(Video produced by Wirtz Center for the Performing Arts)

EVANSTON - “Sweet Charity,” the classic Broadway musical about a dance hall hostess and her unwavering pursuit of true love, is the first musical of the Mainstage Season of theatre and dance at the Virginia Wadsworth Wirtz Center for the Performing Arts.

“Sweet Charity” runs Nov. 4 to 20 in the Ethel M. Barber theater, 30 Arts Circle Drive, Evanston. See ticket prices and the full performance schedule below. A post-show discussion with the cast and music director Dr. Ryan T. Nelson will follow the Thursday, Nov. 17, performance.

The production features music by Cy Coleman, lyrics by Dorothy Fields and a book by Neil Simon. “Sweet Charity” director and choreographer Tommy Rapley, a House Theatre of Chicago member, counts among his previous credits Northwestern’s production of “The Wild Party” (winter 2015).

A beloved Broadway favorite, “Sweet Charity” tells the story of Charity Hope Valentine, an optimistic dance hall hostess who, in her pursuit of true love, sings, dances and pours her heart out to one undeserving man after another. 

Emboldened by girlfriends at the Fan-Dango Ballroom, Charity and the other hard-working women relentlessly pursue a life they feel they deserve. But the deceptively charming men in their lives make their dreams of a brighter tomorrow seem unreachable. Still Charity, a hopeful romantic, marches and dances onward in her pursuit of love, happiness and blissful self-enlightenment.

Tickets are $30 for the general public; $27 for senior citizens (62 and over) and area educators; $25 for Northwestern University faculty and staff; and $10 for full-time students, 30 years or younger, with valid IDs (at the door). Tickets for Northwestern students are $6 in advance or $10 at the door.

For more information, call 847-491-7282, visit the Wirtz Center website or email wirtz@northwestern.edu. Wirtz Center is a proud member of Northwestern Arts Circle. Visit the Northwestern Arts Circle website for more art events at Northwestern.