Testa and Sandy to Join the Cast of Chicago

 Written by Maya Cantu

Chicago will welcome two new faces to the cast next month. Mary Testa has been cast as Matron Mama Morton, and Solange Sandy will play Annie, also known as the "Six" of "Cell Block Tango."

Sandy will slink into her role on April 10th, replacing current Annie Christine Brooks. Testa will portray the raunchy female warden Mama Morton from April 25th to July 17th. She will take the place of Anne L. Nathan.

They will join a cast that includes Michelle DeJean as Roxie Hart, Brenda Braxton as Velma Kelly, Ray Bokhour as Amos Hart, R. Lowe as Mary Sunshine, and Brent Barrett as Billy Flynn. Barrett recently extended his run as the smooth-talking attorney, and will leave the show on April 5th.

The belty, earthy Testa is a familiar presence to many theatregoers. She was nominated for a 2001 Best Featured Actress in a Musical Tony for her role as Maggie Jones in the revival of 42nd Street, and other Broadway credits include playing Magdalena in the 1999 musical Marie Christine, Madame Dilly in the 1998 On the Town revival (which she also did off-Broadway), Domina in the 1996 A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum revival, and roles in The Rink (for which she stood by for Liza Minnelli), Barnum and Marilyn: An American Fable. Her extensive off-Broadway credits include String of Pearls, The Wax, Boys Don't Wear Lipstick, The Vagina Monologues, Tartuffe, Scapin, Lucky Stiff and In Trousers. She is the recipient of two Obies--one for the off-Broadway production of On the Town, and one for From Above.

Although Julliard-graduate Sandy was notoriously dismissed from the pre-Broadway tryout of the upcoming Sweet Charity revival (she had played Helene), she was described as a "stage goddess" in Rohan Preston's Star Tribune review. Her Broadway credits include Aida and Dance of the Vampires, and she was a principal dancer with the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre.

The revival of Chicago, which opened on November 14th 1996, has reached a run of almost 3, 500 performances. Currently at the Ambassador Theatre, it has yo-yoed from the Richard Rodgers Theatre to the Shubert Theatre to the present one. The Chicago revival opened with Ann Reinking as Roxie, Bebe Neuwirth as Velma, Joel Grey as Amos and James Naughton as Billy. Under Walter Bobbie's direction and Reinking's choreography, Chicago received 6 1997 Tonys (including Best Revival of a Musical). The revival, based on Bobbie's stylistically stripped-down Encores! staging, featured direction and choreography by Bob Fosse in its original 1975 production.

The Ambassador Theatre is located at 215 W. 49th Street.