Erika Jayne went from Beverly Hills to Chicago.
In September 2019, the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star announced on Instagram that she was set to star in Broadway’s production of Chicago in New York City from January 6 to March 29, 2020. The Bravo personality scored the role of the musical’s lead, Roxie Hart, a woman who is on trial for the murder of her husband.
“BROADWAY. ROXIE HART. JAN 6.” she captioned a Chicago poster of her in a leopard-print suit.
Two months after taking the stage, the singer was forced to end her Broadway run early due to the COVID-19 shutdown.
“Well this is not the way I wanted to say goodbye to Roxie and my Chicago family but I have no choice,” Jayne wrote via Instagram in March 2020. “THANK YOU from the bottom of my heart to everyone that came to the shows . I leave NYC feeling like my mission is incomplete but I will treasure this time always.”
The “Xxpensive” performer is far from the first celebrity (and Bravolebrity) to make her Broadway debut in Chicago. Stars from Spice Girls member Mel B to model Christie Brinkley have taken the stage in the musical, which is based on journalist Maurine Dallas Watkins’ 1926 play of the same name and the various murder cases she reported on. The story, which follows Roxie’s legal troubles from her arrest to her trial, is said to be a satire on the concept of the “celebrity criminal.”
Chicago debuted on Broadway in 1975. The show was nominated for nearly a dozen Tony Awards, including Best Musical and Best Direction of a Musical for Bob Fosse, and ran for two years. Chicago was revived on Broadway in 1996 and took home six Tonys for categories such as Outstanding Revival of a Musical and Outstanding Choreography. The show holds the record for the second longest-running musical revival in Broadway history behind The Phantom of the Opera.
The musical was adapted into a movie of the same title starring Renée Zellweger and Catherine Zeta-Jones in 2002. The film went on to win six Oscars at the 75th Academy Awards for categories such as Best Picture and Best Supporting Actress for Zeta-Jones, who played Velma Kelly, a showgirl who is arrested for the murder of her husband and sister and becomes somewhat of a mentor to Roxie.
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Scroll through for more celebrities who have starred in the Broadway production of Chicago:
