Pamela Anderson Makes Broadway Debut in Iconic Role
Pamela Anderson will make her Broadway debut in April as Roxie Hart in Chicago. Anderson will play the iconic role at the Ambassador Theatre in New York City for eight weeks, from Tuesday, April 12 to Sunday, June 5. The Baywatch star is the latest in a long line of celebrities who have played parts in the Chicago revival, which opened in 1996.
"I have always been a huge fan of Bob Fosse's & Gwen Verdon's work. Ann Reinking, too," Anderson said in a statement Monday. "Playing Roxie Hart is a dream fulfilled. Performing Fosse, you don't have time to get in your head. You can't dance, sing and think at the same time. There is a freedom, a unique joy in knowing it's all about the work. Playing Roxie Hart is a sweet escape for me."
The 1996 Chicago production opened at the Richard Rodgers Theatre and has called the Ambassador Theatre home since 2003. In recent years, Hollywood stars have joined the show for limited runs, including Sofia Vergara, Mel B, Christine Brinkley, Taye Diggs, Cuba Gooding Jr., Brooke Shields, Melanie Griffith, Jennifer Nettles, Patrick Swayze, Wendy Williams, and Rita Wilson. Tickets for the show, which now stars Charlotte d'Amboise as Roxie Hart and Bianca Marroquin as Velma Kelly, are now available at ChicagoTheMusical.com.
Chicago was written by John Kander and Fred Ebb, with the book by Ebb and Bob Fosse. The original production opened in 1975. The 1996 revival won the Tony Award for Best Revival of a Musical and is the longest-running musical revival in Broadway history. The musical was adapted into a film in 2002 and won the Oscar for Best Picture.
As for Anderson, she will be the subject of an upcoming documentary for Netflix, directed by Ryan White (The Keepers) and co-produced by her son Brandon Thomas Lee. The film is billed as the "definitive" documentary of her life and an "intimate portrait embedded in the life of Pamela Anderson as she looks back at her professional and personal path and prepares for the next steps on her journey."
After the documentary was announced, Anderson posted a handwritten note on Instagram. "My life. A thousand imperfections. A million misperceptions. Wicked, wild, and lost," she wrote. "Nothing to live up to. I can only surprise you – Not a victim, but a survivor & Alive to tell the real story."
Anderson's relationship with ex-husband Tommy Lee is the subject of the Hulu limited series Pam & Tommy, which sees its last episode released on Wednesday. Lily James played Anderson while Sebastian Stan played Lee. Anderson and Lee were not involved in the production.