Rumer Willis delays her Broadway debut in Chicago

Actress and "Dancing With the Stars" winner Rumer Willis has delayed her Broadway debut as Roxie Hart in Kander & Ebb's musical Chicago and will now begin performances on 14 September 2015 for a limited run through to 1 November 2015. (She was originally scheduled to appear from 18 August to 11 October 2015 at the Ambassadors Theatre).

Broadway veteran Dylis Croman will now step in to cover the role from 18 August to 13 September 2015, after Amy Spanger finshes her current run as Roxie on 16 August 2015.

As previously announced, Carly Hughes will also return to the role of Velma Kelly from 22 August to 4 September 2015, whilst Amra Faye Wright goes on hiatus.

Rumer Willis was the recent winner of ABC's "Dancing with the Stars" season 20. She began acting as a child starring opposite her mother Demi Moore in the films 'Striptease' and 'Now and Then'. Her stage credits include: 'Love, Loss and What I Wore' (Off-Broadway). Her TV credits include 'Workaholics', 'Pretty Little Liars', and 'Hawaii 5-0'.

The current principal cast of Chicago features Amy Spanger (Roxie Hart), Amra-Faye Wright (Velma Kelly), Ivan Hernandez (Billy Flynn), Raymond Bokhour (Amos Hart), NaTasha Yvette Williams (Matron Mama Morton), and R. Lowe (Mary Sunshine).

Chicago is the second longest-running production currently playing on Broadway, Broadway's longest-running musical revival, as well as the longest-running American show in Broadway history. It has been playing on Broadway since 14 November 1996, and it moved to its current home, the Ambassador Theatre, on the 29 January 2003.

Chicago follows not your usual housewife, Roxie Hart, who gains dubious notoriety when she kills her boyfriend, invents her defence and manipulates everyone from her trustworthy husband to the fickle media and the unsuspecting public. The show features the well known songs, 'All That Jazz,' 'Razzle Dazzle' and 'Mr. Cellophane'.

The musical features a score by John Kander and Fred Ebb, with a book by Bob Fosse & Fred Ebb. The revival production is directed by Walter Bobbie, with choreography by Ann Reinking, scene design by John Lee Beatty, costumes by William Ivey Long, lighting by Ken Billington and sound by Scott Lehrer.

Chicago is the winner of six 1997 Tony Awards including Best Musical Revival and the Grammy Award for Best Musical Cast Recording. The show is currently booking to 10 January 2016.

- by Tom Millward