Whitney Leavitt Sets Encore Bow in Chicago on Broadway

The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives cast member will be merry murderess Roxie Hart for two extra weeks.

February 18, 2026 By Logan Culwell-Block, Andrew Gans

Denny Paschall, Whitney Leavitt, and James T. Lane in *Chicago* (Jeremy Daniel)

Whitney Leavitt, star of Hulu’s The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives, has set an encore run in Broadway's Chicago at the Ambassador Theatre. Currently starring as Roxie Hart through March 15, Leavitt will return to the role March 23-April 5. The performance is Leavitt's Broadway debut.

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Leavitt joined the production February 2, alongside fellow new cast member Mykal Kilgore, here billed as M. Kilgore, as Mary Sunshine. Kilgore has also been seen on Broadway in Motown the Musical, Hair, and The Book of Mormon. Returning to the cellblock were Greg Hildreth (The Queen of Versailles, Frozen, Cinderella) as Amos Hart and ensemble members Tia Altinay and Chelsea James. New ensemble members include Austin Dunn, Danielle Marie Gonzalez, Christopher Kelley, and Jeff Sullivan.

The Broadway production, currently celebrating its 29th anniversary, also features Sophie Carmen-Jones as Velma Kelly, Tam Mutu as Billy Flynn, and Jacqueline B. Arnold as Matron "Mama" Morton.

The revival of Chicago began life as one of the three annual Encores! presentations offered by City Center. The musical opened on Broadway at the Richard Rodgers Theatre November 14, 1996, where it remained through February 1997. The musical transferred to the Shubert Theatre, and played that house through January 26, 2003. The revival reopened at the Ambassador Theatre January 29 that year.

Since its debut in 1996, Chicago has played in 36 countries and been seen by 33 million people worldwide. It is now the second-longest running show in Broadway history (after the recently closed The Phantom of the Opera).

READ: How the Chicago Costumes Have Evolved Over 25 Years

With a book by the late Fred Ebb and Bob Fosse, music by John Kander, and lyrics by Ebb, Chicago features direction by Walter Bobbie, choreography by the late Ann Reinking, set design by John Lee Beatty, costume design by William Ivey Long, lighting design by Ken Billington, sound design by Scott Lehrer, and casting by ARC.

The current production, produced by Barry and Fran Weissler, won the Tony Award for Best Revival of a Musical in 1997 as well as awards for actors Bebe Neuwirth and James Naughton, director Bobbie, lighting designer Billington, and Reinking. The original production was directed and choreographed by the late Fosse.