Williams & Aleardi star in Chicago from 1 December 2014

NaTasha Yvette Williams will debut as Matron Mama Morton in the Broadway company of Chicago at the Ambassador Theatre on 1 December 2014, taking over from Carmen Ruby Floyd, who will play her final performance on 30 November 2014.

Ms. Williams' previous Broadway credits include 'A Night with Janis Joplin,' 'The Gershwins' Porgy and Bess,' and 'The Color Purple.'

Also announced is a one-week limited engagement of Swiss actor Pasquale Aleardi, who will take over the role of Billy Flynn, from 1 to 7 December 2014, before he begins his run in the same role in the German production of the musical in Stuttgart. Christopher Fitzgerald will play his final performance on 30 November 2014.

The current cast of Chicago includes Bianca Marroquin as Roxie Hart, Amra-Fay Wright as Velma Kelly, Christopher Fitzgerald as Billy Flynn, Paul C. Vogt as Amos Hart, Carmen Ruby Floyd as Matron Mama Morton, and R. Lowe as Mary Sunshine.

As previously announced, Amy Spanger will appear for a limited engagment as Roxie Hart from 1 to 21 December 2014.

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 4 January 2015.

- by Tom Millward