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Wet's Pellow Makes Stage Debut in Chicago, 10 Jun

Former "Wet Wet Wet" lead singer Marti Pellow (pictured) will make his West End debut this summer when he joins the cast of long-running musical Chicago at the Adelphi Theatre. Pellow will play the role of super-slick lawyer Billy Flynn for 15 weeks from 10 June to 21 September 2002. He takes over from Neil McCaul.

During the 1980s and 1990s, Pellow had 12 British Top Ten songs with Wet Wet Wet, including the singles "With a Little Help from My Friends", "Goodnight Girl" and the mega-hit "Love Is All Around" from the film Four Weddings and a Funeral. Since leaving the band in 1999, Pellow's solo career has seen the release of the album Smile and a sell-out UK tour that included two nights at the Royal Albert Hall.

In other Chicago cast movements, as previously reported, Denise Van Outen will return for a limited five-week stint in the West End from 29 April to 1 June 2002, following her current limited season in the Broadway production. Who will play Roxie alongside Pellow's Billy Flynn has yet to be confirmed. Others in the current cast at the Adelphi include Anna-Jane Casey (as Velma Kelly) and Clive Rowe (Amos Hart). Further cast announcements are expected shortly.

Chicago, based on the play by Maurine Dallas Watkins, has a book by Fred Ebb and Bob Fosse, music by John Kander and lyrics by Fred Ebb. Scenic design is by John Lee Beatty, costumes by William Ivey Long, lighting by Ken Billington and sound by Rick Clarke. Musical supervision is by Rob Fisher and musical direction by Gareth Valentine. The production is choreographed by Ann Reinking in the style of Bob Fosse and directed by Walter Bobbie.

The musical opened at the Adelphi in November 1997 and went on to win the 1998 Olivier for Outstanding Musical Production and the 1998 Critics Circle Award for Best Musical.

- by Terri Paddock

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