The Department of Theatre at Coastal Carolina University will perform the musical "Sweet Charity" on Thursday, April 10 through Saturday, April 19 in Wheelwright Auditorium. Performances are nightly at 7:30 p.m. with matinees at 3 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays. There is no Sunday evening performance.

Directed by Steve Earnest of the CCU Theatre faculty, "Sweet Charity" is a tender, emotional and funny play about the adventures of the gullible and guileless Charity Agnes Valentine, a dance hostess who always gives her heart and her dreams to the wrong man.

"Sweet Charity" was one of the most successful Broadway shows of the 1960s and introduced the songs "Big Spender" and "If My Friends Could See Me Now." The play, an original Neil Simon story, is based on Federico Fellini's film, "Nights of Cabria," with lyrics by Dorothy Fields and music by Cy Coleman.

Earnest, an associate professor of theater, joined CCU in 2005. He earned a Master of Fine Arts degree in musical theater from the University of Miami, and a doctorate degree in theater from the University of Colorado at Boulder. He has worked as an actor for several theater companies and his professional directing credits include "Singin' in the Rain," "Big River" and "Meet me in St. Louis."

Tickets are available at the Wheelwright Box Office and are $12 general admission, $8 for alumni and seniors, $6 aculty and staff and free to CCU students with ID. Tickets will also be sold at the door 90 minutes prior to the performance. For ticket information contact the Wheelwright Box Office at 349-2502.