The Randy Report: Broadway: CHICAGO the Musical Welcomes Back Four Original Stars

On Sunday evening, November 23, a Broadway show near and dear to my heart will reach a huge milestone.

On that date, the current company of Broadway's record-breaking hit musical CHICAGO will welcome back its four original stars -- Tony Award winners Ann Reinking, Bebe Neuwirth, James Naughton and Joel Grey.

That evening, CHICAGO will surpass the run of iconic Broadway blockbuster "Cats" with a record-breaking 7,486 performances, making it the second longest-running show in Broadway history.

Only one show -- "The Phantom of the Opera" -- will have run longer than CHICAGO.

Reinking, Neuwirth, Naughton and Grey -- who originated the acclaimed roles of Roxie Hart, Velma Kelly, Billy Flynn and Amos Hart, respectively -- will each make cameo appearances at various points in the milestone performance.

As regular readers of The Randy Report know, I was fortunate to be one of the earliest replacements in the Broadway revival of CHICAGO back in 1998. I performed in the Broadway company at the Shubert Theatre, and toured with the show in the US and internationally with five other companies.

My run with the show - off and on - stretched from August 1998 to July 2013, when I was asked to come back and be a part of the show at the Hollywood Bowl. In addition, I've been able to explore the brilliant material as a choreographer, staging the show four times. CHICAGO has been a gift that keeps giving.

The revival of CHICAGO first began in May 1996 with a weekend presentation as part of City Center's acclaimed Encores! series.

At the time, that brief four-performance engagement of CHICAGO -- helmed by director Walter Bobbie and choreographer Ann Reinking -- was the top-grossing production in the history of Encores!.

Produced by Barry & Fran Weissler, CHICAGO opened on Broadway at the Richard Rodgers Theatre on November 14, 1996. It transferred to the Shubert Theatre in February 1997, and subsequently transferred to the Ambassador Theatre in January of 2003.

CHICAGO received six 1997 Tony Awards for Best Musical Revival, Best Direction of a Musical (Walter Bobbie), Best Choreography (Ann Reinking), Best Lighting Design (Ken Billington), Best Leading Actress in a Musical (Bebe Neuwirth) and Best Leading Actor in a Musical (James Naughton).

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.

Congratulations CHICAGO!