BY ANDREW GANS
Originally published on playbill.com.
TV star Alyssa Milano—of Who’s the Boss? and Charmed fame—made her Broadway debut in the Tony-winning revival of Chicago September 16.
Milano stepped into the role of Roxie Hart for a limited engagement through November 10 at the Ambassador Theatre. The evening also welcomed the return of Kimberly Marable, Raymond Bokhour, and NaTasha Yvette Williams to the roles of Velma Kelly, Amos Hart, and Matron “Mama” Morton, respectively.
In an earlier statement Milano said, “I could not be more excited to be getting back to my roots in musical theatre. When I was eight and first joined the national touring company for Annie, I never could have imagined the 40-plus-year career ahead of me. To finally be making my Broadway debut in the role of Roxie Hart in the iconic musical Chicago and to stand on the shoulders of such honorable lineage is all that a little girl who loved to sing and dance and make people smile could have ever dreamt of. I can’t wait to hit the stage.”
The current cast of Chicago also features Max von Essen as Billy Flynn and R. Lowe as Mary Sunshine.
The revival of Chicago began life as one of the three annual Encores! presentations offered by City Center. The musical opened on Broadway at the Richard Rodgers Theatre in November 14, 1996, where it remained through February 1997. The musical transferred to the Shubert Theatre, and played that house through January 26, 2003. The revival reopened at the Ambassador Theatre January 29 that year.
Since its debut in 1996, Chicago has been seen by more than 34 million people and played over 33,500 performances worldwide in 38 countries and in more than 525 cities. It is now the second-longest running show in Broadway history (after the recently closed The Phantom of the Opera).
With a book by the late Fred Ebb and Bob Fosse, music by John Kander, and lyrics by Ebb, Chicago features direction by Walter Bobbie, choreography by the late Ann Reinking, set design by John Lee Beatty, costume design by William Ivey Long, lighting design by Ken Billington, sound design by Scott Lehrer, and casting by Duncan Stewart of ARC Casting.
The current production, produced by Barry and Fran Weissler, won the Tony Award for Best Revival of a Musical in 1997 as well as awards for actors Bebe Neuwirth and James Naughton, director Bobbie, lighting designer Billington, and Reinking. The original production was directed and choreographed by the late Fosse.
