David Ian for Crossroads Live in association with Barry and Fran Weissler announce that West End leading man Dan Burton and West End and TV star Darren Day will return to share the role of Billy Flynn, alongside international recording artist and pop star Sinitta as Mama Morton, in the UK and Ireland tour of Chicago.
Dan Burton will play Billy Flynn in Bournemouth, Nottingham, Birmingham, Truro and Llandudno. Darren Day will play Billy Flynn in Wimbledon, Leicester, Wolverhampton, Hull, Eastbourne, Norwich, Blackpool, Woking, Sunderland, Crawley, Glasgow and Salford.
Kevin Clifton continues to perform as Billy Flynn in Canterbury and Bristol.
Sinitta will play Mama Morton in Bournemouth, Canterbury, Norwich, Woking, Crawley and Glasgow.
Brenda Edwards will continue to perform as Mama Morton in Nottingham, Birmingham, Cardiff, Bristol, Wimbledon, Leicester and Salford.
You mightalso like
Further casting for Mama Morton at certain venues to be announced.
Faye Brookes will return to the role of Roxie Hart for Canterbury and Bristol. For all other venues the role of Roxie Hart will be played by former Strictly Come Dancing professional and TV Presenter Janette Manrara.
Dan Burton was nominated for an Olivier Award for his performance as Tulsa in Gypsy at the Savoy Theatre. His other West End credits include the role of Giles Ralston in The Mousetrap at St. Martins Theatre, Phil Davis in White Christmas at the Dominion Theatre, and on tour, Earl in The Pajama Game at the Shaftesbury Theatre, Joe Pesci in Jersey Boys at the Prince Edward Theatre, the original London cast of Betty Blue Eyes at the Novello Theatre, the original London cast of Legally Blonde at the Savoy Theatre, Amos Hart in Chicago at the Cambridge Theatre, the original London cast of Dirty Dancing at the Aldwych Theatre, and Guys and Dolls at the Royal Albert Hall.
Darren Day previously returned to the role of Billy Flynn in November 2024, having been part of the 2021 UK and Ireland and Dubai tour of Chicago. His many West End credits include the title role in Joseph and his Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat at the London Palladium, Tony Parker in Copacabana at the Prince of Wales Theatre, Danny Zuko in Grease at the Cambridge Theatre, and Michael Witney in the world première of Close-Up – The Twiggy Musical at the Menier Chocolate Factory. His UK touring theatre credits include the roles of Hugo/Loco Chanel in Everybody’s Talking About Jamie, Rev. Shaw Moore in Footloose, Kashoggi in We Will Rock You, Frank n Furter in The Rocky Horror Show, Tick in Priscilla Queen of the Desert The Musical and Don in Summer Holiday. Darren’s numerous TV credits include Danny Houston in Hollyoaks, David Wilde in Doctors and Will Morgan in Stella. He was a contestant on the very first series of I’m A Celebrity Get Me Out of Here! and a finalist on Celebrity Big Brother.
Kevin Clifton is best known as a professional dancer and winner of BBC’s Strictly Come Dancing, competing in seven series and five finals. He was most recently seen as Hugo/Loco Chanelle the UK tour of Everybody’s Talking About Jamie. His other theatre credits include Scott Hastings in Baz Luhrmann’s Strictly Ballroom, Cosmo Brown in Singin’ in the Rain at Sadler’s Wells and on tour, Stacee Jaxx in Rock Of Ages on tour, Robbie Hart in The Wedding Singer at Troubadour Wembley Park, The Artilleryman in Jeff Wayne’s The War Of The Worlds UK arena tour, Dirty Dancing at the Aldwych Theatre and Burn the Floor on Broadway, making his Broadway debut as a principal dancer.
Sinitta is an international recording artist having released 15 hit pop records including So Macho, Toyboy and Cross My Broken Heart. No stranger to the stage, she has appeared in the West End productions of Cats, Little Shop of Horrors, Hair, Smokey Joe’s Café and as the female lead in Mutiny! She most recently appeared in the UK and Ireland tour of Now That’s What I Call A Musical. Since the mid-00s Sinitta has remained in the spotlight becoming a mentor to young emerging talent as Simon Cowell’s right-hand woman on The X Factor.
Brenda Edwards gained public acclaim as a semi-finalist on The X Factor before turning her attention to the stage, making her West End debut as Mama Morton in Chicago, a role she recently reprised for the 2021/2022 UK and Ireland tour. Her additional theatre credits include Motormouth Maybelle in the UK tour of Hairspray, Nettie Fowler in Carousel at the London Coliseum, Killer Queen in We Will Rock You both the West End and original UK Tour and Pearl Pastor in Carmen Jones at the Royal Festival Hall. Brenda is also a regular panellist on ITV’s Loose Women as well as presenting BBC1’s Songs of Praise.
Faye Brookes is best known for her role as Kate Connor in ITV’s Coronation Street, for which she won a National Television Award. Her theatre credits include Fran in Baz Luhrmann’s Strictly Ballroom The Musical, Princess Fiona in Shrek and Elle Woods in Legally Blonde, all on national tour, Ann/Edna in That Day We Sang directed by Victoria Wood at Manchester’s Royal Exchange, Liesl in The Sound of Music at Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre and Frenchy in Grease at the West End’s Piccadilly Theatre. Faye’s was runner up on ITV’s Dancing On Ice in 2021, her other TV credits include Agnes Franklin in Our Zoo and Helena in Atlantis, both for the BBC.
Janette Manrara is best known for having been on Strictly Come Dancing, reaching the finals with HRVY, as well as co-hosting BBC2’s It Takes Two and hosting the Strictly Live tour across the UK. Her previous theatre credits include the Broadway and international tour of Burn the Floor, as well as UK touring productions A Christmas To Remember, Remembering Fred, Remembering the Movies and a streamed version of Remembering the Oscars, all with her husband Aljaž Škorjanec. Janette is also an author, having released her debut book, Tiny Dancer, Big World.
They join West End leading lady Djalenga Scott as Velma Kelly, alongside Joshua Lloyd as Amos Hart and Jordan Lee Davies as Mary Sunshine.
The cast is completed by Bethany Adamson, Victoria Anderson, Josh Crowther, Joe Dale, Jessica Keable, Robin Kent, Annabelle Laing, Jacob McLay Reid, Jonathan Milton, George Olney, Oliver Ramsdale, Elly Shaw, Lucy Anne Stacey, Matthew Sweet and Ria Tanaka.
Set amidst 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.
Created by the musical theatre talents of John Kander, Fred Ebb and legendary choreographer Bob Fosse, Chicago’s sexy, sassy score includes the show-stopping songs “Razzle Dazzle”, “Cell Block Tango”, and “All That Jazz”. Winner of six Tony Awards, two Olivier Awards and a Grammy, Chicago is the longest running American musical in Broadway and West End history.
Since it opened in New York in 1996, Chicago has played in 38 countries worldwide, and been performed in English, Dutch, German, Swedish, Spanish, Portuguese, Russian, Italian, French, Danish, Japanese and Korean. Worldwide it has been seen by an estimated 34 million people, grossed over $1.7 billion has played over 35,000 performances.
Listings and ticket information can be found here.
