Matthew White is to direct Tamzin Outhwaite as Charity Hope Valentine in the Tony Award-winning musical SWEET CHARITY at the Menier Chocolate Factory.  SWEET CHARITY previews from 21 November and runs until 07 March 2010.  The box office opens for general public bookings at noon on Thursday 17 September.  With book by Neil Simon, music by Cy Coleman and lyrics by Dorothy Fields, choreography is 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.

Tamzin Outhwaite leads a cast which includes Josefina Gabrielle, Tiffany Graves, Rachel Archer, Jack Edwards, Richard Jones, Gemma Maclean, Paul J. Medford, Ebony Molina, Zak Nemorin, Richard Roe, Annalisa Rossi, Carl Sanderso, Mark Umbers, Jez Unwin and Jayde Westaby.

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’s score features such favourite hits as Hey, Big Spender; If My Friends Could See Me Now and The Rhythm of Life.

Originally directed and choreographed by Bob Fosse, Sweet Charity premiered on Broadway in 1966, where it ran for over 600 performances. The production won the Tony Award for Best Choreography in the same year.  In 1967 the production opened in London at Prince of Wales Theatre, starring Juliet Prowse.  The 1969 film version, also directed and choreographed by Fosse, starred Shirley MacLaine and John McMartin.  In 1986 the production was revived on Broadway winning four Tony Awards, and again in 2005 starring Christina Applegate.

Tamzin Outhwaite’s previous stage credits include Matthew Warchus’ critically acclaimed production of ´Boeing-Boeing´ at the Comedy Theatre, ´Breathing Corpses´ and ´Flesh Wound´ for the Royal Court, OLIVER! at the London Palladium and ´Baby on Board´, ´Absent Friends´ and THEY´RE PLAYING OUR SONG, all for Alan Ayckbourn at the Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough. She is known on television for her roles in ´Red Cap´, ´Hustle´, ´Frances Tuesday´, ´Hotel Babylon´ and ´EastEnders´.  She can currently be seen in the ITV1 drama ´The Fixer´ and will also shortly be seen in the new BBC One drama ´Paradox´.  Her film work includes ´Cassandra’s Dream´ by Woody Allen co-starring Ewan McGregor and Colin Farrell, ´Back Waters´ and the award-winning ´Out of Control´.

Playwright and screen writer Neil Simon’s career has spanned more than five decades during which he has written over 30 plays and 20 screen plays. His first Broadway play, ´Come Blow Your Horn´, opened in 1961. Shortly after, his second production, ´Little Me´, earned him his first Tony Award nomination. In 1966 Simon had four shows running on Broadway at the same time -SWEET CHARITY, ´The Star-Spangled Girl´, ´The Odd Couple´ and ´Barefoot in the Park´. He has won three Tony Awards -Best Author for ´The Odd Couple´, Best Play for ´Biloxi Blues´ and Best Play for ´Lost in Yonkers´- and been nominated for seventeen.  Simon has also won an Evening Standard Award for ´Barefoot in the Park´, the Golden Globe for Best Motion Screenplay for ´The Goodbye Girl´ and the Pulitzer Prize for Drama for ´Lost In Yonkers´.

Cy Coleman (1929 – 2004) is the only composer to win consecutive Tony Awards for Best Score for musicals which also won for Best Musical: CITY OF ANGELS (1990) and THE WILL ROGERS FOLLIES (1991). he also won the Tony Award for Best Original Score for On the Twentieth Century in 1978. He received two Emmy Awards for his work on Shirley MacLaine’s TV specials, ´If My Friends Could See Me Now´ (1974) and ´Gypsy in My Soul´ (1976). In 1992 he won two Grammy Awards for his score and for producing the original cast album of ´The Will Rogers Follies´. Coleman was the last major contributor to the Great American Songbook. 

Dorothy Fields (1905 – 1974) wrote over 400 songs for Broadway musicals and films. From 1928 to 1935 she worked with Jimmy McHugh producing songs such as "I Can’t Give You Anything but Love, Baby"; "Exactly Like You" and "On the Sunny Side of the Street". In the 1930’s she collaborated with Jerome Kern on the film ´Swing Time´, winning the Academy Award for Best Song in 1936 for "The Way You Look Tonight". In the 1940’s she teamed up with her brother Herbert Fields with whom she wrote books for three Cole Porter shows, as well as the book for ANNIE GET YOUR GUN. She collaborated with Cy Coleman on SWEET CHARITY and ´Seesaw´.

Josefina Gabrielle’s stage credits include HELLO, DOLLY! at the Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre, ´The 39 Steps´ at the Criterion Theatre, SINGING IN THE RAIN at Sadler’s Wells and Leicester Haymarket, A CHORUS LINE for Sheffield Crucible, OKLAHOMA! for the National Theatre (also West End and on Broadway), THE WITCHES OF EASTWICK at the Prince of Wales Theatre, CHICAGO at the Adelphi Theatre and FAME at the Cambridge Theatre. 

Tiffany Graves’ stage credits include CHICAGO at the Cambridge Theatre, SHOUT! at the Arts Theatre and CATS and SUNSET BOULEVARD in the West End, as well as UK tours of ´Run For Your Wife´, GODSPELL and TONIGHT´S THE NIGHT.

Paul J. Medford was an original company member of ´Five Guys Named Moe´ at the Lyric Theatre. His other theatre credits include ´Follow My Leader´ at Hampstead Theatre, ´The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe´ for the Royal Shakespeare Company, MY ONE AND ONLY at the Piccadilly Theatre, ´Mother Clap’s Molly House´ for the National Theatre, ´Roll with the Punches´ at the Tricycle Theatre and ´Road´ for the Royal Court. His television credits include ´This Life´, ´EastEnders´, and ´Minder´.

Ebony Molina’s most recent stage credit is Adam Coopers ´Shall We Dance´ at Sadler’s Wells. Her other theatre credits include CHICAGO at the Adelphi Theatre, ´Sinatra´ at the London Palladium, BEAUTY AND THE BEAST for the Royal Shakespeare Company, ROMEO AND JULIET and MY ONE AND ONLY at the Piccadilly Theatre as well as ´On The Town´ for English National Opera. She has also appeared in ´Dorian Gray´, ´Nutcracker!´, ´The Car Man´ and ´Edward Scissorhands´, all for Matthew Bourne’s New Adventures Company.

Mark Umbers has most recently been seen in the ITV1 drama ´Mistresses´ and he has just finished filming the BBC 1 re-working of ´The Turn of the Screw´ to be shown at Christmas. His theatre credits include FUNNY GIRL for Chichester Festival Theatre, ´The Glass Menagerie´ at the Apollo Theatre, ´The Vortex´ for the Donmar Warehouse, MY FAIR LADY, CANDIDE and ´The Merchant of Venice´ for the National Theatre and THE PIRATES OF PENZANCE for Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre. His other television credits include ´Harley Street´, ´Foyle’s War´, ´Midsomer Murders´, ´The Merchant of Venice´ and ´The Scarlet Pimpernel´.  His film credits include Woody Allen’s ´Cassandra’s Dream´ and ´Che: Part Two´. He has also written the screenplay for ´The Winter´s Tale´, an upcoming 2009 British film starring Dougray Scott and Derek Jacobi, due for release later this year.

Matthew White returns to the Menier Chocolate Factory to direct SWEET CHARITY having previously directed THE LAST FIVE YEARS and LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS in 2006.  His production of LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS transferred to the West End and has been on tour in the UK throughout 2009.  Last year White directed ´The Black and White Ball´ at the King’s Head Theatre. His other directing credits include ´The Magic Flute´ at the Peacock Theatre, ´Far From the Madding Crowd´ at the Watermill Theatre, ´Maria Friedman – by Special Arrangement´ at the Donmar Warehouse, as well as national tours of CAROUSEL and ´The Demon Headmaster´.

SWEET CHARITY is based on the original screenplay for Nights of Cabiria by Federico Fellini, Tullio Pinelli and Ennio Plaiano.