Erika Jayne is returning to Broadway as the leading lady Roxie Hart in Chicago – five years after she previously played the role.
The current production of Chicago opened in New York in 1996 and, over the course of its juggernaut run, has become known for its celebrity stunt casting.
A wide range of famous faces including Wendy Williams, Pamela Anderson, Ariana Madix, Melanie Griffith and Nene Leakes have stepped into the show.
Jayne, 53, previously played Roxie on Broadway at the beginning of 2020, but she was unable to complete her scheduled run because New York theaters were all shuttered that March owing to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Now, she will return to New York’s Ambᴀssador Theater for a limited engagement in Chicago from January 20 to February 9, 2025, People reports.
Although Jayne is best known for The Real Housewives Of Beverly Hills, she is also the singer of hit singles like Painkillr and How Many F***s.
Erika Jayne is returning to Broadway as the leading lady Roxie Hart in Chicago – five years after she previously played the role; pictured backstage at the show in January 2020
Chicago first opened in 1975 with Gwen Verdon and Chita Rivera respectively as Roxie Hart and Velma Kelly, two murderesses who become stars through crime.
Roxie, who has been cheating on her husband, shoots her boyfriend ᴅᴇᴀᴅ for trying to leave her and winds up in jail – where she encounters Velma, in prison for murdering her husband and sister after she caught them in a ‘spread-eagle’ together.
Velma and Roxie face off in a fierce rivalry, fighting over their lawyer’s attention and over the media celebrity they have attained thanks to their salacious crimes.
Set in the 1920s, the show is beloved for its iconic jazz score with lyrics by Fred Ebb and music by John Kander – as well as the scintillating choreography by Bob Fosse.
The current revival was directed and choreographed by Fosse’s ex-girlfriend and muse Ann Reinking ‘in the style of Bob Fosse’ and became a thunderous sensation, to the point it is now one of the longest-running shows in Broadway history.
Although Chicago was only a moderate success in the 1970s, its return in the 1990s came after the media frenzy trials of OJ Simpson and the Menendez brothers, lending a topical gloss to the show’s satire of celebrity and the criminal justice system.
In 2002, Chicago was made into an Oscar-winning movie with an all-star cast including Renee Zellweger, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Richard Gere and Queen Latifah.
Jayne made her debut on the Great White Way with Chicago, before Broadway was shut down on account of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Jayne, 53, previously played Roxie on Broadway at the beginning of 2020, but she was unable to complete her scheduled run because theaters were shuttered owing to COVID-19
The current production of Chicago opened in New York in 1996 and, over the course of its juggernaut run, has become known for its celebrity stunt casting
A wide range of famous faces including Wendy Williams, Pamela Anderson (pictured), Michael C. Hall, Ariana Madix, Melanie Griffith and Nene Leakes have stepped into the show
