CHICAGO Welcomes Back Bianca Marroquín as Velma Kelly Next Month

The Broadway company of the Tony Award-winning, record-breaking hit musical Chicago will welcome back Bianca Marroquín, a longtime veteran of the show, in the role of "Velma Kelly" for a limited run beginning Monday, March 13 through Sunday, April 9 at the Ambassador Theatre (219 W. 49th St., NYC).

Bianca Marroquín has played Roxie Hart in the Broadway company of Chicago off-and-on over the last 20 years, with over 4,000 performances. She first performed the role of Roxie in 2002 in Mexico City's Spanish-language production. Soon thereafter she was invited to join the Broadway company where she made history becoming the first Mexican woman in a leading role on Broadway! For Broadway's return in 2021, she made her debut in the role of Velma Kelly, joining a short list of legendary women who have both played Roxie and Velma in the show - including Chita Rivera, Bebe Neuwirth and Ruthie Henshall.

About BIANCA MARROQUÍN

Bianca Marroquín started her artistic career in Mexico City in productions of Disney's Beauty and the Beast, Rent, Phantom of the Opera, Vagina Monologues and Chicago. In 2002, Bianca made her Broadway debut as Roxie Hart and later kicked off Chicago's third national tour, winning a Helen Hayes Award. Other Broadway credits: Daniela in In the Heights; Carmen in The Pajama Game. Her regional work includes And the World Goes Round at Barrington Stage Company (woman #3) and Bye Bye Birdie at North Shore Music Theatre (Rose Alvarez, IRNE Award for Best Actress in a musical). Other credits include Maria Rainer in The Sound of Music (Mexico City), Anita in West Side Story (Carnegie Hall) and Mary in Disney's Mary Poppins (Mexico City). TV: Chita Rivera in FX's "Fosse/Verdon." Film: Half Brothers. You can catch her in Apple TV's series, "Acapulco".

This year (and every year), the producers of Chicago are also celebrating the work of Broadway legend John Kander, who co-wrote the score to Chicago with the late Fred Ebb. Kander has the distinction of having had a show running on Broadway every season for the last 50 years. He has had presence on Broadway since 1959 when he earned his first credit as the dance music arranger and rehearsal pianist on Gypsy.

About CHICAGO

With a legendary book by Fred Ebb and Bob Fosse, music by John Kander and lyrics by Fred Ebb, Chicago is now the #1 longest-running American musical in Broadway history.

The current cast of Chicago features Charlotte d'Amboise as Roxie Hart, Lana Gordon as Velma Kelly, James T. Lane as Billy Flynn, Jinkx Monsoon as Matron "Mama" Morton, Evan Harrington as Amos Hart and R. Lowe as Mary Sunshine. The cast also includes David Bushman, Christine Cornish, Jennifer Dunne, Jessica Ernest, Jeff Gorti, Arian Keddell, Mary Claire King, Marty Lawson, Joseph London, Barrett Martin, Sharon Moore, Drew Nellessen, Celina Nightengale, Brian O'Brien, Denny Paschall, Jermaine R. Rembert, Rachel Schur, and Michael Scirrotto.

Produced by Barry and Fran Weissler, Chicago is the winner of six 1997 Tony Awards including Best Musical Revival and the Grammy Award for Best Musical Cast Recording.

Directed by Tony Award winner Walter Bobbie and choreographed by Tony Award winner Ann Reinking, Chicago features set design by Tony Award winner John Lee Beatty, costume design by Tony Award winner William Ivey Long, lighting design by Tony Award winner Ken Billington, sound design by Tony Award winner Scott Lehrer, casting by Stewart/Whitley and Executive Producer Alecia Parker.

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.