![Chase Stokes and Kelsea Ballerini attend the Broadway Opening Night of "Shucked" at The Nederlander Theatre in New York, New York, USA on April 4, 2023., Credit:Robin Platzer / Avalon Newscom/(Mega Agency TagID: ptsphotoshotfour772113.jpg) [Photo via Mega Agency]](https://hollywoodlife.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/kelsea-ballerini-chase-stokes-shucked-premiere-2023-mega.jpg?quality=100&w=293)
Kelsea Ballerini and Chase Stokes had another very public date night on April 4. The hot new couple attended the Broadway play Shucked on its opening night. While posing on the red carpet before the show, Kelsea and Chase cozied up to take photos. Kelsea looked stunning in a yellow mini dress with sexy, midsection cutout. She paired the look with tights and black heels. Meanwhile, Chase was dapper in a navy suit with white button down underneath.
This Big Apple outing comes just two days after Kelsea and Chase walked their first red carpet as a couple at the CMT Awards in Austin, Texas on April 2. Kelsea was hosting the show and Chase came as her plus one to show his support. Kelsea also took the stage during the show for a performance of her song “If You Go Down (I’m Going Down, Too)”, and Chase was proudly singing along from his seat in the audience.
During her performance, Kelsea made a statement by inviting four drag queens onstage with her. This came amidst Nashville’s recent attempt to pass an anti-drag bill, which would ban “adult cabaret performances” from public places or where there are minors present. A federal judge blocked the bill from going into effect at the end of March after an LGBTQ+ theater group filed a lawsuit against Tennessee and the District Attorney. Kelsea is one of few country stars who has been outspoken about this situation in support of the LGBTQ+ community.
In addition to this statement, Kelsea also had another big moment while hosting the show. To open the awards ceremony, she paid tribute to the victims of the shooting at the Covenant School in Nashville on March 27. While honoring the six victims, Kelsea also pointed out that “real action” needs to be taken to prevent another tragedy like this happening. She also called out gun violence in her social media statement about the horrific shooting.
Kelsea and Chase started dating at the beginning of 2023 after she slid into his DMs on Instagram in Dec. 2022. Before getting together with the Outer Banks star, Kelsea was married to Morgan Evans for four and a half years. She filed for divorce in Aug. 2022.