Ariana DeBose to lead 'Sweet Charity' workshop

Tony Award nominees Jeff and Rick Kuperman will direct and choreograph the workshop this fall.

Summary

• Ariana DeBose will lead a workshop of the musical Sweet Charity this fall
• She will play the title role of unlucky but optimistic Charity Hope Valentine
• Rick and Jeff Kuperman will direct and choreograph
• Plans for the production beyond the workshop have not been named

Academy Award winner Ariana DeBose (Steven Spielberg's West Side Story; Hamilton) will lead a workshop of the classic musical Sweet Charity this fall, featuring new direction and choreography by Tony nominees Jeff and Rick Kuperman (The Outsiders).

Further details, including additional cast and creative team and future plans for the production beyond the workshop, have yet to be announced.

Sweet Charity's title character is the dance hall hostess Charity Hope Valentine, a hopeless romantic and optimist despite being unlucky all through her life. The show features popular show tunes like “Big Spender,” “If My Friends Could See Me Now,” “The Rhythm of Life,” and “Baby, Dream Your Dream,” written by Cy Coleman (music) and Dorothy Fields (lyrics). Neil Simon penned the book.

“Sweet Charity asks a question that feels urgent today: how do you keep an open heart in a world set on breaking it?" the Kupermans said in a statement. "Ariana has the wit, fearlessness, vulnerability, and extraordinary physical command to make Charity entirely her own. We’re approaching the musical with deep respect for its history while creating a contemporary theatrical language in which dance drives the story and Charity’s hard-earned optimism remains at its core.”

The original Broadway production received nine Tony nominations and became iconic for Bob Fosse's direction and choreography and for Gwen Verdon's performance in the title role.

Photo credit: Ariana DeBose. (Photo by Kim Tin)