'Chicago' to set Broadway record with 10,000th performance

The musical is one of only two shows to do so.

Gillian Russo
Gillian Russo

Chicago is still bringing all that jazz! The revival of the classic Kander and Ebb musical, which began performances in 1996, will play its 10,000th performance this Saturday, June 25. Chicago will become only the second show in Broadway history to reach that milestone; The Phantom of the Opera did so on February 11, 2012 and has now played more than 13,000 performances.

Chicago is the second-longest-running musical, the longest-running American musical, and the longest-running revival in Broadway history. The show's original run, from 1975 to 1977, had plenty of success with 936 performances, but the 1996 revival at the Ambassador Theatre has surpassed it more than tenfold. 

The musical follows wannabe vaudeville star Roxie and established singer Velma as they're both imprisoned for murder. In 1920s Chicago, getting acquitted isn't a matter of actual innocence, but romancing the jury and the press. The women compete for the attention of a slick lawyer who will help them "razzle dazzle" the public. In addition to John Kander and Fred Ebb's songs and book, Chicago is best known for its choreography in the style of Bob Fosse.

The current cast of Chicago on Broadway includes Emma Pittman as Roxie Hart, Bianca Marroquín as Velma Kelly, Ryan Silverman as Billy Flynn, Tony Award winner Jennifer Holliday as Matron "Mama" Morton, Evan Harrington as Amos Hart, and R. Lowe as Mary Sunshine.

Get Chicago tickets now.

Originally published on

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