Chocolate Charity Gets West End Transfer???

Update: Since this story was written, it’s been confirmed that Avenue Q is transferring to Wyndham’s (See News, 22 Jan 2010). Other potential venues for a Sweet Charity transfer include the Novello, where Cat on a Hot Tin Roof finishes on 10 April, the Noel Coward, where ENRON is currently booking to 8 May 2010 and the Garrick, which hosts Broadway transfer The Little Dog Laughed until 10 April.

The Menier Chocolate Factory’s acclaimed revival of Sweet Charity, starring Tamzin Outhwaite as Charity Hope Valentine, seems ripe for a West End transfer, and it looks like Wyndham’s Theatre will be the destination of choice.

Writing in Variety recently, the magazine’s London correspondent David Benedict said: “Unconfirmed rumor has it that the show will move into Wyndham’s Theater next spring following the surprise success of the umpteenth return engagement of Stephen Daldry’s An Inspector Calls.”

This sounds about right, considering that An Inspector Callsis due to finish on 13 March 2010, just after Sweet Charity finishes its sold-out run at the Chocolate Factory on 7 March.

Sweet Charity, which has music by Cy Coleman, lyrics by Dorothy Fields and a book by Neil Simon, takes a look at the seedy underbelly of 1960s New York. The gullible,
enchanting heroine Charity Hope Valentine dances, laughs and cries her
way through a series of whirlwind romances to show-stopping numbers
including “Rhythm of Life”, “If My Friends Could See Me Now” and “Hey
Big Spender”.

The Chocolate Factory revival, which opened to rave reviews last month (See Review Round-up, 8 Dec 2009), is directed by Matthew White and choreographed by Stephen Mears.