Put aside your cab fare, pick out your favorite pumps and prepare yourself for Diablo Valley College’s rendition of a classic Broadway musical.
Sweet Charity, which runs from Friday, Oct. 18 through Sunday, Nov. 3, follows the life of Charity Hope Valentine, an eternal optimist who makes a living being paid to dance with men at ballroom events in 1960s New York City.
Charity dates a variety of men, each one different from the last, in the hopes of finding the soulmate she has been searching for. Despite every failed attempt, her optimism for the future stays intact.
The role of Charity Hope Valentine will be played by Kaila Knudsen, a 19-year-old third-year student at DVC. Knudsen has extensive musical theater background and said she was thrilled when she found out she was given the lead role in the production.
She got her introduction to the DVC stage as a swing, who understudies for various roles, in DVC’s production of All Shook Up last fall.
“[Charity], to me, represents kind of this new age of feminism that we’re coming into,” Knudsen told The Inquirer. “She has so much confidence, and she’s not afraid to be ugly or to be goofy or silly.”
In preparing for the performance, Knudsen explained the hardest yet most rewarding part has been learning to sustain the high emotional energy of her character from the first moment on stage to the last.
“It’s a wonderful spectacle and a lot of it is so joyful, which means it takes a lot of energy,” Knudsen said.
In anticipation for opening night, Knudsen said, “I think that to be able to come and sit down and just smile, laugh, cry and have an environment where you’re allowed to feel big emotions is going to be nice for people to experience.”
One of the men that Charity meets is the geeky Oscar Lindquist, an awkward but loving accountant who longs for Charity’s affection. He will be played by Alec Barnett, a 21-year-old third-year student at DVC.
“At least to me, [Sweet Charity] is one of those one in a million shows. This one is really special because it’s such an amazing group of people, and I really hope people get to see all of our hard work.”
Some may recognize Barnett from the many previous roles he’s had in DVC productions, including a foreman in Witness for the Prosecution (Fall ’22), an ensemble member in Freaky Friday (Spring ’23), the leading man in All Shook Up (Fall ’23), and Mooney in Hangmen (Spring ’24).
Barnett said he has been a “music kid” for years, having studied music theory and produced his own music independently. However, his musical theater journey only began when he attended DVC.
“Moving into musical theater was a lot harder than I thought it would be,” said Barnett. “It’s so hard, but it’s also so rewarding. Putting in all that work, and then seeing it all go up, there’s just nothing like it.”
An acting mentor
Barnett said he was able to ease the transition to musical theater by taking a variety of classes with the DVC Drama Department, which has grown as a passion project for Sweet Charity’s director, Lisa Drummond.
Drummond first came to DVC in 2009 at a time when the college’s drama department was smaller, with only a few classes offered and no musicals in production.
Although the musical theater program existed prior to Drummond’s involvement, it was minimal compared to what the department offers today.
After building up her reputation by teaching drama classes “here and there,” Drummond convinced the school board to let her produce a school musical alongside her colleagues Beth McBrien and Nicole Hess-Deistler.
After directing 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee in 2013, Drummond was allowed to write a syllabus for an advanced musical theater class. That class grew into several, and in 2015 she was hired by the college as a full-time faculty member.
Today, students can earn an associates degree or certificate in musical theater and participate as a cast or crew member in musical productions such as Sweet Charity.
“It’s nice to be doing a show that is really, truly a snapshot of a different time,” said Drummond. “These amazing young students are putting their heart, soul, sweat, blood and tears into working on this show.”
The show runs for three weekends, with Friday and Saturday shows beginning at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday shows at 2 p.m. All weekends will have a Sunday matinee except for opening weekend.
While there is no official runtime, it’s estimated the performance will be two hours long with a fifteen-minute intermission.
Tickets are available for purchase at dvcdrama.net and over the phone at (925) 969-2358. Tickets can also be purchased at the cashier’s office on campus or at the box office window, which opens an hour before curtain for each show.