Sangamon Auditorium likes to describe its stage performances as direct from Broadway to Springfield.

Next week, that will be 100 percent accurate.

Just off a four-month run in an all-star Broadway revival of "Glengarry Glen Ross," Tom Wopat leads the cast of the touring show of "Chicago" to the stage at the University of Illinois at Springfield Tuesday and Wednesday.

"Billy Flynn is like putting on an old pair of shoes," said Wopat, who played the role of the attorney twice in the current Broadway revival, most recently in January.

Wopat - known to millions as Luke Duke on the TV show "The Dukes of Hazzard" - plays the role Richard Gere filled in the Oscar-winning 2002 film.

"People are semi-hip." Wopat said of any potential confusion between the film and the stage musical. "They realize that the play to the movie would be comparing apples and oranges. But the spirit is very similar."

In the musical, two female murderers in 1920s Chicago are on death row and fight for fame. Wopat's Billy Flynn is a lawyer who represents both.

Wopat appeared on Broadway in the Tony Award-winning "Glengarry Glen Ross" with Alan Alda, Liev Schreiber and Jeffrey Tambor.

"Playing James Lingk.;(in that play) was a total change of pace," Wopat said. "And I think it may have opened some eyes in New York. They might see now that my range might be bigger than they'd thought."

He insists the step from the Tonys to a touring show is not a step down.

"You know what?" he said. "It's a lot of fun doing this part.

"It's definitely a gig. I think the standard approach is that a road show is not a career move. I suppose if you're doing your first lead, it could be.

"But there are different things that make it appealing. Springfield in the fall is not a bad place to be. I'm from Madison originally - well, just outside of Madison. And this show makes a stop in Madison, which is appealing. And we're spending two weeks in Chicago."

Wopat is based in New Jersey, although he still has a place in Nashville and has a New York City apartment. He says he's working "about 90 percent of the time," and sometimes puts in plenty of overtime.

He's also had some success as a recording artist. When recording his most recent album - "Tom Wopat Sings Harold Arlen: Dissertation on the State of Bliss" - Wopat was recording during the day and working on stage at night.

"The work has been very rewarding," he said. "I cut really nice little jazz record. We did some interesting versions of some standards, and I think we may have discovered a couple of nuggets that people might not have realized were out there."

As for the movie based on his 1970s TV show, Wopat still hasn't seen it.

"I talked to John (Schneider, his 'Dukes' co-star)," Wopat said, "and he said he liked it, so I can't imagine there'd be much in it to bother me."

WHAT: "Chicago"

WHEN: 7:30 p.m. Tuesday and Wednesday

WHERE: Sagamon Auditorium, University of Illinois at Springfield

TICKETS: $49, $44, $39; call 206-6160 or 1-800-207-6960

ON THE WEB: www.chicagothemusical.com; www.sangamonauditorium.org

Tim Cain can be reached at timcain@;herald-review.com or 421-6908.