The Donmar Warehouse has announced further casting for artistic director Josie Rourke’s farewell production Sweet Charity. Joining previously announced cast members Anne-Marie Duff as Charity and Arthur Darvill as Oscar will be Lizzy Connolly, Lauren Drew, Jo Eaton-Kent, Will Haswell, Charlotte Jaconelli, Stephen Kennedy, Debbie Kurup, Martin Marquez, Ryan Reid, Amy Ellen Richardson, Danielle Steers and Shaq Taylor. The musical will run from 6 April to 8 June 2019 (press night is 17 April).
Sweet Charity will be choreographed by the world-renowned Wayne McGregor, who reunites with Rourke after working on her debut film Mary Queen of Scots. Rourke returns to the music of Cy Coleman who wrote the score for her Olivier Award-winning production of City of Angels. The book is by Neil Simon and lyrics by Dorothy Fields.
For Rourke’s farewell production, all tickets at every Friday performance of Sweet Charity between 19 April and 31 May will be free to those aged 25 and under. Sweet Fridays free tickets will be allocated by ballot. As part of Sweet Fridays, the Donmar will invite schools from every London borough to see Sweet Charity for free.
Also in the creative team are designer Robert Jones, musical supervisor Gareth Valentine, lighting designer Mark Henderson, sound designer Nick Lidster for Autograph, orchestrators Larry Blank and Mark Cumberland, original orchestrator Ralph Burns, video designer Finn Ross and casting director David Grindrod.
Bios
Lizzy Connolly (Nickie) makes her Donmar Warehouse debut in Sweet Charity. Her theatre credits include Present Laughter (Chichester Festival Theatre), The Twilight Zone (Almeida), Oklahoma! (BBC Proms), On The Town (Open Air Theatre), The Wild Party (The Other Palace), Once In A Lifetime (Young Vic), The Vanities (Trafalgar Studios), Mrs Henderson Presents (Theatre Royal Bath and West End) and Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (West End).
Stephen Kennedy (Herman) returns to the Donmar Warehouse after appearing in The Vote which was also televised on election night in 2015 on More 4. His theatre credits include La Traviata (Theatre des Champs Elysees), Hamlet (Flute Theatre), The Velveteen Rabbit (Unicorn Theatre), King Lear (Old Vic), The Plough and the Stars, The Silver Tassie, Mother Courage, England People Very Nice, Dido Queen of Carthage, Waves, Women of Troy (National Theatre), King John (Rose Theatre), The Crucible (Royal Exchange, Manchester), The Cherry Orchard (Young Vic), To Kill a Mockingbird (Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre), Elegy For Young Lovers (ENO), Messiah (Lyon), La Traviata (Vienna), Someone Who’ll Watch Over Me (Perth Theatre), School for Scandal (Barbican Theatre), Shoot the Crow (Waterfront Studio), The Agent (Old Red Lion/Trafalgar Studios) and Cyrano De Bergerac, The Birthday Party and Tamburlaine (Bristol Old Vic).
Debbie Kurup (Helene) makes her Donmar Warehouse debut in Sweet Charity. Her theatre credits include Girl from the North Country (West End and Old Vic), The Threepenny Opera (National Theatre), The Bodyguard (Adelphi Theatre), Chicago (Cambridge Theatre and Adelphi Theatre), Sister Act (London Palladium), West Side Story (Prince of Wales Theatre London), Tonight’s The Night (Victoria Palace), Rent (Prince of Wales Theatre and UK), Boogie Nights (Savoy Theatre), Anything Goes (Sheffield Theatres and UK tour), Jack and the Beanstalk (Hackney Empire), East (Leicester Curve), Fame (UK tour), Guys and Dolls (Sheffield Theatres), Pal Joey (Chichester Festival Theatre) and Poison (Tricycle Theatre).
Martin Marquez (Vittorio Vidal) returns to the Donmar Warehouse after appearing in Fool for Love and Front Page. His theatre credits include Much Ado About Nothing and Imogen (Shakespeare’s Globe), This House (UK Tour), Husbands & Sons, Mother Courage and Her Children and Love’s Labour’s Lost (National Theatre), Anything Goes (National Theatre and West End), From Here to Eternity (West End), Before I Leave (National Theatre Wales), Ah, Wilderness (Young Vic), Gondoliers, I Caught My Death in Venice and Insignificance (Chichester Festival Theatre), Blasted (Sheffield Theatres), Boeing Boeing (UK Tour), Cleansed and Identical Twins (Royal Court), Still Alice, The Crucible, Don Juan and Of Mice and Men (West Yorkshire Playhouse).
Amy Ellen Richardson (Ursula March) makes her Donmar Warehouse debut in Sweet Charity. Her theatre credits include How To Succeed in Business Without Really Trying (Royal Festival Hall), Follies (Royal Albert Hall), Merrily We Roll Along (Menier Chocolate Factory/Harold Pinter), Crazy For You (Novello), Spamalot (Palace), Les Misérables (Queens), Into The Woods, Gigi (Regent’s Park Open Air), On The Town (London Coliseum), Aspects Of Love (Prince of Wales), Kiss Me Kate (Sheffield Crucible), Sweet Charity (Nottingham Playhouse), Beautiful: The Carole King Musical (UK Tour), Into The Woods (Royal Exchange, Manchester), Singin’ In The Rain (UK Tour), Oklahoma (Chichester Festival Theatre), She Loves Me (Minerva Theatre), Vincent In Brixton (UK Tour), A Christmas Carol (Sherman Cymru) and Whistle Down The Wind (West Yorkshire Playhouse).
Danielle Steers (Carmen) makes her Donmar Warehouse debut in Sweet Charity. Her theatre credits include Bat Out Of Hell (Dominion Theatre, Ed Mervish Theatre Toronto, ENO and Manchester), Beautiful: The Carole King Musical (Aldwych), The Bodyguard (Adelphi), We Will Rock You (International Arena Tour), Hairspray (Aberystwyth Arts Centre), Legally Blonde (Savoy) and Respect La Diva (Garrick).
