Currently running at the Menier Chocolate Factory through March 7, it will begin performances in the West End April 23, prior to an official opening May 4, for a run that is initially booking through Jan. 8, 2011.

Further casting is still to be announced for the transfer, though the Menier production also currently features Josefina Gabrielle, Tiffany Graves, Paul J. Medford, Ebony Molina and Mark Umbers.

With book by Neil Simon, music by Cy Coleman and lyrics by Dorothy Fields, the show 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 standards 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 at Broadway's Palace Theatre in 1966, where it ran for over 600 performances, featuring Gwen Verdon as Charity. 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 Fosse's production was revived at Broadway's Minskoff Theatre, with Debbie Allen as Charity, winning four Tony Awards, and again in 2005 in a new production directed by Walter Bobbie and choreographed by Wayne Cilento, starring Christina Applegate as Charity. It was last seen in the West End in a short-lived production at the Victoria Palace Theatre in 1998, starring Bonnie Langford.

This production is choreographed by Stephen Mear, with 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 Menier Chocolate Factory’s Sweet Charity is produced in the West End by Chocolate Factory Productions, David Ian Productions, the Theatre Royal Haymarket Productions and David Mirvish. Outhwaite was last seen on the London stage in the original cast of Matthew Warchus' revival of Boeing-Beoing. Other London theatre credits include Breathing Corpses and Flesh Wound for the Royal Court and Oliver! at the London Palladium.

To book tickets for the West End run, contact the box office at 0845 481 1870, or visit www.sweetcharitywestend.com