Photo Flash: Sneak Peek at the Cast of The Hollywood Bowl's CHICAGO - Stephen Moyer, Ashlee Simpson, Samantha Barks and More!
By: BWW News Desk Jul. 19, 2013
The Hollywood Bowl's upcoming production of CHICAGO, the musical which holds the record as the third longest running show in Broadway history, will star Samantha Barks as Velma Kelly, Drew Carey as Amos Hart, Lucy Lawless as "Mama" Morton, Stephen Moyer as Billy Flynn, and AshLee Simpson as Roxie Hart. Brooke Shields will direct the fully staged production of CHICAGO; the conductor is Rob Fisher. Check out photos of the cast and creative team in rehearsal below!
In 2006, Simpson made her professional stage debut as Roxie Hart in the West End production of CHICAGO. She received unanimous critical acclaim for her portrayal. She later reprised the role for her Broadway debut. Brooke Shields starred in CHICAGO both on Broadway and in London's West End and this marks her directing debut. Rob Fisher will serve as the conductor of the production. Fisher's association with the show began with the 1996 Broadway revival and he continues to be supervising music director of CHICAGo Productions around the globe.
The recent history of Broadway musicals at the Hollywood Bowl is nothing short of spectacular, including Rent (starring Vanessa Hudgens, Nicole Scherzinger, and Wayne Brady, directed by Neil Patrick Harris), Hairspray (starring Harvey Fierstein, Drew Carey, John Stamos, and Nick Jonas, directed and choreographed by Jerry Mitchell) and The Producers (starring Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Richard Kind, Rebecca Romijn, and Dane Cook, directed and choreographed by Susan Stroman).
CHICAGO has music by John Kander, lyrics by Fred Ebb and a book by Ebb and Bob Fosse. Set in Prohibition-era Chicago, the musical is based on a 1926 play of the same name by reporter Maurine Dallas Watkins about actual criminals and crimes she reported on. The story is a satire on corruption in the administration of criminal justice and the concept of the "celebrity criminal."
The original Broadway production opened in 1975 at the 46th Street Theatre and ran for 936 performances until 1977. Bob Fosse also choreographed the original production. CHICAGO was revived on Broadway in 1996, and a year later in the West End. The Broadway revival holds the record for the longest-running musical revival and the longest-running American musical in Broadway history, and is the third longest-running show in Broadway history having played more than 6,700 performances to date. The West End revival ran for nearly 15 years, becoming the longest-running American musical in West End history, and it has enjoyed several tours and international productions. The Academy Award-winning 2002 film version of the musical was directed by Rob Marshall.
Photo Credit: Ed Krieger
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