By Christina AmorosoPLAY Writer

At Chicago – the musical, not the city a few El stops away – singer Usher got strep throat last week, forcing him to cancel his remaining performances as slick lawyer Billy Flynn. The show had to refund almost half a million dollars to ticket holders who were hoping to see the star.

Two new shows opened on Broadway last week. The Roundabout Theatre Company unveiled George Bernard Shaw’s Heartbreak House on Oct. 10. It stars Philip Bosco, Swoosie Kurtz and Byron Jennings. The show tells the story of Ellie Dunn, the friend of the elderly Captain Shotover’s daughter Hesione. She’s planning to marry a millionaire, but Hesione is set on ruining Ellie’s marriage. Lady Utterword, Shotover’s other daughter, revisits her youth in the play as well.

The other show, Simon Mendes da Costa’s Losing Louie, opened the next day at the Biltmore and was panned by most critics. Lousing Louie explores questions – such as why love makes us do crazy things and how past generations affect present ones – by watching two generations of family members, fifty years apart, address these issues in the same place.

In other theater news, Helena Bonham Carter will play Mrs. Lovett in the film adaptation of the hit Broadway show Sweeney Todd, which will begin filming in early 2007.

Carter stars opposite Johnny Depp, who’s playing the title role of the murderous Fleet Street barber.

In the Broadway show, Patti LuPone recently played Lovett, and Michael Cerveris played Todd.