Alyssa Milano to Play Roxy Hart in Broadway Play ‘Chicago’ Through Nov. 10

NEW YORK CITY (WABC) — Alyssa Milano has been a television staple since the age of 10 with iconic shows like “The Boss,” “Charmed” and “Melrose Place.”

The New York native makes her Broadway debut in “Chicago.”

The name on everyone’s lips will be… Alyssa. She will play the famous Roxy Hart.

Although you probably know her from television and film, Milano’s roots lie in theater.

The star is ready to charm audiences as the curtain officially rises for her in “Chicago.”

“Seeing my picture under ‘Chicago’ is like dreams come true. Everybody keeps dreaming. Dreaming big. But there are little things that every actor who plays Roxy changes, that I had no idea about. So, we had a really good time with that,” Milano said. “And I think what was so important to Anne Rankin when she choreographed the movie was knowing that different actors were going to take on this role. And how they could change the choreography for each actor and their strengths. So, you know, we have, you know, the creation of Roxy, which is what I still call her every day. I was like, well, what are we going to find out about her today?”

It’s a character that Milano says she feels empowered by playing.

“I think she really was and the way I look at the character is she’s a feminist, right? She’s real, something happened to her. She got famous for maybe things she shouldn’t have been famous for, but she’s enjoying it. She’s ambitious. She’s always dreamed big,” Milano said. “My mother used to say never stop chasing your moonbeams. And so when I look at Roxy, I think she never stopped chasing her moonbeams. And I think as the show goes on, what’s so special is that she forms this alliance with Velma.”

Milano said she has had many “Velmas” in the industry throughout her career.

“I’ve been so lucky. I’ve been so lucky. I mean, Judith Light. Who’s always been an icon, my biggest supporter. And of course, Katherine Helmond, may she rest in peace. But I was so lucky to grow up with ‘Who’s the Boss?’ and I have Judith, who is such a, first of all, we used to joke that she could cry one eye at a time. She’s so brilliant. It’s, it’s mind-boggling. So to have that professionalism to emulate was, yeah. So beneficial. But also such a warm and kind person. And also, you know, an activist, you know, from the very beginning, the very beginning. So I was raised watching her and saying, oh, that’s what you do when you’re a celebrity. You use your name for causes that are important to you. Yeah. So yeah, I would say there’s a huge age difference because I was just a kid. I think she was very, very important in my life. I’m very blessed. And to still be doing this, you know, 40 years later, it’s a blessing. It really is,” Milano said.

Although she’s a seasoned actress, Milano said it was “terrifying” in every sense of the word to tackle Broadway.

“My daughter, who’s in a musical now, she’s 10, came up to me and said, ‘Mom, you’re going to do Broadway.’ And I started crying, you know, obviously. And I thought, ‘What have I done?’ I said, ‘We had this big family reunion with my parents and my kids and my husband and all the people, the dogs.’ And I thought, ‘I don’t know if I can do this, guys. I don’t know if I can leave everybody.’ And it just seems really intimidating. And my daughter, with a completely serious face, looked at me and said, ‘You’d be an idiot not to do this,’” she said.

“Are you ready to see your name in lights?” asked Eyewitness News Entertainment reporter Joelle Garguilo.

“Woo! I don’t know,” Milano said. “Yeah. You know, I’ve done that. And I’ll be able to do that. And I’ll be able to say, you know what? We and I will be able to look at my kids and say, we can do hard things. Yeah. We can do things that we’ve never done before or we never thought we could do before. And our dreams can come true. And I think the greatest gift is to be able to look at them and say, hang in there. Dreams do come true. You just have to stick with it, stick with it.”

You can see Milano in “Chicago” through November 10 at the Ambassador Theatre.

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