PIPPIN's Carly Hughes Will Join Cast of CHICAGO as 'Velma Kelly'

On Monday, February 2, Carly Hughes, currently appearing as the Leading Player in Broadway's acclaimed revival of Pippin, will step into the iconic role of jazz slayer Velma Kelly in Broadway's Tony Award-winning, record-breaking smash CHICAGO.

Hughes is set to star opposite Grammy Award-winning singer/songwriter and international music superstar Jennifer Nettles, who as previously announced will make her Broadway debut as merry murderess Roxie Hart that same night.

Hughes and Nettles will both star for a limited eight-week engagement through Sunday, March 29, 2015 at the Ambassador Theatre (219 W. 49th St.)

Carly Hughes' other Broadway credits includeBeautiful: The Carole King Musical (Lucille/ Lead Shirelle), The Book of Mormon, Ghost(Oda Mae u/s, Louise), the revival of Ragtime(u/s Sarah), The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee and Dr. Seuss's How the Grinch Stole Christmas.

In the role of Velma Kelly, Hughes takes over for longtime CHICAGO star Amra-Faye Wright, who plays her final performance onSunday, February 1.

With a legendary score by John Kander and Fred Ebb, and a book by Fred Ebb andBob Fosse, CHICAGO is the longest-running American musical in Broadway history -- and it shows no sign of ever slowing down!
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.

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.

CHICAGO is directed by Tony Award winner Walter Bobbie and choreographed by Tony Award winner Ann Reinking, with set design by John Lee Beatty, costume design by Tony Award winner William Ivey Long, lighting design by Tony Award winner Ken Billington and sound design by Scott Lehrer.

CHICAGO currently stars Amy Spanger as Roxie Hart (through December 22),Bianca Marroquin as Roxie Hart (beginning December 23), John O'Hurley as Billy Flynn, Raymond Bokhour as Amos Hart and NaTasha Yvette Williams as Matron "Mama" Morton.

Visit www.ChicagoTheMusical.com for more information.