Mark Umbers will join Tamzin Outhwaite in the previously announced West End transfer of Sweet Charity. The London revival, which completed its sell-out run at the Menier Chocolate Factory in March 2010, will open at the Theatre Royal Haymarket on April 23, directed by Matthew White. Tickets are currently on sale through January 8, 2011.
Outhwaite and Mark Umbers will be joined by original cast members Josefina Gabrielle, Tiffany Graves and Paul J. Medford, as well as Jack Edwards, Ebony Molina, Rachael Archer, Richard Jones, Gemma Maclean, Zak Nemorin, Richard Roe, Annalisa Rossi and Jez Unwin. Completing the cast are Kenneth Avery-Clark, Matthew Barrow, Joanna Goodwin, Alexis Owen Hobbs and Laura Scott.
Sweet Charity follows the misadventures of love encountered by the gullible and guileless Charity Hope Valentine, a woman who always gives her heart and her dreams to the wrong man. Cy Coleman amd Dorothy Fields' score features hits such as “Hey, Big Spender,” “If My Friends Could See Me Now” and “The Rhythm of Life.” The show's book is by Neil Simon.
Umbers has appeared onstage in Funny Girl (Chichester Festival Theatre), The Glass Menagerie (Apollo Theatre), The Vortex (Donmar Warehouse), My Fair Lady, Candide and The Merchant of Venice (National Theatre) and The Pirates of Penzance (Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre).
The London revival of Sweet Charity features choreography by Stephen Mear, set design by Tim Shortall, costume design by Matthew Wright, musical supervision and direction by Nigel Lilley, orchestrations by Chris Walker, lighting by David Howe and sound design by Gareth Owen. The show is produced in the West End by David Babani for Chocolate Factory Productions, David Ian Productions, Theatre Royal Haymarket Productions, David Mirvish and Michael Watt.