“Dancing With The Stars” pro and theater veteran Mark Ballas is joining the Broadway cast of “Chicago” as silver-tongued lawyer Billy Flynn for a 4-week limited engagement from April 6–May 3 at the Ambassador Theatre.
He will be performing alongside his former “DWTS” partner Whitney Leavitt, who previously extended her run as Roxie Hart from March 23 through April 5, and will now further extend to May 3. Leavitt will not be performing March 16–22.
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Ballas and Leavitt competed together on the most recent season of “Dancing With The Stars,” finishing in sixth place. Amongst their notable performances was a foxtrot rendition of “Cell Block Tango” from “Chicago.” Ballas is an 11-time finalist and three-time champion of the show, earning a Primetime Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Choreography. He was also a cast member on season four of Peacock’s reality competition show “The Traitors US.”
Ballas made his Broadway debut in 2016 as the final Frankie Valli in “Jersey Boys,” later performing the role on the national tour in Los Angeles and at The Muny Theatre in St. Louis. He went on to star as Charlie Price in “Kinky Boots” on Broadway in 2019. He’s also a former Broadway.com vlogger!
Leavitt attained virality through her MomTok content and was further ushered into the spotlight when she was cast in Hulu’s reality series “The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives.”
Ballas joins Leavitt as Roxie Hart, Sophie Carmen-Jones as Velma Kelly, Jacqueline B. Arnold as Matron “Mama” Morton, Greg Hildreth as Amos Hart and M. Kilgore as Mary Sunshine. The cast also includes Tia Altinay, Zach Bravo, Austin Dunn, Jennifer Dunne, Jessica Ernest, John Michael Fiumara, Danielle Marie Gonzalez, Chelsea James, Christopher Kelley, James T. Lane, Marty Lawson, Joseph London, Kristen Faith Oei, Denny Paschall, Mariah Reives, Sean Samuels, Samantha Sturm and Jeff Sullivan.
“Chicago” is directed by Walter Bobbie and choreographed by Ann Reinking. The Tony-winning musical revival features a book by Fred Ebb and Bob Fosse, music by John Kander and lyrics by Ebb.
This article previously appeared on Broadway.com.
