The names soon to be on everybody’s lips have been revealed! Ana Villafañe (On Your Feet!) and Bianca Marroquín (previously Roxie Hart in the revival) will star in Chicago as Roxie Hart and Velma Kelly, respectively, when the long-running hit returns to the Ambassador Theatre on September 14. The two will be joined by Tony winner and Broadway icon Lillias White returning to the role of Matron Mama Morton after an earlier stint in 2006.
The company will also feature Raymond Bokhour as Amos Hart and Ryan Lowe as Mary Sunshine with ensemble members David Bushman, Jennifer Dunne, Jessica Ernest, Jeff Gorti, Arian Keddell, Mary Claire King, Barrett Martin, Sharon Moore, Drew Nellessen, Celina Nightengale, Brian O’Brien, Denny Paschall, Angel Reda, Jermaine R. Rembert, Michael Scirrotto, Christine C. Smith, and Brian Spitulnik.
Shut down by the pandemic in March of 2020, the longest-running American musical is set to make a flashy return this September.
Chicago features a score by the legendary composing team of John Kander and Fred Ebb, and a book by Ebb and Bob Fosse. The current revival was directed by Walter Bobbie, with choreography by Ann Reinking. The production includes a set design by John Lee Beatty, costume design by Tony Award winner William Ivey Long, and lighting design by Tony Award winner Ken Billington.
“Set amidst the razzle-dazzle decadence of the 1920s, Chicago is the story of Roxie Hart, a housewife and nightclub dancer who murders her on-the-side lover after he threatens to walk out on her. Desperate to avoid conviction, she dupes the public, the media and her rival cellmate, Velma Kelly, by hiring Chicago’s slickest criminal lawyer to transform her malicious crime into a barrage of sensational headlines, the likes of which might just as easily be ripped from today’s tabloids.”