The smash-hit musical Chicago is coming to Dubai Opera next year.
The enduring story of love and deceit, set within the razzle-dazzle world of 1920s Chicago, will be performed at the Dubai Downtown venue from January 5-8 and January 10-15.
Tickets from Dh295 are available at the Dubai Opera box office and online.
The production is led by Faye Brooks, formerly a cast member of UK soap opera Coronation Street, and seasoned West End actors Darren Day and Djalenga Scott.
The announcement comes on the back of the successful staging of Mamma Mia!, which ends its run at Dubai Opera on Saturday.
A tale of celebrity and crime
Chicago follows the fortunes of Roxie Hart, a club dancer who murders her lover after threatening to end the relationship.
To avoid conviction, Hart hires flamboyant and slick lawyer William "Billy" Flynn, and the case becomes the talk of the city.
Created by theatre stalwarts John Kander and Fred Ebb, with choreography by Bob Fosse, Chicago premiered in New York in 1975 and ran for two years, before being revived in 1996.
It went on to become a mainstay of the city’s Broadway district and London’s West End.
A lot of its appeal comes down to its catchy tunes, such as Razzle Dazzle, Cell Block and All that Jazz.
In addition to being performed in various languages including German, French, Italian and Japanese, Chicago was also immortalised on the big screen in 2002.
Directed by Mary Poppins Returns' Rob Marshall and starring Renee Zellweger, Catherine Zeta-Jones and Richard Gere, the film won six Academy Awards in 2003, including Best Picture.
The latter achievement made Chicago the first musical to win that Oscar since Oliver! in 1968.
Another musical on the way
Chicago is set to be a showstopper next year, but fans of lavish musicals won't have to wait that long to satisfy their cravings.
From Thursday to Saturday, October 21 to 23, Dubai Opera will stage Devdas – The Musical.
Based on the 2002 film starring Shah Rukh Khan, Madhuri Dixit and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, and featuring a heartrending score by Ismail Darbar, the plot follows the fates of Devdas and Paro, star-crossed lovers whose lives are affected by seemingly endless obstacles.
Tickets for Devdas – The Musical from Dh275 are available at dubaiopera.com
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Things Heard & Seen
Directed by: Shari Springer Berman, Robert Pulcini
Starring: Amanda Seyfried, James Norton
2/5
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
GAC GS8 Specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo
Power: 248hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 400Nm at 1,750-4,000rpm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 9.1L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh149,900
The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre V8 twin-turbocharged and three electric motors
Power: Combined output 920hp
Torque: 730Nm at 4,000-7,000rpm
Transmission: 8-speed dual-clutch automatic
Fuel consumption: 11.2L/100km
On sale: Now, deliveries expected later in 2025
Price: expected to start at Dh1,432,000
Specs
Engine: Duel electric motors
Power: 659hp
Torque: 1075Nm
On sale: Available for pre-order now
Price: On request
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Groom and Two Brides
Director: Elie Semaan
Starring: Abdullah Boushehri, Laila Abdallah, Lulwa Almulla
Rating: 3/5
Terror attacks in Paris, November 13, 2015
- At 9.16pm, three suicide attackers killed one person outside the Atade de France during a foootball match between France and Germany
- At 9.25pm, three attackers opened fire on restaurants and cafes over 20 minutes, killing 39 people
- Shortly after 9.40pm, three other attackers launched a three-hour raid on the Bataclan, in which 1,500 people had gathered to watch a rock concert. In total, 90 people were killed
- Salah Abdeslam, the only survivor of the terrorists, did not directly participate in the attacks, thought to be due to a technical glitch in his suicide vest
- He fled to Belgium and was involved in attacks on Brussels in March 2016. He is serving a life sentence in France
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
GIANT REVIEW
Starring: Amir El-Masry, Pierce Brosnan
Director: Athale
Rating: 4/5
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