Raena White to Make Broadway Debut as Matron "Mama" Morton in Chicago
(photo provided by Boneau/Bryan-Brown)
Starting tonight, Raena White will make her Broadway debut as Matron "Mama" Morton in Chicago at the Ambassador Theatre. White's previous credits include starring off-Broadway in Sistas: The Musical and in the national tour of The Lion King.
She will join a cast that currently includes Michelle DeJean as Roxie Hart, Amra-Faye Wright as Velma Kelly, John O'Hurley as Billy Flynn, Evan Harrington as Amos Hart, and R. Lowe as Mary Sunshine. As previously announced, Israeli recording artist Shiri Maimon will star as Roxie Hart beginning September 21, and Cuba Gooding Jr. will play Billy Flynn starting October 6.
Set amid the razzle-dazzle decadence of the 1920s, Chicago is the story of Roxie Hart, a housewife and nightclub dancer who murders her on-the-side lover after he threatens to walk out on her. Desperate to avoid conviction, she dupes the public, the media, and her rival cellmate Velma Kelly by hiring Chicago's slickest criminal lawyer to transform her malicious crime into a barrage of sensational headlines, the likes of which might just as easily be ripped from today's tabloids.
With a legendary book by Fred Ebb and Bob Fosse, music by John Kander, and lyrics by Fred Ebb, the six-time Tony-winning revival production is now in its 22nd year on Broadway.
