Mister Cellophane shoulda been his name.
Eddie Cooper, seen on Broadway last season in The Fear of 13, will join the cast of the Tony-winning revival of Chicago July 20 at the Ambassador Theatre.
Cooper will step into the role of Amos Hart the same day the Broadway production welcomes the return of three-time Dancing with the Stars champion Mark Ballas (Jersey Boys, Kinky Boots)
as Billy Flynn for a four-week limited engagement through August 16.
Cooper’s other Broadway credits include Dead Outlaw and Parade plus the City Center Encores! productions of Titanic, Promenade, God Bless You Mr. Rosewater, and Little Shop of Horrors. His Off-Broadway credits include I Can Get It for You Wholesale, Assassins, The Cradle Will Rock, The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui, and This Ain’t No Disco.
The current company of Chicago features Matteo Lane as Billy Flynn, Krysta Rodriguez (Smash) as
Roxie Hart, Sophie Carmen-Jones as Velma Kelly, Jacqueline B. Arnold as
Matron “Mama” Morton, Red Concepción returning as Amos Hart, and J.
Workman as Mary Sunshine.
Check out Chicago merchandise in the Playbill Store
The company also includes Tia Altinay, Nicole Benoit, Ronnie S.
Bowman Jr., Austin Dunn, John Michael Fiumara, Danielle Marie Gonzalez,
Chelsea James, Christopher Kelley, James T. Lane, Jenny Laroche, Marty
Lawson, Joseph London, Kristen Faith Oei, Denny Paschall, Mariah Reives,
Sean Samuels, Samantha Sturm, and Jeff Sullivan.
The revival of Chicago began life as one of the three annual Encores!
presentations offered by City Center. The musical opened on Broadway at
the Richard Rodgers Theatre November 14, 1996, where it remained
through February 1997. The musical transferred to the Shubert Theatre,
and played that house through January 26, 2003. The revival reopened at
the Ambassador Theatre January 29 that year.
Since its debut in 1996, Chicago has played in 36 countries
and been seen by 33 million people worldwide. It is now the
second-longest running show in Broadway history (after the now closed The Phantom of the Opera).
READ: How the Chicago Costumes Have Evolved Over 25 Years
With a book by the late Fred Ebb and Bob Fosse, music by John Kander, and lyrics by Ebb, Chicago
features direction by Walter Bobbie, choreography by the late Ann
Reinking, set design by John Lee Beatty, costume design by William Ivey
Long, lighting design by Ken Billington, sound design by Scott Lehrer,
and casting by ARC.
The current production, produced by Barry and Fran Weissler, won the
Tony Award for Best Revival of a Musical in 1997 as well as awards for
actors Bebe Neuwirth and James Naughton, director Bobbie, lighting
designer Billington, and Reinking. The original production was directed
and choreographed by the late Fosse.
