SWEET CHARITY. Musical in 2 Akten von Neil Simon
nach dem Film "Die Nächte der Cabiria" von Fellini

Charity, a hostess at the Fan-Dango Dance Palace, dreams of a normal bourgeois life, but she does not have much luck with her lovers. While walking with her in the park, “Sunglasses,” her beau of the moment, steals Charity’s purse with her money for her trousseau, shoves her into the pond and disappears. She is finally fished out of the water by a passer-by. Back at the Fan-Dango Dance Palace, she swears to her girlfriends that she will never again throw herself at the next-best man who comes along. Her decision is of but short duration, however. She meets the film star Vittorio Vidal in front of a high-class nightclub; she has long swooned over him. Vittorio has just had a row with his lover and decides, on a whim, to take Charity up to his flat. But Vidal’s repentant girlfriend appears there unexpectedly – Charity immediately disappears into the wall
cupboard and becomes the witness of an eventful, loud night of reconciliation. Battered and humiliated, she is only freed from her prison the next morning. She decides to change her life and attend night school. She meets the shy Oscar there and – Charity falls in love again. They agree to meet again. Sensitively encouraged by Charity, he confesses his love to her. When Charity confesses to him that she is a hostess in a dance palace, he even wants to marry her. At the
Fan-Dango, Charity is surprised by a wedding cake and is bade farewell by her girlfriends: her dream has come true at last.In the park, Charity meets Oscar who, after squirming uncomfortably, finally comes out with the truth: it is impossible for him to marry Charity – he has this fixed idea of innocence … Charity is deeply hurt and disappointed. Trying awkwardly to comfort her, Oscar accidentally pushes the unfortunate Charity into the pond. Charity climbs out of the pond, soaking wet, while he runs away in panic.