Diaz and Sandy Tapped for Sweet Charity
Diaz has appeared on Broadway in Carousel, The Capeman, Seussical and Man of La Mancha. Her off-Broadway credits include Bright Lights, Big City, Saturday Night and tick, tick… BOOM!. Other notable theatrical credits include the Kennedy Center Sondheim Festival mounting of A Little Night Music, in which she played Petra, the Paper Mill Playhouse mounting of Pippin and the last US tour of West Side Story which won her a Jeff Award for her performance as Anita. Diaz, who recently appeared in the workshop of Mambo Kings, will next appear on the stage in Tom Dudzick's Hail Mary!, running from September 5 through October 10 at Studio Arena Theatre in Buffalo, New York.
A former Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre principal dancer, Sandy has appeared on Broadway in Aida and Dance of the Vampires and off-Broadway in the Encores! mountings of House of Flowers and Can-Can. Last year, she starred as Anita in a world tour of West Side Story.
Sweet Charity, based on Federico Fellini's Nights of Cabiria, centers on Charity Applegate, a dance-hall hostess read prostitute with a heart of gold. The tuner, set in 1960s New York, features music by Cy Coleman, lyrics by Dorothy Fields and a book by Neil Simon.
This Sweet Charity, directed by Walter Bobbie and choreographed by Wayne Cilento, is scheduled to premiere at the Orpheum Theatre in Minneapolis, where it will run from February 8 through February 20. It will then head to Chicago dates to be announced and Boston's Colonial Theatre from March 15 through March 27 before landing on Broadway in preparation for an April 21, 2005 opening. As we previously reported, Tony winner Denis O'Hare is expected to play Oscar, Charity's love interest.
A production spokesperson could not confirm any casting beyond Applegate.