Christina Applegate in Sweet Charity
New York : Sweet Charity will play its final performance on Broadway on December 31st after 279 performances. A national tour of the musical is being considered.
Sweet Charity has suffered a lifetime's worth of problems. The musical began performances at the Orpheum Theater in Minneapolis on February 8th with Christina Applegate starring. It then moved on to Chicago's Cadillac Palace Theater on February 24th. The musical's downfall began when Applegate broke her foot on March 11th, and it was announced that Charlotte d'Amboise would take over the role of Charity Hope Valentine and open the musical on Broadway. Applegate would make her Broadway debut when she recovered. Unwilling to finance the musical without Applegate, it was then announced that the show would not come to Broadway after all. Finally after a lengthy discussion with Applegate, Barry Weissler was convinced by her to go ahead with the production anway with Applegate returning to the show as soon as her foot healed and with a later starting date.
The musical made headlines again when it was reported by The Insider first, then Access Hollywood that pop star Britney Spears was in talks to replace Applegate. The New York Post then reported that if Spears signed on, the entire production would be moved to the larger Hilton Theater. It was finally reported by The Insider again that Spears seriously considered the offer, but ultimately turned it down because she did not want to uproot her family to New York or make a long commitment.
The fate of the musical seems to have been sealed with that decision, with producers deciding to close rather than recast.
Sweet Charity currently plays The Al Hirschfeld Theater and stars Christina Applegate, Denis O'Hare and Ernie Sabella.
Charity Hope Valentine is a taxi dancer with a heart of gold. She dreams of meeting the right man and settling down, but keeps waisting her affections on losers. Her luck starts to change when she meets a suave Italian movie star, but things really start to look up when she runs into a shy but sweet guy in a night-school elevator. Could this finally be her Prince Charming?
For tickets to the final performances of Sweet Charity visit www.ticketsnow.com .
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