CHICAGO comes to His Majesty’s Theatre from January 14-18, starring Coronation Street’s Faye Brookes (Dancing On Ice, Grease, Legally Blonde) as Roxie Hart, West End and TV star Brenda Edwards (Loose Women, Chicago, The X Factor) as Matron ‘Mama’ Morton and Kevin Clifton (Strictly Come Dancing, Everybody’s Talking About Jamie) as Billy Flynn.
Leading West End talent Djalenga Scott also returns to the role of Velma Kelly, starring alongside Joshua Lloyd as Amost Hart and Jordan Lee Davies as Mary Sunshine. The cast is completed by Bethany Adamson, Victoria Anderson, Josh Crowther, Joe Dale, Jessica Keable, Robin Kent, Annabelle Laing, Jacob McLay Reid, Jonathan Milton, George Olney, Oliver Ramsdale, Elly Shaw, Lucy Anne Stacey, Matthew Sweet and Ria Tanaka.
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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.
Aberdeen Performing Arts Director of Programming and Creative Projects, Ben Torrie, said: “Chicago is a sensational musical. It has it all, from scandalously exciting storytelling to fabulous songs, and this star casting is sure to bring the razzle dazzle and add some glitz and glamour to those January nights!”
Faye Brookes returns to the role of Roxie Hart, having previously played her to acclaim in the 2021 UK and Ireland tour. She is best known for her role as Kate Connor in ITV’s Coronation Street, for which she won a National Television Award. Her theatre credits include Fran in Baz Luhrmann’s Strictly Ballroom The Musical, Princess Fiona in Shrek and Elle Woods in Legally Blonde, all on national tour, Ann/Edna in That Day We Sang directed by Victoria Wood at Manchester’s Royal Exchange, Liesl in The Sound of Music at Regent’s Park Open Air
Theatre and Frenchy in Grease at the West End’s Piccadilly Theatre. Faye’s was runner up on ITV’s Dancing On Ice in 2021, her other TV credits include Agnes Franklin in Our Zoo and Helena in Atlantis, both for the BBC.
Brenda Edwards gained public acclaim as a semi-finalist on The X Factor before turning her attention to the stage, making her West End debut as Mama Morton in CHICAGO, a role she recently reprised for the 2021/2022 UK and Ireland tour. Her additional theatre credits include Motormouth Maybelle in the UK tour of Hairspray, Nettie Fowler in Carousel at the London Coliseum, Killer Queen in We Will Rock You both the West End and original UK Tour and Pearl Pastor in Carmen Jones at the Royal Festival Hall. Brenda is also a regular panellist on ITV’s Loose Women as well as presenting BBC1’s Songs of Praise.
Kevin Clifton is best known as a professional dancer and winner of BBC’s Strictly Come Dancing, competing in seven series and five finals. He was most recently seen as Hugo/Loco Chanelle the UK tour of Everybody’s Talking About Jamie. His other theatre credits include Scott Hastings in Baz Luhrmann’s Strictly Ballroom, Cosmo Brown in Singin’ in the Rain at Sadler’s Wells and on tour, Stacee Jaxx in Rock Of Ages on tour, Robbie Hart in The Wedding Singer at Troubadour Wembley Park, The Artilleryman in Jeff Wayne’s The War Of The Worlds UK arena tour, Dirty Dancing at the Aldwych Theatre and Burn the Floor on Broadway, making his Broadway debut as a principal dancer.
Created by the musical theatre talents of John Kander, Fred Ebb and legendary choreographer Bob Fosse, Chicago’s sexy, sassy score includes the show-stopping songs “Razzle Dazzle”, “Cell Block Tango”, and “All That Jazz”. Winner of six Tony Awards, two Olivier Awards and a Grammy, Chicago is the longest running American musical in Broadway and West End history. Since it opened in New York in 1996, CHICAGO has played in 38 countries worldwide, and been performed in English, Dutch, German, Swedish, Spanish, Portuguese, Russian, Italian, French, Danish, Japanese and Korean. Worldwide it has been seen by an estimated 34 million people, grossed over $1.7 billion has played over 35,000 performances.
Tickets are on sale now, available from www.aberdeenperformingarts.com, phone (01224) 641122 or visit the box office at His Majesty’s Theatre or the Music Hall.
