SWEET CHARITY

BOOK BY NEIL SIMON MUSIC BY CY COLEMAN LYRICS BY DOROTHY FIELDS

6 April 2019 – 8 June 2019

“The minute you walked in the joint, I could see you were a man of distinction, a real Big Spender…”

New York, 1967. Charity Hope Valentine is a dance hall hostess who “”runs her heart like a hotel – you’ve got men checking in and out all the time.”” At the raw end of a long line of users and losers, she meets Oscar, a mild-mannered tax accountant, and Charity Hope Valentine once again puts her faith into love.

Josie Rourke returns to the work of Cy Coleman, who wrote the music for City of Angels, with the Broadway classic Sweet Charity. With choreography from the world-renowned Wayne McGregor, Rourke reunites with Anne-Marie Duff as Charity, and Arthur Darvill makes his Donmar debut as Oscar, for her farewell production as Donmar Artistic Director.

Production supporters: Backstage Trust, Anonymous, Marcia Whitaker and the Sweet Charity Production Syndicate

ANNE-MARIE DUFF – WINNER, BEST MUSICAL PERFORMANCE, EVENING STANDARD THEATRE AWARDS 2019

★★★★ ‘It’s defiantly unconventional, riotously over the top and a lot of fun’ Financial Times

★★★★ 'Anne-Marie Duff is is blazingly authentic and wonderfully gleeful’ Observer

★★★★ ‘Josie Rourke turns this spirited Broadway musical into a hymn to female resilience in her exhilarating farewell production at the Donmar’ Guardian

CAST
In order of appearance

Charity Hope Valentine Anne-Marie Duff
Charlie Dark Glasses/Oscar Lindquist Arthur Darvill
Second Woman/Nickie/Pompeii Club 4th Dancer Lizzy Connolly
Third Woman/Helene/Pompeii Club 2nd Dancer Debbie Kurup
First Passerby/Herman/Manfred Stephen Kennedy
Married Man/Vittorio Vidal Martin Marquez
Married Woman/Elaine/Ursula March Amy Ellen Richardson
Woman with Dog/Rosie/Pompeii Club 7th Dancer/YMCA Receptionist/Coney Island Girl Charlotte Jaconelli
Ice Cream Vendor/Frenchy/Waiter/Daddy Brubeck Assistant 2 Jo Eaton-Kent
Second Cop/Carmen/Whooping Cough Panhandler/Pompeii Club 6th Dancer Danielle Steers
Woman with Pram/Suzanne/Sex in School Panhandler/Pompeii Club 1st Dancer/Sex in the Later Stages of Life Woman Lauren Drew
First Cop/Doorman/Understudy Daddy Brubeck/Barney Shaq Taylor
Spanish Man/Marvin/Pompeii Club 3rd Dancer/Daddy Brubeck Assistant 1/Coney Island Policeman Ryan Reid
Baseball Player/Unwed Mothers Panhandler/Pompeii Club 8th Dancer/Cross Elevator Man/Coney Island Young Man/Boy Will Haswell

During the run, the role of Daddy Brubeck was played by guest performers: Le Gateau Chocolat, Kobna Holdbrook-Smith, Kadiff Kirwan, Beverley Knight, Adrian Lester, Clive Rowe and Shaq Taylor.

CREATIVE TEAM

Director Josie Rourke
Choreographer Wayne Mcgregor
Designer Robert Jones
Musical Supervisor Gareth Valentine
Lighting Designer Mark Henderson
Sound Designer Nick Lidster For AUTOGRAPH
Orchestrations Larry Blank and Mark Cumberland
Original Orchestrations Ralph Burns
Video Designer Finn Ross
Casting Director David Grindrod CDG
Additional Vocal and Musical Arrangements Gareth Valentine
Rehearsal Photography Manuel Harlan
Production Photography Johan Persson

MUSICIANS

Musical Director Simon Beck
Keyboard/Deputy MD Matt Samer
Drums Allan Cox
Percussion James Turner
Double Bass, Bass Guitar Chris Kelly
Trumpets Gavin Mallett and Annette Brown
Trombone Barnaby Philpott
Alto Saxophone, Flute, Clarinet Hannah Lawrance
Tenor Saxophone, Clarinet, Bass Clarinet Claire Mcinerney
Orchestral Management Andy Barnwell for Musical Co-ordination Services