Ariana DeBose is stepping into one of musical theater’s most iconic roles. An autumn workshop is planned for a new production of the Neil Simon and Cy Coleman and Dorothy Fields classic Sweet Charity, starring the Academy Award winner. All-new direction and choreography will come from Tony Award nominees Jeff and Rick Kuperman, known for Broadway’s The Outsiders. Lamar Richardson produces alongside ATG Theatricals, Kristin Caskey, Mike Isaacson, Bee Carrozzini and Kevin Ryan.
A workshop is a developmental rehearsal process where a creative team works through a production privately with actors on their feet to test the material before committing to a full staging. It is not a public performance but rather a laboratory for the show as it moves toward a potential Broadway production.
Inspired by Federico Fellini’s Nights of Cabiria, Sweet Charity follows Charity Hope Valentine, a hopelessly romantic but chronically unlucky dance hall hostess in New York City navigating a turbulent love life with irrepressible optimism. The musical features a book by Neil Simon and a score by Cy Coleman and Dorothy Fields that includes beloved songs “Big Spender,” “If My Friends Could See Me Now,” “The Rhythm of Life” and “Baby, Dream Your Dream.”
The pairing of DeBose and the material has long been anticipated by theater fans, dating back to her hosting of the 75th Tony Awards in 2022 when she performed a bit of the musical’s famous “Rich Man’s Frug” dance with audience member Sam Rockwell.
“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.”
Sweet Charity originally opened on Broadway at the Palace Theatre on January 29, 1966, directed and choreographed by Bob Fosse and starring Gwen Verdon. The production ran for 608 performances and received nine Tony Award nominations. Additional details will be announced at a later date.