Reece Weaver will play Roxie Hart in Chicago at the Ambassador Theatre through Sunday, November 15. The production calls it her final extension: two more weeks on a run that was due to end on November 1.
The Broadway company announced the new date on October 13. It is the second time Reece Weaver's stay has been lengthened. The first extension, announced in September, had moved her last performance to Sunday, November 1. This one is billed as the last.
Before Chicago, Weaver's career was in dance. She performed with the University of Alabama Dance Team, earned a dance degree, and joined the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders as a 2023 rookie, staying for three seasons. Viewers know her from the Netflix series America's Sweethearts: Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders. She is from Jacksonville, Florida.
The current principals alongside her are Lissa deGuzman (Velma Kelly), Max von Essen (Billy Flynn), Natasha Yvette Williams (Matron "Mama" Morton), Red Concepción (Amos Hart) and J. Workman (Mary Sunshine). The ensemble is Tia Altinay, Ronnie S. Bowman Jr., Austin Dunn, John Michael Fiumara, Danielle Marie Gonzalez, Chelsea James, Christopher Kelley, James T. Lane, Jenny Laroche, Marty Lawson, Joseph London, Kristen Faith Oei, Denny Paschall, Mariah Reives, Sean Samuels, Samantha Sturm, Jeff Sullivan and Elizabeth Yanick.
The musical has music by John Kander, lyrics by Fred Ebb, and a book by Fred Ebb and Bob Fosse. This staging, produced by Barry and Fran Weissler, won six Tony Awards in 1997, Best Musical Revival among them, as well as the Grammy Award for Best Musical Cast Recording. No American musical has run longer on Broadway.
Walter Bobbie directs, with choreography by Ann Reinking. Sets are by John Lee Beatty, costumes by William Ivey Long, lighting by Ken Billington and sound by Scott Lehrer. Casting is by DEFINE/Duncan Stewart, CSA, and Alecia Parker is executive producer.
The story is set in 1920s Chicago. Roxie Hart, a married nightclub dancer, kills the lover who is about to leave her. To beat the charge she hires the city's smoothest defense attorney, and the trial becomes a newspaper sensation, with fellow inmate Velma Kelly fighting her for the headlines.
The production marks 30 years on Broadway the day after Weaver's final performance, with a November 16 gala for the Entertainment Community Fund.
Performances are Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays at 7pm, Fridays at 8pm, Saturdays at 2:30pm and 8pm, and Sundays at 2pm and 7pm. Tickets are sold at the Ambassador Theatre box office, 219 W 49th St (Monday to Saturday 10am–8:30pm, Sunday 12pm–7:30pm), and through the production's official site, ChicagoTheMusical.com.
