Chicago is an American musical with music by John Kander, lyrics by Fred Ebb, and book by Ebb and Bob Fosse. Set in Chicago in the jazz age, the musical is based on a 1926 play of the same name by reporter Maurine Dallas Watkins, about actual criminals and the crimes on which she reported. The story is a satire on corruption in the administration of criminal justice and the concept of the "celebrity criminal".
Bonita Melody Lysette Langford is an English actress, dancer and singer. She came to prominence as a child star in the 1970s, when she had a notable role in the TV series Just William. In the 1980s, she played companion Mel Bush in Doctor Who. She has also been known for appearing in various musicals in the West End and on Broadway, including shows such as Peter Pan, Cats, The Pirates of Penzance and Chicago. From 2015 to 2018, she portrayed the role of Carmel Kazemi on the BBC soap opera EastEnders, for which she received the 2016 British Soap Award for Best Newcomer.
Anthony Warlow is an Australian opera and musical theatre performer, noted for his character acting and considerable vocal range. He is a classically trained lyric baritone and made his debut with the Australian Opera in 1980.
Monty Python's Spamalot is a musical comedy adapted from the 1975 film Monty Python and the Holy Grail. Like the motion picture, it is a highly irreverent parody of the Arthurian legend, but it differs from the film in many ways. The original 2005 Broadway production, directed by Mike Nichols, received 14 Tony Awards nominations, winning in three categories, including Best Musical. During its initial run of 1,575 performances, it was seen by more than two million people and grossed over $175 million. Tim Curry starred as King Arthur in the original Broadway and West End productions. It was one of eight UK musicals commemorated on Royal Mail stamps, issued in February 2011.
Valentine Ruth Henshall, known professionally as Ruthie Henshall, is an English actress, singer and dancer, known for her work in musical theatre. She began her professional stage career in 1986, before making her West End debut in Cats in 1987. A five-time Olivier Award nominee, she won the 1995 Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Musical for her role as Amalia Balash in the London revival of She Loves Me (1994).
Ute Lemper is a German singer and actress. Her roles in musicals include playing Sally Bowles in the original Paris production of Cabaret, for which she won the 1987 Molière Award for Best Newcomer, and Velma Kelly in the revival of Chicago in both London and New York, which won her the 1998 Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Musical.
Jekyll & Hyde is a 1990 musical loosely based on the 1886 novella Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson. Originally conceived for the stage by Frank Wildhorn and Steve Cuden, it features music by Frank Wildhorn, a book by Leslie Bricusse and lyrics by all of them. After a world premiere run in Houston, Texas, the musical embarked on a national tour of the United States prior to its Broadway debut in 1997. Many international productions in various languages have since been staged including two subsequent North American tours, two tours in the United Kingdom, a concert version, a re-vamped US tour in 2012, a 2013 Broadway revival featuring Constantine Maroulis, and an Australian concert version in 2019.
Heather Douglas, a graduate of New Albany High School has appeared in Broadway productions of Tommy Tunes's The Will Rogers Follies and Crazy for You; the pre-Broadway tour of Jekyll and Hyde; a national tour and Berlin production of Crazy for You, 'Audrey' in Little Shop of Horrors, 'Rapunzel' in Into the Woods, 'Cassie' in A Chorus Line, 'Nickie' in Sweet Charity and Disney MGM Studio's Beauty and the Beast; the original West End production of Chicago where she understudied and played the part of 'Velma'; My One and Only in both London and Chichester, where she also understudied and played 'Edythe' and Cats as 'Bombalurina'.
Katherine Renee "Kate" Shindle is an American actress, singer, dancer, and AIDS activist. She is currently serving as the President of the Actors' Equity Association. She was Miss America 1998 in 1998 and Miss Illinois in 1997.
Pia Douwes is a Dutch actress in musical theatre in Europe. She is best known for having created the title role in the German-language musical Elisabeth.
Amy Spanger is an American actress, singer and dancer.
Lauren Kennedy is an American actress, and singer who has performed numerous times on Broadway. She is now the producing artistic director of Theatre Raleigh in her home state of North Carolina.
Kim Crosby is an American singer and musical theatre actress. She is best known as the original Cinderella in the Sondheim-Lapine musical Into the Woods.
Coleen Sexton is an American stage actress who made her Broadway debut at age 20 in Frank Wildhorn and Leslie Bricusse's Jekyll & Hyde in 2000. She portrayed the starring role of Lucy Harris in the Broadway production, as an understudy from 1999, and took over the role from Luba Mason in January 2000. She can be seen on the DVD of the show starring Andrea Rivette as Emma Carew and David Hasselhoff in the title role. Before making her debut in Jekyll & Hyde, Coleen was a singer/performer in a Germany-based band called 5NY.
Reva Rice is an American musical theatre actress and singer, best known for originating the role of Pearl in Starlight Express on Broadway, and subsequently playing the role in the London production after its 1992 revision as well as on tour in the USA and in Las Vegas.
Anna-Jane Casey is an English singer, dancer and actress best known for her work in musical theatre.
Anna Montanaro is a German actress. She is one of Germany's most famous musical performers. After Hildegard Knef and Ute Lemper she made it as the third German artist to play in a leading role on Broadway.
Sarah Earnshaw is a British actress known for her work in musical theatre.
Jenny Gayner is an English actress, dancer and singer, who has played lead roles in a number of West End and touring theatre productions, including Chicago, The Rocky Horror Show, Spamalot, Singin' in the Rain, Legally Blonde and Relatively Speaking as well as performing in her own one-woman cabaret show, and starring in and producing horror film, The Addicted. She appeared with the cast of Chicago at the 2012 Summer Olympic countdown in London.
Carolyn Jane Maitland, known professionally as Carolyn Maitland, is a British actress, West End singer and performer best known for playing Marian Halcolme in The Woman in White at the Charing Cross Theatre in London, directed by Thom Southerland. The Broadway World Reviewer, Gary Nayol wrote “Her [Maitland] singing is worth the ticket price alone, belting into one of London’s more tricky auditoria with total commitment and great technique, a masterclass in how to go full-on musical theatre passion without ever losing sight of the fact that the character is supposed to be real. She veers close to opera but that’s a compliment in a production of this ambition. One of 2017’s best performances in the West End arriving late in the year..” Carolyn is also known for playing Grace Farrell in the 2019 tour of Annie the Musical and Molly Jensen in Ghost, opposite musician and actor Andy Moss as Sam, on the 2016 national tour.
