A host of guest stars have been lined up to play the role of Daddy Brubeck in director Josie Rourke’s Donmar Warehouse production of Sweet Charity.
Shaq Taylor, Adrian Lester, Le Gateau Chocolat, Beverley Knight and Clive Rowe will be among the actors taking on the role for multiple performances, as the Donmar’s artistic director Rourke’s oversees her farewell production after nearly a decade at the helm of the prestigious venue.
Part of the ensemble for the entire production, Taylor (Hadestown, National Theatre) is making his Donmar debut as Daddy Brubeck from 6-13 April. Actor and director Lester will return to the venue for the first time since his Olivier Award-winning performance in the 1995 revival of Company (Donmar and West End) to take on the role from 15-27 April.
Le Gateau Chocolat (Threepenny Opera, Shakespeare’s Globe) will make his Donmar Warehouse debut when he steps into the role for the week beginning 29 April, with Knight (Cats, London Palladium) also making her Donmar debut taking over for the week beginning 6 May. Clive Rowe will return to the venue after appearing in Company and Donmar Divas, stepping in for the week beginning 13 May.
The production reunites Rourke with stage and screen star Anne-Marie Duff, the award-winning actress, who previously appeared at the Donmar in Rourke’s production of Berenice in 2012. Duff makes her musical theatre debut Charity Hope Valentine opposite Arthur Darvill who makes his Donmar Warehouse debut as Oscar.
They are joined by Lizzy Connolly, Lauren Drew, Jo Eaton-Kent, Will Haswell, Charlotte Jaconelli, Stephen Kennedy, Debbie Kurup, Martin Marquez, Ryan Reid, Amy Ellen Richardson and Danielle Steers.
Running from 6 April to 8 June, Rourke’s swansong production features choreography by Wayne McGregor who reunites with Rourke after working on her debut film Mary Queen of Scots.
To mark Rourke’s farewell project, all tickets at every Friday performance are free to theatregoers aged 25 and under. The ‘Sweet Fridays’ free tickets will be allocated by ballot. As part of ‘Sweet Fridays’, the Donmar is also inviting schools from every London borough to see the show for free.
Supported by Susie Sainsbury and the Backstage Trust, the Sweet Friday scheme follows on from the ‘Young + Free’ initiative which has made over 15,000 free tickets available during Rourke’s tenure at the venue.
Announcing details of her final project at the London venue earlier this year, Rourke said: “Part of my mission as the Donmar’s artistic director has been to create cheap and free access for audiences, particularly young people. Through the generosity of Susie Sainsbury and The Backstage Trust, I’m able to finish my time at the Donmar on the happiest of notes, with something I really care about – great theatre for all young people.
“I’m so happy to be joined in my final production as Donmar artistic director by the luminous Anne-Marie Duff, making her musical theatre debut, and the great Wayne McGregor. They are two of the finest people, and collaborators I’ve worked with, and this reunion with them, and the music of Cy Coleman is a joyous way to end a dozen years as an artistic director from the Bush to the Donmar.”
The production’s creative team includes: designer Robert Jones, musical supervisor Gareth Valentine, lighting designer Mark Henderson, sound designer Nick Lidster for Autograph, with orchestrations by Larry Blank and Mark Cumberland, original orchestrations by Ralph Burns, video design by Finn Ross and casting by David Grindrod.
With a book by Neil Simon which was based on Frederico Fellini’s screenplay for Nights of Cabiria, Sweet Charity features lyrics by Dorothy Fields and music by Cy Coleman.
Famously made into a film starring Shirley MacLaine, Sweet Charity made its Broadway debut in 1966 in a production which was directed and choreographed by the legendary Bob Fosse and featured his wife and muse Gwen Verdon in the title role.
Angela Thomas
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