Grey’s Anatomy star Chandra Wilson is set to join the Broadway cast of Chicago. Playing the role of cell block diva Matron “Mama” Morton, Wilson will perform for a four-week limited engagement at the Ambassador Theatre, from June 8 through July 5. Carol Woods is currently featured in the role.
Wilson earned three Emmy Award nominations for her critically acclaimed portrayal of Dr. Miranda Bailey on Grey’s Anatomy. In 1991, she won a Theatre World Award for Outstanding Debut Performance for her turn as Bonna Willis in Lynda Barry’s The Good Times Are Killing Me at Second Stage and then the Minetta Lane Theatre. She made her Broadway debut in the 1998 production of On the Town and has since appeared in Avenue Q and Caroline, or Change. Her other stage credits include The Miracle Worker at Charlotte Repertory Theatre, Paper Moon: The Musical at the Paper Mill Playhouse and Theresa Rebeck’s The Family of Mann at Second Stage Theatre. Wilson’s other TV credits include the movie Accidental Friendship, recurring roles on Bob Patterson, One Life to Live and Queens Supreme, as well as numerous guest appearances on The Sopranos, Law & Order, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Sex and the City, Third Watch, 100 Centre Street, Cosby and The Cosby Show. On the big screen she’s appeared in Lone Star and Philadelphia.
Chicago will become the seventh longest-running production in Broadway history on March 24, surpassing Rent with 5,125 total performances to date.