Former Strictly Come Dancing professional Janette Manrara is joining the UK & Ireland tour of Chicago, which kicks off in March and will play the New Wimbledon Theatre in June.
It marks the musical theatre debut for Manrara, who will play Roxie Hart in the show. Her first performance will come at the Cliffs Pavilion, Southend, on Monday, March 3.
Chicago comes to New Wimbledon Theatre from June 9-14. Tickets: www.atgtickets.com/venues/new-wimbledon-theatre
She will be joined by West End leading lady Djalenga Scott as Velma Kelly, alongside Joshua Lloyd as Amos Hart and Jordan Lee Davies as Mary Sunshine. Casting for Billy Flynn and Mama Morton is to be announced soon.
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.
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.
Created by John Kander, Fred Ebb and choreographer Bob Fosse, Chicago’s score includes such show-stopping songs as Razzle Dazzle, Cell Block Tango and All That Jazz. It is the longest running American musical in Broadway and West End history, having first opened in New York in 1996 and played since then in 38 countries worldwide.
Chicago, which is based on the play by Maurine Dallas Watkins, has a book by Fred Ebb and Bob Fosse, music by John Kander and lyrics by Fred Ebb. The current 1996 Broadway revival of Chicago is choreographed by Ann Reinking in the style of Bob Fosse, directed by Walter Bobbie, and produced by Barry and Fran Weissler.