Ana Villafañe Referred To ‘Influencer Culture’ While Paying Tribute To Late Ann Reinking As Roxie Hart

1 year ago 204

When ‘Chicago’ reopened its doors connected Broadway, a caller Roxie Hart came to life, courtesy of Ana Villafañe. The histrion spoke to HL astir returning to the signifier successful the iconic role.

Gwen Verdon, Ann Reinking, Reneé Zellweger, Brooke Shields, Christie Brinkley, and now, Ana Villafañe. There person been galore portrayals of Roxie Hart in Chicago, some connected movie and connected stage, passim the years. Now, aft an 18 period shutdown, the longest Broadway has ever endured, the 1975 deed musical Chicago is back, with a caller Roxie who is demanding each of our attention, and rightly so. Ana Villafañe, champion known for her relation arsenic Gloria Estefan successful the 2015 Broadway philharmonic On Your Feet!, present fills the Burju creation shoes and iconic blonde wig, delivering the razzle dazzle successful the Ambassador Theater nighttime aft night.

“I got this telephone call, to reopen Broadway successful an iconic philharmonic successful this legendary role, and I was like, ‘Well, that’s a nary brainer!'” Ana told HollywoodLife.com successful an EXCLUSIVE interview. “They gave maine the enactment betwixt Velma and Roxie, and it took maine a second, but I called 3 radical — my sister, my manager from On Your Feet! Jerry Mitchell, and Lin-Manuel Miranda, and I was like, ‘What bash I do? ‘ And they each unanimously chose Roxie, and my gut said Roxie, but I didn’t recognize wherefore different than this fascination I had with the trajectory and the travel she goes connected emotionally.”

In the show, Roxie Hart appears arsenic an innocent, naive young pistillate successful a sexless marriage… until she shoots the antheral she’s having an matter with arsenic helium tries to interruption things off. Unable to person her husband, Amos, to instrumentality the autumn for her, Roxie is sentenced to prison, wherever she finds connections to assistance crook her into a media sensation. The blonde seductress uses her 5 minutes of fame to effort to marque her lifelong imagination arsenic a vaudeville prima travel true, portion the pistillate whose communicative she replaced, Velma Kelly, tries to find ways to get her sanction backmost successful the papers.

“Roxie’s communicative truly reminds maine of influencer civilization and instant fame, and the entree to branding yourself, which we each present understand. As rapidly arsenic you emergence is arsenic as rapidly arsenic you tin fall,” Ana explained. “This communicative is really, really, highly applicable today. Media has go truthful sensationalized and you tin truly manipulate anyone into reasoning anything, truthful it was truly absorbing for me, arsenic an actor, to clasp a reflector up to nine and beryllium like, ‘Look astatine what we are. Look astatine what we person ever been,’ and that’s the cosmopolitan truth.”

In summation to relating Roxie’s communicative to modern time society, Ana wanted to beryllium definite she honored the precocious Ann Reinking, who played Roxie portion also choreographing the 1996 revival of Chicago. “I was precise excited due to the fact that Greg Butler was flown retired from LA to thatch the 4 caller formed members the full show, and we had the situation of learning it wrong 3 weeks… a fewer days in, I asked Greg, privately, ‘Teach maine Annie’s show,'” she recalled. “I cognize I americium not fractional the dancer she was, but I would similar to grant her successful my Roxie — to astatine slightest beryllium doing her show. And they did. And truthful I’m very, precise grateful for that.”

Ana continues to radiance arsenic Roxie Hart successful Chicago on Broadway — get your tickets now!