Mark Ballas on Returning to Chicago on Broadway: “The Show Is Timeless“

Now that’s what we call an encore! After breaking box office records in Chicago this past spring, Mark Ballas is officially returning to Broadway.

Stepping back into the shoes of the devious and dashing Billy Flynn, the Dancing with the Stars pro will make his grand re-entrance to the Ambassador Theatre on July 20, 2026 for a limited four-week run through August 16.

Fresh off fan favorite runs on DWTS and The Traitors, Ballas’ first go-around in the lauded, murderous musical was certainly an unforgettable one: not only did his casting opposite pal Whitney Leavitt as Roxie help the long-running production reach unprecedented heights in ticket sales, the duo also made Dancing with the Stars history as the first pair to ever headline a Broadway show together after competing in ABC’s famous ballroom dance competition.

Now, Ballas’ latest stint as Billy Flynn will help commemorate the 30th anniversary of the Tony-winning revival, which originally opened in 1996 at the Richard Rodgers Theatre before moving to the Shubert Theatre a few months later and eventually landing at its current, longtime home at the Ambassador in 2003.

“I’m excited, man,” Balls tells Ticketmaster of coming back to Chicago. “It’s one of my favorite shows of all time, so to be a part of it again, especially with this cast that’s in right now, I made such dear friends for life. And the show is timeless, the music is timeless. Gonna be cool to do it again now that it’s, like, deep, deep in my body.”

And while Ballas rose to fame teaching celebrities like Kim Kardashian, Kristin Cavallari, Shawn Johnson and Kristi Yamaguchi to cha-cha and tango on reality TV, the three-time Mirrorball champion’s personal connection to Chicago’s iconic score began long before he ever stepped foot in the DWTS ballroom.

“I started musical theater from the age of four,” he says. “My grandma would take me on the train into London every Saturday to the Italia Conti Associates School…and these were the songs I was learning. I was learning Kander and Ebb. I was learning ‘All I Care About Is Love,’ I was dancing to the overture and ‘All That Jazz.’ So it [is] a very, very full circle moment.”

Below, Ballas previews his highly-anticipated return to the world of Chicago and dishes exclusively to Ticketmaster about the “sinister” nature behind his character’s polished facade, what it was like breaking box office records with Whitney Leavitt, which Merry Murderess of the Cook County Jail he’d partner with to win another Mirrorball Trophy and more.

Congratulations on coming back to Chicago — just in time for the show’s 30th anniversary. How are you feeling about your return?

Thank you so much, I appreciate that. I’m excited, man. It’s one of my favorite shows of all time, so to be a part of it again, especially with this cast that’s in right now, I made such dear friends for life. And the show is timeless, the music is timeless. Gonna be cool to do it again now that it’s, like, deep, deep in my body, you know?

You’re stepping back into the shoes of Billy Flynn. How would you describe your version of Chicago’s resident razzle dazzle man?

I would say mine’s a little different to most takes. My Billy Flynn is a little cheeky, he’s a little sinister. One of the things you learn in dramaturgy about Billy Flynn is that he’s got a Dean Martin vibe, comes from the wrong side of the tracks but is beautifully presented. But he’s one of those guys that you don’t really wanna mess around with, if you know what I mean. So it’s finding that balance of “Hey, I can help you, I’ve got you, but don’t f–k with me,” basically. I really leaned into that, and, to me, the music has this edge to it after all these years. Like, listening to the overture, the note selections and just how fun, bombastic and also sinister some of the choices are musically is something that I try to apply into my character.

 

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Speaking of the music, Billy makes his grand entrance into the story with “All I Care About.” What are your thoughts on that song and how it introduces Billy to the audience?

Well, the cool thing about Billy, it’s so different to the other Broadway shows I’ve done. When I was in Jersey Boys, Frankie Valli makes his entrance in the first 10, 8 minutes. In Kinky Boots, Charlie comes out immediately. Whereas Billy, he doesn’t come out for 25 minutes. He’s talked about in the scenes, like, “Oh, I can get you Billy Flynn, best lawyer in all of Chicago, costs $5,000.” There’s this build-up to his entrance, and then when you come out, you’re not walking into an ensemble or a scene. You’re comin’ out the gate swingin’ with a big, classic song.

It was amazing on the first run when we would come out. I would stand up there and, you know, “Here he is!” and the audience was just so magnetic and receptive. They went super nuts every time. It’s a great entrance for the character, just because of all the build-up.

I like what you said about the dramaturgy because, obviously, there’s so much razzle dazzle to Billy’s persona. But what do you think is actually authentic about him behind all the smoke and mirrors?

I think it’s that he grew up rough. That he comes from blue-collar, poor beginnings, not having much. And that he’s built this life from scratch, and he’s had to scratch and claw and work to get where he is, to be the biggest lawyer in town. To be that guy that can charge $5,000, that’s never lost a case. He built that from nothing. So I think even though the majority of the time Billy can be perceived as, like, a “Hey hey! Bada-bing, bada-boom!” car salesman, there is a darkness to him. Which you can really see come out later in Act II, where the pressure is on him because they just hanged Katalin Hunyak, first time that’s happened at Cook County Jail. So the pressure starts building for Billy, and then obviously he gets into these confrontations with Roxie where you almost see him lose his cool — where he gets in her face, tells her to “Shut up, you dirty, little —” before he’s interrupted and he has a moment to gather himself. Like, that’s the one time where you see like, “Oooh! This guy could make a call…” You know what I mean? Like, this guy is in control, he doesn’t like to be confronted on his tactics. And Roxie is a know-it-all — well, thinks she knows it all — and she’s not realizing that her life is at stake here. That she needs to play by the rules.

One of the most iconic musical numbers in the show is “We Both Reached For the Gun.” What’s the secret to successfully pulling off Billy’s press conference rag every night?

For me, it’s Billy’s playtime. This is the part where — like how I’m playing Billy Flynn on Broadway fulfilling a childhood dream — this is his version of that. This is his playtime. This is where he gets to perform, this where he turns it on for the crowd. This is where he gets his rocks off, where he controls everybody. So it’s finding the balance of the storytelling, the cheekiness, the playfulness, but also that twinkle in your eye of, like, “I’ve got all of you eating out of the palm of my hand. You’re mine.”

Billy isn’t as much of a dancer in the show as, say, Roxie or Velma, but as a dancer yourself, do you get to infuse him with a little bit of that training?

Yeah, I totally agree, he’s not really dancing much. However, as a person that’s danced their whole life, I can’t help how I move. So I would say that my Billy is a little light on his feet, he’s smooth with it — the way he moves and carries himself, he’s definitely coordinated. They did add a little dance break for me in “Razzle Dazzle,” which is like four to six bars of eight with a cane. We’re not goin’ nuts, but we’re definitely paying tribute to Ann Reinking and the Bob Fosse style with the cane. So there is a little moment of razzle dazzle for him. But all in all, I think my dance background comes into just how he moves across the stage, how he commands the room, in the press conference rag, how he gets from stage left to stage right with ease, and feeling comfortable and in control at all times. It’s definitely helpful to the character.

If you could do a little miscast switcheroo, is there one of Roxie or Velma’s songs that you would love to perform and just absolutely smash the choreography?

[Laughs] I mean, “When Velma Takes the Stand” is somethin’ else. Every time. Every time I watch that, I’m like, “Wow.” And our Velma right now, Sophie Carmen-Jones, she’s from the U.K. I trained in musical theater in England, I went to the Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts and Sophie went to Laine’s, I believe, which is one of the rival schools in that group. There’s, like, London Studios, Royal Academy, Italia Conti, Urdang, all these schools. She went to one of those schools, so we connected on that. So to watch her do that every night, for me — ’cause I just chill on the side of the stage — was a treat. She’s a beast, man. Incredible talent.

I have a front row seat to “When Velma Takes the Stand” and, as a dancer and a choreographer, I get to see how she’s using her muscles, how she’s breathing through it…I’m seeing the spit come out her mouth, I’m seeing the sweat come off of her head. It’s just so physical and she does it with such ease. And that is the essence of Bob Fosse and Ann Reinking: doing these contracted, difficult moves that, on the eye, look not as difficult. They’re deceptively hard, and that’s the point, right? Making it look effortless takes a lot of effort.

What’s your approach to Fosse choreography? I love that you’re getting to show it off a little bit in “Razzle Dazzle.”

Well, I grew up doing it. I started musical theater from the age of four. My grandma would take me on the train into London every Saturday to the Italia Conti Associates School. I started full-time in musical theater from 11, and then I went to college for it. A big part of our training was jazz, and Fosse was a huge influence.

My sweet 89-year-old Nan flew from England to see me on the last run. And it was such a full circle moment because she used to take me on the train when I was little and these were the songs I was learning. I was learning Kander and Ebb. I was learning “All I Care About Is Love,” I was dancing to the overture and “All That Jazz.” So it was a very, very full circle moment to share with someone that gave up so much to put me in these classes.

During your initial run in the show last spring, you reunited with Whitney Leavitt and broke all kinds of box office records for the show. What was that experience like?

Man, we had a blast. We had such a good time together on Dancing with the Stars and became really good friends. Because I’ve been in the theater my whole life, I think something that’s signature to me on Dancing with the Stars is that I always try to add a little bit of a theatrical element to my work and my choreography. And we actually did three Broadway-themed numbers on our season. Our first one, we did “The Room Where It Happens” from Hamilton — I played Hamilton, she played Burr. And then we did a Wicked number ’cause it was Wicked week, so we did “Popular.” And then we did our Argentine tango to “Cell Block Tango.” It was one of those weeks where you had to pick a song that had been used previously. And we needed an Argentine tango, so when I saw “Cell Block” on the list, I was like, “Dibs! Dibs on that!”

That dance got us our first perfect score, and then at the judges table, Derek [Hough] was like, “Get these two on Broadway, STAT!” So it was like this beautiful storm, it felt very serendipitous. And then Chicago called, she went in for her audition, and then fans and stuff were like, “Oh my god, Mark as Billy!” And a couple years ago, I was in talks to potentially come into Chicago and it just didn’t work out — my wife and I were [starting] a family and life was happening. So this just seemed like the right time. She got her audition, I did mine, we both booked the roles and potentially made Dancing with the Stars history. Like, this has never happened where a pair has gone on to do a Broadway show together. We had so many ‘pinch me’ moments during Dancing with the Stars, getting to still perform our freestyle after the fact, and then getting to star on Broadway together where we were like, “Is this really happening?”

There was a lot of chatter online that you came back to Dancing with the Stars specifically to compete with Whitney…

That is a rumor! I have no say in who I get as a partner. I’ve done 22 seasons now, 21? 22? Something like that. I started when I was 21, and the Dancing with the Stars thing was kind of like a happy accident. I had come off the Buddy Holly musical U.K. national tour, and I was gonna go into We Will Rock You on the West End under Arlene Phillips. And then Dancing with the Stars came up, and even Arlene gave me the advice, like, “Hey go do that. Who knows what that’s gonna do?” At the time, I was like, “Alright, I’ll give it a go” and it turned out to be a 19-season run, which is crazy.

And after that amount of time, I had a lot of injuries and my body was kinda beat up, but after having my son, I wanted to get my body back and feel good and take care of these injuries. I’ve been really, really proactive in that area. I started feeling really good so I called the producers and said, “Hey, I think I’ve got a couple more seasons in me.”

But I had no idea I was getting Whitney. I didn’t actually really know who she was until I met her! [Laughs] And when we were paired together, we just hit it off. We’re both the type of people that roll up the sleeves, get on with it and dive headfirst into an experience. And that’s what was so great about her, she had total trust in me to do what I do. Any wacky idea I brought to her, she was just like, “Let’s do it!” And she would do it at 100 percent. I really admire that about her.

Speaking of Dancing with the Stars, who do you think would be a better partner to compete with in the ballroom for the Mirrorball Trophy: Roxie Hart or Velma Kelly?

Oooh, damn that’s a great question. Probably Velma. Velma’s sure of herself, she knows what time it is. Velma’s a bit of a diva, so she might be a bit difficult, whereas Roxie’s a little all over the place and fame-hungry. But Velma’s just in the pocket, you know what I mean? So she might be annoying to deal with, but I feel like she’d get the job done.

You’re also a judge on the new DWTS spinoff, Dancing with the Stars: The Next Pro, which just premiered on ABC. Can you tease what to expect from that show?

Yeah! I think it’s gonna be really interesting for the fans to see all the categories that the pros have to take into consideration. Because unlike any other dance show I’ve seen — like if you think back to Dancing with the Stars, So You Think You Can Dance, America’s Best Dance Crew — the prize is usually money, a scholarship or something cool like that, you go on tour and you’ve got this reputation as a dancer. Whereas this prize, if you win, you become a pro next season on Dancing with the Stars. That’s a huge gig.

So what we’re looking for is people that can handle all aspects of the job. Meaning: can you choreograph? Can you teach? Can you be a friend and a mentor? Can you be tough? Soft? Loving? Can you be empathetic but also know when to push the boundaries? And do you know your craft well enough to teach someone who may have a little bit of experience, may have none? I’ve been in every situation you can possibly think of on the show, so I know what it takes. So they have all kinds of different tests, from choreography, teaching, chemistry to group work. They have to work with fans of the show, at one point. There’s all these different challenges. It’s gonna be fascinating. And then the winner will be a pro next season. They get, like, a couple of weeks and then they’re thrown in the deep end!

But meanwhile, you have a Broadway gig to get back to!

I know! It’s like, hey man, I’ll take it while I can get it!

Chicago tickets are available on Ticketmaster.