Entertainment

Cuba Gooding Jr to star in West End return of musical Chicago

He’ll play Billy Flynn in what will be his debut in London’s theatreland.
He’ll play Billy Flynn in what will be his debut in London’s theatreland. He’ll play Billy Flynn in what will be his debut in London’s theatreland.

Jerry Maguire star Cuba Gooding Jr will make his British stage debut as smooth-talking lawyer Billy Flynn when Chicago returns to London.

The actor, who recently starred in The People vs OJ Simpson, will be taking on his first role in a musical.

Cuba Gooding Jr as Billy Flynn (Handout)

The show about fame, fortune and jazz set inside a women’s prison will begin at the Phoenix Theatre on March 26 2018 after more than five years away from the West End.

The musical first opened in New York in 1996 and ran in London for 15 years from 1997.

It opened at the Adelphi Theatre where it won the 1998 Laurence Olivier Award for Outstanding Musical Production as well as the 1998 Critics Circle Drama Award for Best Musical.

The show transferred to the Cambridge Theatre in April 2006, where it ran for five years until August 2011. It opened at the Garrick Theatre in November of that year, where it ran until September 1 2012.