Cuba Gooding Jr made his triumphant West End debut last night and lifted the lid on the weeks of “horrifying” rehearsals that preceded it.
The star, who won an Oscar for his role opposite Tom Cruise in Jerry Maguire, plays scheming lawyer Billy Flynn in the latest revival of the hit musical.
He said last night: “Since I started rehearsing on Broadway in February I always felt kind of out of sorts.
“Would I forget my dialogue, or not hit a note the right way, or not get the choreography right? It was horrifying and as the weeks peeled off the anxiety grew. It was only about a week ago I first really felt I was Billy Flynn — and tonight was the culmination of that. All the hard work paid off.”
The actor, who got his big break in the LA gang drama Boyz N The Hood, said the music was at the heart of the show, which is set in a world of gangsters and nightclub dancers in 1920s Chicago.
He said: “It gets me every time I hear those songs. You hear the music come through the speaker in your dressing room and it puts you in character and it puts you in that era.”
Ruthie Henshall, who played murderous Roxie in the original 1997 London revival and now plays jailhouse boss Mama Morton, praised the US actor’s “high energy” performance and said she aims to play his role one day. “I’d do it in a heartbeat if they would let me, I can’t see why they couldn’t.”
27 people you never knew starred in Chicago
Chicago runs until October 6 at the Phoneix Theatre.
