Ann Reinking is expected to return to the role of Roxie Hart April 27 in the Boston company of Chicago, at the Shubert Theatre, opposite Ruthie Henshall as Velma Kelly.
The touring company, which began Beantown performances April 22, was to have starred Sandy Duncan as Roxie, but a broken foot in rehearsals the week of April 12 sidelined the actress, prompting Reinking, who originated the revival role, to step in for part of the Boston run.
Chicago in Boston has been extended beyond May 16 (its original close date) to May 30, but it was not immediately clear if Reinking and Henshall will be part of the extension. At last word, Henshall and Duncan were joining the Broadway Chicago company May 25. Duncan's doctor expects her foot to be healed by that time, according to a spokesman.
Belle Calaway went on as Roxie in Beantown April 22-25 while Reinking geared up to begin shows after a year of shepherding the new Broadway revue, Fosse.
Reinking won a 1997 Tony Award for Best Choreography for staging the songs "in the style of Bob Fosse." The actress-dancer first made a New York splash as a featured dancer in Fosse's revue, Dancin', and starred in the musical, Goodtime Charley, as a singing St. Joan. She also appeared in the original Broadway run of Fosse's Chicago, in Over Here! and the films "Annie," "All That Jazz" and "Movie Movie." Co-starring in Chicago at Boston's Shubert are Henshall as Velma, Adrian Zmed as Billy, Carol Woods as Mama Morton and Bruce Winant as Amos.
Henshall, who recently appeared as a sultry part of the "Encores!" concert version of Ziegfeld Follies of 1936, starred as Roxie in the London staging of the revival, but switched roles when she crossed the ocean.
In the meantime, Ute Lemper has finished her return run in the Broadway company of Chicago and Nancy Hess, one of the most-employed actresses in American musical theater, now plays Velma Kelly.
Hess was standby for both Velma and Roxie in New York, and has a solid reputation on Broadway appearing for Chita Rivera in The Kiss of the Spider Woman, for Bernadette Peters in The Goodbye Girl and for roles in Me and My Girl, Jerome Robbins' Broadway and On Your Toes.
For Boston information, call (800) 447-7400.
