‘CHICAGO’ tour is coming to Emens

For a night, the Emens Auditorium stage will become the Windy City.

The national tour of the Tony Award-winning musical “CHICAGO” will visit the venue at Ball State University at 7 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 22.

“CHICAGO” tells the tale of nightclub dancer Roxie Hart, played by Ellie Roddy. After murdering her lover, she manipulates everyone, including her rival cellmate Velma Kelly (Claire Marshall), with the help of her lawyer Billy Flynn (Max Cervantes). Kelly is a vaudeville star who is in jail for the murder of her husband and sister.

The original Broadway production of the show ran for 936 performances in the 1970s and the revival that started in 1996 is still running.

With Roddy leading the way, the cast has drawn rave reviews, with Leonard Taube of TheatreBloom referring to her as a showstopper, triple threat and femme fatale.

“Roddy has some terrific facial expressions as she grows through the show from unhappy housewife to jilted lover to a prisoner yearning for freedom and fame,” wrote Taube.

Roddy, who has also portrayed Rizzo in “Grease,” is in her second year with the touring production of “CHICAGO.” Marshall recently toured with “The Cher Show,” and Cervantes has been part of national tours of “Pretty Woman” and “On Your Feet!”

Before leading “CHICAGO,” director David Hyslop served as the associate director for the U.S. tour of “Priscilla Queen of the Desert.”

The set for the show brings the orchestra on stage with the cast.

Tickets range from $32 to $80 and are available by calling (765) 285-1539, at ticketmaster.com or at the Emens box office, 1800 W. Riverside Ave., Muncie.