Krysta Rodriguez is back on Broadway razzle dazzlin’ audiences as Roxie Hart in Chicago. Rodriguez began her run in the record-breaking musical June 15, succeeding Rachel Schur at the Ambassador Theatre.
Rodriguez was most recently seen on Broadway in the stage adaptation of the hit television series Smash. She’s also notable for her roles in both the original and Deaf West revival productions of Spring Awakening, First Date, In the Heights, and The Addams Family, where she originated the role of Wednesday Addams. Her screen credits include Halston, Trial & Error, Smash, Daybreak, and more.
Take a peek at the video above to see Rodriguez’s first curtain call as the newest merry murderess of Chicago’s Cook County Jail.
The current cast of the Tony-winning revival features Sophie Carmen-Jones as Velma Kelly, Nik Walker as Billy Flynn, Jacqueline B. Arnold as Matron “Mama” Morton, Greg Hildreth as Amos Hart, and R. Lowe as Mary Sunshine.
The ensemble also includes Tia Altinay, Zach Bravo, Austin Dunn, Jennifer Dunne, John Michael Fiumara, Danielle Marie Gonzalez, Chelsea James, Christopher Kelley, James T. Lane, Jenny Laroche, Marty Lawson, Joseph London, Kristen Faith Oei, Denny Paschall, Mariah Reives, Sean Samuels, Samantha Sturm, and Jeff Sullivan.
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 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 played in 36 countries and been seen by 33 million people worldwide. 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 ARC.
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.