On Thursday, February 12, the record-breaking worldwide musical smash CHICAGO will once again razzle-dazzle international audiences as it makes its celebrated Thai premiere engagement at the Muang Thai Rachadalai Theatre in Bangkok (through Sunday, February 22).
With this latest international premiere, CHICAGO has now played a total of 24 countries in 11 languages since the Tony Award-winning revival first opened on Broadway in 1996.
Performed in English, the Thai premiere company stars Michelle DeJean as Roxie Hart, Terra C. MacLeod as Velma Kelly, Jeff McCarthy as Billy Flynn, Roz Ryan as Matron "Mama" Morton and Ben Elledge as Amos Hart.
(Throughout the course of the Bangkok engagement, leading ladies Terra C. MacLeod and Roz Ryan will be blogging about their experiences on the Official CHICAGO website:
www.chicagothemusical.com/blog.)
The Bangkok premiere is an extension of CHICAGO's current North American Tour, which, upon returning from Thailand, will resume on Wednesday, February 25 at the Ford Center for the Performing Arts / Oriental Theatre in Chicago, Illinois.
Upcoming North American engagements booked through Sunday, August 16, 2009 include Saskatoon, Saskatchewan; Thunder Bay, Ontario; Washington, DC; St. Petersburg, Florida; Miami Beach, Florida; Columbia, South Carolina; Worcester, Massachusetts and Kansas City, Missouri. Additional cities will be announced in the coming weeks.
Elsewhere around the world...
The London production of CHICAGO is now in its eleventh consecutive year, where it continues to hold the record as the longest-running American musical in West End theatre history.
On Monday, March 9, CHICAGO will launch a new 11-city tour of the United Kingdom, kicking off at the Alhambra Theatre in Bradford. The UK tour is currently booked through Saturday, June 13, 2009.
On Thursday, March 19, CHICAGO begins a return engagement in Brisbane, Australia, which then dovetails into a multi-city Australian tour. The complete tour itinerary will be announced soon.
On Tuesday, March 24, the Broadway production of CHICAGO will surpass Rent to become the seventh-longest running production in Broadway history, with 5,125 performances.
Also this year, international return engagements of CHICAGO are in the works for Korea, Japan and Holland, as well as the premiere production in Spain. International productions are slated for Argentina and Sweden in 2010.
Now celebrating twelve glorious years of girls, glitz and glamour on the Great White Way, the razzle-dazzle hit CHICAGO is currently the second longest-running production currently playing on Broadway...and it shows no sign of slowing down!
Currently playing at the Ambassador Theatre (219 W. 49th St.), CHICAGO is the winner of six 1997 Tony Awards including Best Musical Revival and the Grammy Award for Best Musical Cast Recording.
Produced by Barry and Fran Weissler, CHICAGO is directed by Walter Bobbie and choreographed by Ann Reinking, and features set design by John Lee Beatty, costume design by William Ivey Long, lighting design by Ken Billington and sound design by Scott Lehrer.
CHICAGO features a book by Fred Ebb and Bob Fosse, music by John Kander and lyrics by Fred Ebb. The production features orchestrations by Ralph Burns, supervising music direction by Rob Fisher and music direction by Leslie Stifelman.
Visit
www.ChicagoTheMusical.com for more information, including ticket prices and performance schedule.
Photo Credt: Paul Kolnik
