] B:Sidney Michaels; M: Larry Grossman; LY: Hal Hackady; D: Peter H. Hunt; CH: Onna White; S: Rouben Ben-Arutunian; C: Willa Kim; L: Feder; P: Max Brown and Byron Goldman i/a/w Robert Victor and Stone Widney; T: Palace Theatre; 3/3/75-5/31/75 (104)

Ann Reinking, left, Joel Brey, kneeling, Jay Garner.

 A woebegone try at musicalizing historical material that valiantly resisted the attempt, Goodtime Charley impressed barely anyone, even with Joel Grey in the title role. The familiar, yet always intriguing, historical tale of Joan of Arc (Ann Reinking) and her relationship with France’s Dauphin, later Charles II, had been dramatized by many others, most notably George Bernard Shaw in St. Joan. The present version differed from the others in its placing the emphasis on the child-like, hedonistic, frightened little monarch.

No one could accept the switch in importance from the infinitely fascinating personage of the Maid of Orleans to the humdrum ditherings of the prince, and Sidney Michaels’s book did little to make the change worthwhile. The dynamics of the story kept pulling one’s attention to Joan, but the book had clearly made the Dauphin the central figure, creating a “conflict of narrative interest” that was never resolved, in Clive Barnes’s view.

Moreover, “The tone of the book is uncertain,” wrote Barnes. “It tries to be both flippant and serious, but it really succeeds in being neither.” Wit and passion, both present in Shaw, were missing in this “bloodless musical,” and the whole, noted Douglas Watt, was shrouded by “a dreadful air of solemnity and . . . lifelessness.”

The music and lyrics were generally dismissed as unmemorable, though earnest. Together with the frequently trite dialogue, shallow characters, and mostly unamusing comedy, Goodtime Charley offered little in the way of a good time.

Rouben Ben-Arutunian and Willa Kim, fortunately, provided gorgeous sets and costumes, in the style of Maxfield Parrish paintings. Edwin Wilson responded: “Visually it is one of the most elegant and elaborate shows of the season.”

In the weak leading roles of Charley and Joan, Grey and Reinking did their professional best, although the latter, a relative newcomer, was given the stronger notices. Grey’s talents, said many, were wasted on a poorly conceived character that offered him little to exploit, forcing him to use his well-stuffed bag of slick show-biz tricks to hold interest. The excitingly gifted and attractive Reinking had some fine singing and acting opportunities, and carried her multi-faceted assignment off with grace and charm. Sadly, despite her outstanding abilities as a dancer, the minimal choreography offered her few chances to do what she did best.

Both Grey and Reinking nonetheless landed Tony nominations for Best Actor and Actress, Musical. Also, Susan Browning, who played Agnes Sorel, and Richard B. Shull, who played Minguet, were nominated as Best Supporting Actor and Actress, Ter-Arutunian, Kim, and lighting designer Abe Feder were nominated for their designs. No one, however, won anything. In the large company were reliable names like Jay Garner, Louis Zorich, and an as-yet unknown chorus boy named Pat[rick] Swayze as a servant.