Duncan James on his Chicago opening night
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Duncan James Extends Chicago Stint Three Weeks

Former pop star Duncan James has extended his limited run in Chicago by three weeks (See News, 10 Jul 2007). He was due to exit the production at the Cambridge Theatre on 18 August 2007 but will now continue until 8 September. James made his West End musical debut playing super-slick and sleazy lawyer Billy Flynn in the Kander and Ebb musical on 9 July (previews from 2 July).

The 29-year-old James is best known as one of the four members of boyband Blue, which had 11 top ten singles between 2000 and 2004. Since the band split, James has had success in the charts collaborating with Keedie on the “I Believe My Heart”, the duet from Andrew Lloyd Webber’s The Woman in White, and more recently as a contestant on ITV’s Dancing on Ice, which launched a live stage show following its TV series. His former band member Antony Costa has had stints in Blood Brothers at the Phoenix Theatre and on tour with Boogie Nights.

The current revival of Chicago opened at the Cambridge Theatre (where the musical’s original London production ran for 603 performances from April 1979) on 28 April 2006, after eight-and-a-half years at the Adelphi Theatre. It won the 1998 Laurence Olivier Award for Outstanding Musical Production as well as the 1998 Critics' Circle Award for Best Musical.

Kander and Ebb’s 1975 musical is based on the play by Maurine Dallas Watkins and has a book by Fred Ebb and Bob Fosse, music by John Kander and lyrics by Fred Ebb. The current stage revival, which transferred from Broadway, is directed by Walter Bobbie and designed by John Lee Beatty, with choreography by Ann Reinking in the style of Bob Fosse.

The current cast of Chicago also features Josefina Gabrielle and Amra-Faye Wright as murderesses Roxie Hart and Velma Kelly, along with Matthew Lloyd Davies (Amos Hart) and Susie McKenna (Mama Morton).

- by Ryan Woods

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