The Broadway company of the Tony Award-winning, record-breaking hit musical Chicago will welcome Tony and Grammy Award winning Broadway legend Jennifer Holliday back to Broadway in the role of “Matron Mama Morton” beginning Thursday, June 9, 2022. She will play an 8-week limited engagement at the Ambassador Theatre (219 W. 49th St., NYC) through Sunday, July 31, 2022. Holliday originally played the role for a limited run in the Summer of 2001.
From her early days as a girl singing solos with the choir at Pleasant Grove Baptist Church in Houston, TX to her years on the Broadway stage and beyond, the inimitable voice of Jennifer Holliday has riveted the hearts of audiences from around the world. She is a Broadway Legend in every sense of the term: her iconic portrayal of Effie “Melody” White in the 1981 smash hit Dreamgirls will forever be a template for delivering gut-wrenching, timeless performances, evidenced in Ms. Holliday garnering a Grammy Award for her performance of the show- stopping torch ballad “And I am Telling You, I’m Not Going” and a coveted Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical for her role as Effie.
Her second album, “Say You Love Me,” won her a second GRAMMY® for her rendition of Duke Ellington’s classic, “Come Sunday.” From 1985 to 1992, she had five Top 10 singles on the R&B and Dance Charts and her star continued to shine brightly with collaborations and appearances with other megastars: Barbra Streisand, Luther Vandross, David Foster, Paul Simon, Michael Jackson, Maurice White and Foreigner, with whom she performed on a special version of “I Want To Know What Love Is.”
In 2014, Ms. Holliday released her first album in two decades. “This Song Is You” stirred long-time fans and garnered a new generation of enthusiastic listeners landing Ms. Holliday back in the Top 20 R&B charts with rave reviews.
Standout television appearances include David E. Kelley’s Ally McBeal, American Idol, and So You Think You Can Dance. In 2016, Ms. Holliday returned to the stage starring alongside Cynthia Erivo in the Broadway revival of The Color Purple as sultry singer Shug Avery. She is a long-standing, dedicated supporter of the LGBTQ+ community and an advocate for mental health and suicide prevention.
With a legendary book by Fred Ebb and Bob Fosse, music by John Kander and lyrics by Fred Ebb, Chicago is now the #1 longest-running American musical in Broadway history. It recently celebrated its 25th anniversary on Broadway.
Produced by Barry and Fran Weissler, Chicago is the winner of six 1997 Tony Awards including Best Musical Revival and the Grammy Award for Best Musical Cast Recording.
Directed by Tony Award winner Walter Bobbie and choreographed by Tony Award winner Ann Reinking, Chicago features set design by Tony Award winner John Lee Beatty, costume design by Tony Award winner William Ivey Long, lighting design by Tony Award winner Ken Billington, sound design by Tony Award winner Scott Lehrer and casting by Stewart/Whitley.