Sweet Charity Back On; Revival to Start 4/11, Open with Applegate 5/4

Dance hall hostess Charity Hope Valentine will be back on the boards this season after all! While an announcement was made on Friday saying the revival of Sweet Charity would close out of town, a production spokesperson has confirmed today that the show is back on. Sweet Charity will start performances April 11 at the Al Hirschfeld Theatre, with a new opening night set for May 4. Standby Charlotte d'Amboise will play the first eight previews, with original announced star Christina Applegate playing her first performance on April 18.

"I spent the weekend on the telephone with Christina Applegate who made a passionate and compelling case for moving forward with our Broadway plans," producer Barry Weissler said in a statement. "Her doctor also confirmed this morning that she will be ready and able to resume performances on April 18. I have approached my partners on the show and we have all agreed to put up the additional funds necessary to accommodate this new schedule. I guess the only thing left for me to do is ask everyone to please refrain from using the old showbiz adage, 'Break a leg!'"

This production of Sweet Charity, with Applegate in the title role, began life at the Orpheum Theatre in Minneapolis, where it ran from February 8 through February 20. The show then played Chicago's Cadillac Palace Theatre from February 24 through March 13. The revival suffered a major setback when leading lady Applegate broke her foot on March 11, during the Chicago engagement of the tuner, and was forced to sit out the Boston run at the Colonial Theatre from March 18 to March 27. D'Amboise assumed the role of Charity Hope Valentine in Boston and was expected to headline the Broadway engagement until Applegate healed. After Thursday's Boston reviews, Weissler still said he intended to bring the show to the Great White Way as scheduled; however, by late afternoon on Friday. the cast was told that the production would end in Beantown, with Weissler blaming "weak sales on the road and in New York" for the decision. Applegate remained with the company throughout the Boston run and on Sunday told the cast she still had hope the revival would come to Gotham.

Sweet Charity was originally scheduled to start previews on April 4 at the Hirschfeld Theatre, with opening night set for April 21. By opening on May 4, it will be the final production to quality for 2005 Tony Awards.

Sweet Charity also stars Denis O'Hare, Janine LaManna, Kyra Dacosta, Ernie Sabella, Paul Schoeffler, Rhett George and Shannon Lewis.