BBC News Online: Entertainment: Arts

Alison Moyet joins Chicago cast

Moyet, who made her name in the 1980s, will make her West End debut in August playing the character Mama Morton.

The 40-year-old singer originally hit the charts as one half of Yazoo, alongside Erasure's Vince Clarke.

Her solo singles include That Ole Devil Called Love and Is This Love, leading to three Brit Awards.

Sinister

Moyet will join the Chicago cast at the Aldephi Theatre for 13 weeks.

She said: "I never even appeared in a play or musical at school so I am really cutting my teeth.

"But the rest of the cast have been very supportive and helpful."

"I loved the style of the show - it was dark and sinister and very atmospheric."

Punishing

Moyet said she was particularly looking forward to working with Van Outen, who comes from her home town of Basildon, joking it would be like the "Essex mafia" on stage.

With a new album due out early next year, she is currently preparing for the punishing schedule of six shows a week.

"I am looking forward to having a job where I go out to work six days a week because I haven't done that since I was 17."

She also said her three children, Joe, 16, Alex, 12, and Caitlin, five, were all excited and supportive about their mother's new career.