It was directed and choreographed for Broadway by Bob Fosse starring his wife and muse Gwen Verdon alongside John McMartin.
However, whereas Federico Fellini's black-and-white film concerns the romantic ups-and-downs of an ever-hopeful prostitute, in the musical the central character is a dancer-for-hire at a Times Square dance hall.
The young woman Charity Hope Valentine is a taxi dancer at a dance hall called the Fandango Ballroom in New York City.
Nickie, a fellow dancer, tells Charity that “your big problem is you run your heart like a hotel – you got guys checkin’ in and out all the time”.
Just then, film star Vittorio Vidal rushes out of the smart Pompeii Club, in pursuit of his beautiful mistress, Ursula.
Nickie announces she is not going to remain at this job for the rest of her life, prompting the girls to speculate on alternative careers ("There's Gotta Be Something Better Than This"), but Herman brings them back down to earth.
Charity decides to seek some cultural enlightenment at the 92nd Street Y, where she gets stuck in a broken elevator with shy tax accountant Oscar Lindquist.
After helping Oscar overcome his claustrophobia ("I'm the Bravest Individual"), the pair are plunged into new panic when the lights stop working.
Traveling home on the subway, Oscar proposes another date and tries to guess Charity's job, deciding that she works in a bank.
[3] The show starred Gwen Verdon, John McMartin, Helen Gallagher, Thelma Oliver, James Luisi, Arnold Soboloff, Sharon Ritchie, Ruth Buzzi, and Barbara Sharma.
Again directed and choreographed by Fosse, Debbie Allen starred as Charity with Bebe Neuwirth as Nickie, Allison Williams as Helene and Michael Rupert as Oscar.
On June 15, 1998, Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS presented an all-star fully staged one-night-only concert at Avery Fisher Hall in Lincoln Center.
It starred Chita Rivera, Bebe Neuwirth, Donna McKechnie, Debbie Allen and, in her last public stage appearance, Gwen Verdon, all in the shared role of Charity.
[7] A West End revival opened on 19 May 1998 and closed on 15 August 1998 at the Victoria Palace Theatre, choreographed by Chet Walker and starring Bonnie Langford.
[8] Christina Applegate starred in another revival of the show, opening on Broadway at the Al Hirschfeld Theatre on May 4, 2005, after a troubled three-city preview tour.
Then, after the final leg of the tour in Boston, the producers announced that the production would not be continuing to Broadway due to lack of interest.
A week into previews, Applegate rejoined the cast, which also included Denis O'Hare as Oscar, Shannon Lewis as Ursula and Ernie Sabella as Herman.
Reportedly, pop icon Britney Spears was asked to replace Applegate when her contract expired, but declined the offer.
[13] A revival of the show opened for a limited engagement at London's Menier Chocolate Factory on 21 November 2009 and closed on 7 March 2010.
[14] Outhwaite reprised the title role in the West End transfer of the successful Chocolate Factory production of the show.
Directed by Dean Bryant, and choreographed by Andrew Hallsworth, it starred Verity Hunt-Ballard as Charity, and Martin Crewes as Charlie, Vittorio and Oscar.
In August 2015 Denise Van Outen performed the title role in concert performances of the musical at Cadogan Hall,[24] with actor/singer Michael Xavier, ex-Girls Aloud band member Kimberley Walsh, West End star Kerry Ellis, and actors/singers Michael Simkins and Rodney Earl Clarke.
Directed by Leigh Silverman with choreography by Joshua Bergasse, the cast stars Sutton Foster as Charity Hope Valentine, Asmeret Ghebremichael (Nickie), Shuler Hensley (Oscar), Emily Padgett (Helene), and Joel Perez.
The production starred Anne Marie-Duff as Charity, Arthur Darvill as Oscar and a variety of guest actors to play Daddy Brubeck including Adrien Lester and Beverly Knight.