When I close my eyes, it’s almost as if I’m there: it’s a wintry New York morning in 1997, and I’m sitting in the lobby of the swanky Four Seasons Hotel with tears in my eyes.
They were tears of joy because I had just received a phone call with the message I had been praying for: the role of Roxie Hart in the first-ever London production of the musical Chicago was mine.
I knew it was a game changer. Roxie was a delicious dream of a role – a sassy housewife-turned-murderess and a glory-seeking bad girl boulevard darling in a fitted bodice – you couldn’t help but root for. And I wasn’t wrong: I’ve appeared on countless shows, but it’s the irresistible vixen Roxie that remains my career-defining role.
Many others who have stepped into their fishnets have found the same thing, including an appeal from Hollywood A-listers.
Everyone from Renee Zellweger – who played her in the 2002 film adaptation – to Brooke Shields and Melanie Griffith have found the role of Roxie particularly energizing in the public imagination. It’s a liberating, sexy role that is beguilingly empowering.
The latest is Pamela Anderson. The 54-year-old former Baywatch actress made her Broadway debut as Roxie this month to rave reviews.
The latest actress to play Roxie Hart is Pamela Anderson. The 54-year-old former Baywatch actress made her Broadway debut as Roxie this month to rave reviews
Ruthie Henshall (left) cried with joy when she learned she had just received a phone call with the message she had been praying for: the role of Roxie Hart in the first-ever London production of the musical Chicago was hers
Christie Brinkley plays the role of “Roxie Hart” in “Chicago” at the Cambridge Theatre, London,
Many had doubted the musical performance of the pneumatic blonde when the news was announced. But I’d say it’s brilliant casting for a role that holds up a mirror to the strange business of celebrity.
Also, when you look at her predecessors in the role, none fits exactly into a template.
And that’s exactly the point, because Roxie and her fellow murderer, convict and nemesis Velma Kelly are the finest female roles to be found in musical theater and can be played by a woman of any age or race.
The musical is based on a 1926 play of the same name about two dangerous, seductive women seeking acquittal for murder.
Playwright, reporter Maurine Dallas Watkins was inspired by the separate murder trials of Beulah Annan and Belva Gaertner, which she covered for the Chicago Tribune. Both ended in acquittals. It was Annan who was fictionalized as Roxie and on whose story the play was based. She was accused of killing her lover, Harry Kalstedt, and had convinced her husband to pay for her successful defense, only to dump him the day after the trial.
Some details of Gaertner’s crimes, including her past as a vaudeville singer, were woven into the story.
A satire on corruption in the criminal justice system and the concept of the “celebrity criminal”, the musical version premiered in 1975.
Chicago’s Broadway revival came 21 years later in a country still reeling from the trial of OJ Simpson, who had been sensationally acquitted of the murder of his wife Nicole.
No wonder a show about a woman who gets away with murder because of her celebrity resonated. 26 years later, Chicago is the longest-running American musical in Broadway history.
Actress Brooke Shields (top) performs on stage on her first night as Roxie Hart on the West End Show at the Adelphi Theater April 28, 2005. The musical is based on a 1926 play of the same name about two dangerous, seductive women seeking acquittals for murder
The musical is based on a 1926 play of the same name about two dangerous, seductive women seeking acquittal for murder
Everyone from Renee Zellweger (above) – who played her in the 2002 film version – to Brooke Shields and Melanie Griffith have found the role of Roxie particularly appealing to the public imagination
I wasn’t aware of the show’s charm when I was asked to audition as Roxie in the British stage revival. Ten years into my musical theater career and touring with my one-woman show – I happily declined, especially since Roxie was played on Broadway by an actress who, at 48, was 20 years older.
Michelle Williams as Roxie Hart in 2010
But a month later, I got a call asking if I could fly to New York, see the Broadway show, and then audition. A few nights in New York were too good to pass up. So I went and figured it wasn’t going to do much.
That is, until I took my seat at the Shubert Theater and realized that Roxie and Velma were just one-of-a-kind.
Then theater land was dominated by huge shows like Miss Saigon and Phantom Of The Opera – what I called “helicopter and chandelier” productions where the set was almost as big as the main cast.
Not in Chicago. Roxie and Velma were powerhouses – they were the helicopter and the chandelier.
I also loved that the show was carried by women without being assertive but still clever, fun and sexy.
I stayed up until 4am working on my lines. Six hours later, I gave my all at my audition – and about two hours later I was in this lobby and found out I had the part.
I was already successful, but from the moment I first took the stage as Roxie at London’s Adelphi Theater in 1997, I knew the role would stay with me.
And 13 years after I first played her, I was Roxie Hart again, this time on Broadway. It came full circle for me, because 11 years earlier I had made my debut there as Velma.
Velma is a great role too, but for me Roxie is the beating heart of the production, although it’s often whoever plays Velma who gets the awards.
And it’s Velma who gets to sing a few of the “money numbers” like All That Jazz – but it’s Roxie’s journey that underpins the show.
Roxie is the beating heart of the production, although it’s often those who play Velma who receive the awards
I’m sure everyone who’s played Roxie thinks the same way. It features a wonderful list of talented British artists including Bonnie Langford, Claire Sweeney and Denise Van Outen.
And now Pamela Anderson. As one critic pointed out, it gives her a special perspective that she can use on stage. When Roxie, along with her shrewd attorney, Billy Flynn, is besieged by reporters and flashbulbs in the courthouse, there is a world-weary wisdom in Pamela’s response.
The thunderous applause that greeted her performance prompted Anderson to say it was “the beginning of the rest of my career.” I have no doubt it will be — and no doubt my own relationship with the fabulous, boisterous Roxie is far from over.
Ruthie Henshall appears in Passion at the Hope Mill Theater in Manchester from May 5th to June 5th. Tickets start at £39.50. http://hopemilltheatre.co.uk/events/passion