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Chicago is Broadway's fifth-longest running show

On 25 Mar 2011, the internationally acclaimed revival of John Kander, Fred Ebb and Bob Fosse's Tony Award-winning musical Chicago will reach yet another major milestone when it becomes the fifth-longest running production in Broadway history, surpassing 'Oh! Calcutta!' with a total of 5,960 performances!

As of that date, the top ten longest-running Broadway productions will be as follows (* indicates the production is still running):

  • 1. * The Phantom of the Opera (9,633)
  • 2. Cats (7,485)
  • 3. Les Miserables (6,680)
  • 4. A Chorus Line (6,137)
  • 5. * CHICAGO (5,960)
  • 6. Oh! Calcutta (5,959)
  • 9. * The Lion King (5,546)
  • 7. Beauty and the Beast (5,461)
  • 8. Rent (5,123)
  • 10. Miss Saigon (4,097)
Now celebrating fourteen years on the Great White Way, Chicago is the second longest-running production currently playing on Broadway, as well as Broadway's longest-running musical revival.

The show has been playing on Broadway since 14 Nov 1996, it moved to the Ambassador Theatre on the 29 Jan 2003, where it is now booking through to 18 Dec 2011.

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 company currently stars Leigh Zimmerman (Velma Kelly), Bianca Marroquin (Roxie), *Brent Barrett (Billy Flynn), Roz Ryan (Mama Morton), Raymond Bokhour (Amos Hart) and R. Lowe (Mary Sunshine).
*Brent Barrett plays 'Billy Flynn' from 26 Mar 2011.

Chicago has music by John Kander, Lyrics by Fred Ebb, Book by Bob Fosse & Fred Ebb.

The musical 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. It is the eighth longest-running production in Broadway history, as well as Broadway's longest-running musical revival.

Originally published on

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