THREE Degrees singer Sheila Ferguson will play Mama Morton when the hit musical Chicago comes to Manchester Opera House in May.

She joins a cast that includes Faye Brookes as Roxie Hart, Djalenga Scott as Velma Kelly and Jamie Baughan as Amos Hart.

With the Three Degrees, Sheila had a string of hit singles including When Will I See You Again and A Woman in Love. She has starred in musicals such as Thoroughly Modern Millie, Soul Train and Oh! What A Night.

A panellist on Loose Women, she has also appeared on TV in The Real Marigold Hotel.

Faye Brookes will be known to TV audiences for her role as Kate Connor in Coronation Street, for which she won a National Television Award. She also was a finalist in Dancing on Ice.

 

Faye Brookes as Roxie Hart (Picture: Matt Crockett)

Faye Brookes as Roxie Hart (Picture: Matt Crockett)

 

But she also has an impressive CV on the stage including playing Princess Fiona in Shrek and Elle Woods in Legally Blonde on UK tours and starring in That Day We Sang directed by Victoria Wood at Manchester’s Royal Exchange.

Set amidst the razzle-dazzle decadence of the 1920s, Chicago is the story of Roxie Hart, a housewife and nightclub dancer who murders her 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 crime into a barrage of sensational headlines, the likes of which might just as easily be ripped from today’s tabloids.

Since it opened in New York in 1996, Chicago has played in 36 countries worldwide and been seen by an audience of around 33 million people.

Chicago, Manchester Opera House, Monday, May 23 to Saturday, May 28. Details from www.atgtickets.com