New Delhi, Oct. 30 -- A 29-year-old revival resets the room with a new Roxie and a new Mama.

The longest-running American musical on Broadway is adding fresh electricity to its marquee. This November, Chicago at the Ambassador Theatre will welcome two performers with very different superpowers and the same crowd-pleasing instinct: Tony winner Alex Newell stepping into Matron "Mama" Morton, and two-time Tony nominee Kate Baldwin taking over as Roxie Hart. The casting aligns one of the great belt voices of the modern stage with a musical theater leading lady celebrated for luminous phrasing and pinpoint comic timing, a pairing built to make a 29-year-old revival feel newly minted for holiday audiences.

Two arrivals, one well-oiled machine...