Original cast returns to Chicago for birthday bash

First Published 17 April 2008, Last Updated 18 April 2008

Original cast members Ruthie Henshall, Ute Lemper and Henry Goodman will participate in a special charity gala performance of Chicago on 5 December to celebrate the show’s 10th birthday in the West End.

The performance, in aid of Breast Cancer Haven and the Breast Health Institute, will also feature past cast members including Brenda Edwards, Jennifer Ellison, Duncan James, Frances Ruffelle and Denise Van Outen. Honorary patrons for the evening will be actress Elizabeth Hurley, actor and writer Julian Fellowes and his wife, and theatre impresario Andrew Lloyd Webber. The show starts at 18:30 and is followed by a black tie reception.

This production of Chicago opened at the Adelphi on 18 November 1997, with Henshall as Roxie, Lemper as Velma and Goodman as Billy Flynn. The show won Outstanding Musical Production at the Laurence Olivier Awards 1998, with Lemper picking up the Best Actress in a Musical Award.

Based on the play by Maurine Dallas Watkins, with a book by Fred Ebb and Bob Fosse and music by John Kander and Ebb, Chicago tells the story of murdering showgirls Velma Kelly and Roxie Hart. Incarcerated for their crimes, they employ sleazy lawyer Billy Flynn to prove their innocence and help them use their notoriety to create an unusual nightclub act.

This production of Chicago celebrates its birthday at its current home, the Cambridge, where it moved to from the Adelphi in April 2006. The Cambridge was also the home of the original production of Chicago, in 1979.

To book tickets for Chicago em>CB

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