Nikki Gil Tries Her Hand at Another Off-beat Role

Manila, Philippines, May 5, 2011 -- Nikki Gil, TV personality, actress and recording artist, seems to be fascinated playing off-beat characters in stage musicals.  Gil made her theater debut as blonde sorority star Elle Woods last year.  And she's set to grace the stage again starring as dancer-for-hire Charity Hope Valentine in 9 Works Theatrical's production of the Broadway musical comedy Sweet Charity in August.

Sweet Charity, which originally starred Gwen Verdon as Charity, premiered on Broadway in 1966. The original Broadway production had featured Cy Coleman's music, Dorothy Fields' lyrics, Neil Simon's book and Bob Fosse's Tony Award-winning choreography. The show was also adapted into a full-length film in 1969, which starred Shirley MacLaine as Charity, and had several remakes on Broadway.  Sweet Charity's most recent revival on the Great White Way was in 2005, which had Christina Applegate and Charlotte d'Amboise as Charity.

Coleman's music for Sweet Charity boasts of catchy-but-naughty tunes (and sometimes with dark tones in the same vein as John Kander's musical Chicago). A couple of popular show tunes, "Big Spender" and "If My Friends Could See Me Now," are from the show.

In 9 Works Theaterical's upcoming production of Sweet Charity, the company has also announced that reality TV contest winner Kris Lawrence will make his theater debut as Oscar Lindquist opposite Gil's Charity.  That adds Lawrence to the list of local mainstream artists -- Markki Stroem, Dawn Zulueta, Geoff Taylor and even Gil herself -- who've been recently bitten by the theater bug.

Also in the cast are Sheila Valderrama-Martinez, Ciara Sotto-Oconer, Sheree Vidal-Bautista, Miguel Faustmann, OJ Mariano, Tasy Garrucha, Caisa Borromeo, Chinie Nepomuceno, Vinia Pamplona, Carmelle Ros, Topper Fabregas, Job Bautista, Francis Matheu, Anthony Tarrosa Ong, Peter Alcedo and Chai Relucio.

9 Works Theatrical's resident director Robbie Guevara and assistant director Lorenz Martinez are at the helm of this new production of Sweet Charity. 

Musical director Joseph Tolentino, scenographer and costume designer Mio Infante, lighting designer Martin Esteva and costume designer Hanna delos Reyes round out the creative team.

9 Works Theatrical's production of the Broadway musical Sweet Charity will open on August 5 at the Carlos P. Romulo Auditorium, RCBC Plaza, Makati City. For fundraising and block-buying opportunities, call (632) 557-5860, (632) 586-7105 or (63)917-5545560 or email info@9workstheatrical.com.

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Oliver is about to earn his M.S. degree in public relations and corporate communication from New York University while serving as regional editor for BroadwayWorld.com. Over the past 18 years, Oliver has been handling public relations and corporate communication for numerous brands (including Pepsi), Broadway shows, Broadway stars, non-profit organizations, and mainstream celebrities. He also teaches public relations at De La Salle University-Manila. Follow Oliver on Twitter: @OliverOliveros

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