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Lili Thomas
Lili Thomas

Lili Thomas to Join Broadway Cast of Chicago

Chicago is welcoming a new Matron ‘Mama’ Morton. Lili Thomas will join the cast in the iconic role, becoming the first Asian-American actress to play Matron ‘Mama’ Morton on Broadway. Making her Broadway debut, she will join the cast beginning Monday, September 11, 2023, at the Ambassador Theatre.

Thomas’ previous credits include the US National Tour of Dear Evan Hansen, We’re Gonna Die at Second Stage Theater, and The Hello Girls at 59e59. Regionally, she’s appeared at Pittsburgh CLO as Helene in Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812, at Berkeley Rep in Dave Malloy’s Octet, at Lincoln Center with the NYPhil, Kennedy Center, Milwaukee Rep, and The Rev.

The current cast of Chicago features Charlotte d’Amboise as Roxie Hart, Kimberly Marable as Velma Kelly, Ryan Silverman as Billy Flynn, Jennifer Fouché as Matron “Mama” Morton, Raymond Bokhour as Amos Hart and R. Lowe as Mary Sunshine. The cast also includes David Bushman, Christine Cornish, Jessica Ernest, Jeff Gorti, Arian Keddell, Mary Claire King, Marty Lawson, Joseph London, Barrett Martin, Sharon Moore, Drew Nellessen, Brian O’Brien, Denny Paschall, Khori Michele Petinaud, Angel Reda, Jermaine R. Rembert, Michael Scirrotto, and Dani Spieler.

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.

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