Strictly Come Dancing professional Lauren Oakley will make her musical theatre debut as Roxie Hart when Chicago sets off on its 2027 UK and Ireland tour, with Adam Garcia as Billy Flynn and Mica Paris and Sam Bailey sharing Mama Morton.
Lauren Oakley, best known to television audiences from the dance floor of Strictly Come Dancing, takes on her first musical role as the fame-hungry Roxie Hart in Chicago, which opens its new UK and Ireland tour at the New Wimbledon Theatre on 5 February 2027. Producers David Ian for Crossroads Live, in association with Barry and Fran Weissler, confirmed the full company today.
Two-time Olivier Award nominee Adam Garcia plays the silver-tongued lawyer Billy Flynn. Both nominations came in musicals, for Tony Manero in Saturday Night Fever and Bill Calhoun in Kiss Me, Kate, and he was last on the road as Frank Farmer in the UK and international tour of The Bodyguard. Charlotte Gooch, whose credits include Nini in Moulin Rouge! The Musical at the Piccadilly Theatre, is Velma Kelly.
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The prison matron Mama Morton is shared by two performers who have both played her before. Soul singer Mica Paris MBE plays the role from Wimbledon through to Aberdeen (5 February - 22 May), and Sam Bailey, who won The X Factor in 2013 and is currently Debbie in Mamma Mia! The Party at The O2, takes over from Manchester to Eastbourne (25 May - 25 July). They split the fortnight at Birmingham Hippodrome, Bailey on 27-31 July and Paris on 3-7 August. Paris then plays Norwich, Brighton and Belfast, and Bailey has every date from Bristol (31 August) to Edinburgh (23-27 November).
Jonathan Dryden Taylor is Roxie’s long-suffering husband Amos Hart, and R. Leonard makes their professional debut as the reporter Mary Sunshine. Oakley plays Roxie as far as Southend (13-17 July), with casting for the role from Eastbourne onwards still to come. A new Billy Flynn will also be named for the dates from Norwich (9 August) onwards.
The ensemble is Bethany Adamson, Kofi Aidoo-Appiah, Gabby Antrobus, Jamie Armour, Talia Duff, Harvey Fawcett, Marie Finlayson, Sergio Giacomelli, Sam Holden, Aoife Kenny, Harrison Langham, Oliver Loades, Will Markendale, Gabrielle Parker and Tanith Williams.
Set in the jazz-age 1920s, the musical follows two women who turn murder charges into a shot at celebrity, with a score by John Kander and Fred Ebb that includes All That Jazz, Cell Block Tango and Razzle Dazzle. The book is by Fred Ebb and Bob Fosse, from the play by Maurine Dallas Watkins. The 1996 Broadway revival, produced by the Weisslers, was directed by Walter Bobbie with choreography by Ann Reinking in the style of Fosse.
With six Tony Awards, two Olivier Awards and a Grammy to its name, Chicago is the longest-running American musical in both Broadway and West End history, and is now marking 30 years on Broadway. Since 1996 it has been staged in 38 countries and 12 languages, given more than 36,000 performances and been seen by an estimated 35 million people.
After Wimbledon (5-13 February), the tour continues in 2027 at:
- 16-20 February: Theatre Royal Plymouth, Plymouth
- 22-27 February: Wales Millennium Centre, Cardiff
- 2-6 March: Lyceum Theatre, Sheffield
- 24-27 March: Liverpool Empire, Liverpool
- 29 March - 3 April: Theatre Royal, Newcastle
- 6-10 April: Pavilion Theatre, Bournemouth
- 10-15 May: King’s Theatre, Glasgow
- 18-22 May: His Majesty’s Theatre, Aberdeen
- 25-29 May: Opera House, Manchester
- 31 May - 5 June: Grand Opera House, York
- 8-12 June: Opera House, Blackpool
- 14-19 June: Royal Concert Hall, Nottingham
- 21-26 June: Alhambra Theatre, Bradford
- 29 June - 10 July: Bord Gáis Energy Theatre, Dublin
- 13-17 July: Cliffs Pavilion, Southend
- 19-25 July: Congress Theatre, Eastbourne
- 27 July - 7 August: Birmingham Hippodrome, Birmingham
- 9-14 August: Theatre Royal, Norwich
- 16-21 August: Theatre Royal, Brighton
- 23-28 August: Grand Opera House, Belfast
- 31 August - 4 September: Bristol Hippodrome, Bristol
- 6-11 September: Milton Keynes Theatre, Milton Keynes
- 13-18 September: Hall for Cornwall, Truro
- 20-25 September: New Theatre, Oxford
- 27 September - 2 October: Hull New Theatre, Hull
- 4-9 October: Venue Cymru, Llandudno
- 11-16 October: Sunderland Empire, Sunderland
- 18-23 October: Marlowe Theatre, Canterbury (on sale soon)
- 25-30 October: Orchard Theatre, Dartford
- 1-6 November: Woking Theatre, Woking
- 8-13 November: Everyman Theatre, Cheltenham
- 15-20 November: Regent Theatre, Stoke-on-Trent
- 23-27 November: Edinburgh Playhouse, Edinburgh
The tour opens at the New Wimbledon Theatre, where Chicago is booking now from 5-13 February 2027. Further dates are still to be announced.
