Lucy Lawless[PHOTO] Will Star In Chicago[VIDEO] At Hollywood Bowl; Grease Actress To Portray "Mama," Queen Latifah's Old Role
Lucy Lawless will star in Chicago at the Hollywood Bowl. Lawless will perform in Chicago for three days later this month.
Lawless will portray Matron "Mama" Morton In Chicago, a prison matron who accepts bribes from those in the jail. Lucy Lawless, who starred in a Broadway revival of "Grease," is best remembered for her starring role as Xena the Warrior Princess.
The rest of the Chicago cast alongside Lucy is as follows:
"Les Miserables" actress Samantha Barks will play criminal Velma Kelly, while Stephen Moyer of "True Blood" will be portraying the amoral lawyer Billy Flynn and Drew Carey of "The Price Is Right" will be playing dimwitted Amos, husband of the show's protagonist, Roxie Hart.
The show will run from July 26 to July 28 and will be directed by actress Brooke Shields, who played Roxie Hart in the show on Broadway in 2005.
"I could not believe that they had cast Lucy from New Zealand in this iconic musical, a classical American art form, on a hallowed stage like the Hollywood Bowl and they let me [be involved]," Lawless told Fairfax New Zealand News.
The Aussie actress will travel to America this week to begin preparing for the show.
"I didn't dare hope it would happen, and it bloody did. I am beyond excited. Rob Fisher is the original music director and the whole LA Philharmonic will be there, and some incredible stars ... an all-star cast ... and me."
The show will run from July 26 to July 28 and will be directed by actress Brooke Shields, who played Roxie Hart in the show on Broadway in 2005.
The best-known adaptation of the musical "Chicago" is the 2002 film version, which won Best Picture for the year and a Best Supporting Actress statuette for actress Catherine Zeta-Jones. Renee Zellweger played Roxie Hart, a woman who kills her boyfriend and goes to jail, where she discovers that being a female criminal makes you a celebrity in 1920s Chicago.
Queen Latifah took on the role of Mama Morton, and John C. Reilly played husband Amos.