West End star Darren Day, X Factor's Sinitta and RuPaul's Drag Race favourite Divina head to Edinburgh in hit musical

One is a West End star, another an X Factor favourite and a third a popular contestant on RuPaul's Drag Race UK but now, Darren Day, Sinittia and Divina De Campo are joining forces to lead the cast of hit West End musical Chicago when it tours to the Playhouse, later this year.
Faye Brookes as Roxie HartFaye Brookes as Roxie Hart
Faye Brookes as Roxie Hart

Celebrity Big Brother finalist Darren Day, who has previously appeared at the Playhouse as Kashoggi in We Will Rock You and Don in Summer Holiday and is also known for his TV roles as Danny Houston in Hollyoaks​ and David Wilde in Doctors, will lead the company as slick defence attorney Billy Flynn in the show based on the play by Maurine Dallas Watkins, while Sinitta, who enjoyed chart success in the Eighties with the songs So Macho and Toy Boy, will play Mama Morton​.

​T​he role of Mary Sunshine, which is traditionally cross cast, will ​allow seasoned drag queen and singer Divina De Campo, who was recently crowned runner-up in the first series of RuPaul’s Drag Race UK, ​an opportunity to demonstrate her high soprano and four-octave range. The star names don't stop there though, also on the bill is Dancing On Ice finalist and soap actor Faye Brookes, best known for playing Coronation Street's Kate Connor, as Roxie Hart​.

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West End star Djalenga Scott joins the four to play Velma Kelly​​ with Joel Montague as Amos Hart.

Darren Day as Billy Flynn in ChicagoDarren Day as Billy Flynn in Chicago
Darren Day as Billy Flynn in Chicago

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 giants John Kander, Fred Ebb and legendary choreographer Bob Fosse, the musical's sexy, sassy score includes the show-stopping songs Razzle Dazzle, Cell Block Tango, and All That Jazz, numbers that have helped Chicago win no fewer than six Tony Awards, two Olivier Awards and a Grammy and seen it become the longest running American musical in Broadway and West End history.The cast at the Playhouse will be completed by Ishmail Aaron, Michelle Andrews, Gabby Antrobus, Delycia Belgrave, Joel Benjamin, Tanisha-Mae Brown, Daniel Clift, Callum Fitzgerald, Emily Goodenough, Billie Hardy, Aaron Jenkins, Liam Marcellino, Theo Reece, Hollie Jane Stephens and Harrison Wilde.Since it opened in New York in 1996, Chicago has played in 36 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 33 million people and played more than 32,500 performances.

With a book by Fred Ebb and Bob Fosse, music by John Kander and lyrics by Fred Ebb, the 1996 Broadway revival of Chicago was choreographed by Ann Reinking in the style of Bob Fosse, directed by Walter Bobbie, and produced by Barry and Fran Weissler.

Chicago returns to the Edinburgh Playhouse from 27 September to 2 October, with tickets available now from www.atgtickets.com/venues/edinburgh-playhouse

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