This fall, multi-platinum recording artist Ashlee Simpson-Wentz will make her Broadway stage debut as she reprises the role of Roxie Hart in the Tony Award-winning hit musical CHICAGO for a ten-week limited engagement, Monday, November 30, 2009 through Sunday, February 7, 2010 at the Ambassador Theatre (219 W. 49th St.).
Simpson-Wentz first took on Roxie Hart in 2006, when she played the role to critical acclaim in London's West End production of CHICAGO, and later that year participated in the special one-night-only 10th anniversary benefit performance at the Ambassador Theatre.
"I'm honored to be reprising my role as Roxie Hart, returning to the stage and joining this amazing cast," said Simpson-Wentz. "Being on Broadway is a childhood dream come true."
Born in Waco, Texas on October 3, 1984, Ashlee Simpson was the youngest person ever admitted to the prestigious American School of Ballet in New York City at age 11. She began her career in television a few years later with appearances on "Malcolm in the Middle" and "Saved by the Bell," followed by a recurring role for two years on the WB's "7th Heaven."
In 2004, "The Ashlee Simpson Show" debuted on MTV and went on to become the number one show in its primetime slot. Her debut album Autobiography was released in July 2004 and debuted at #1 on the Billboard album charts, selling over 398,000 copies in the United States its first week of release. It went on to sell more than four million copies worldwide. In January 2005, her number one hit single from the album, "Pieces of Me," was certified platinum.
Her sophomore album I Am Me was her second consecutive album to debut at #1 on the Billboard charts and went on to sell three million copies worldwide and yielded the hit singles, "Boyfriend" and "L.O.V.E."
Simpson-Wentz, who later released her critically-acclaimed third album Bittersweet World, has also headlined two sold-out national tours.
In 2006, Simpson-Wentz made her film debut as a supporting actress alongside Kip Pardue and Carrie Fisher in the Lionsgate ensemble film Undiscovered, about a group of Los Angeles actors and musicians struggling to make it big. In the fall of 2009, she began starring in the CW's remake of "Melrose Place."
Simpson-Wentz is the proud recipient of two Teen Choice Awards and the Billboard Artist of the Year Award (2004). She has appeared on the MTV Video Music Awards, Radio Music Awards and American Music Awards and also served as host of the MTV Video Music Awards in Australia. To date, she has graced the covers of countless magazines such as Allure, Blender, Cosmopolitan, Elle, Marie Claire, Seventeen, Shape and Teen People.
She currently resides in Los Angeles with her husband, musician Pete Wentz, and son Bronx Mowgli Wentz.
Now celebrating 13 glorious years of girls, glitz and glamour on the Great White Way, the record-breaking smash hit musical CHICAGO is now the seventh longest-running production in Broadway history ... and shows no sign of ever slowing down!
CHICAGO features a book by Fred Ebb and Bob Fosse, music by John Kander and lyrics by Fred Ebb, and is the winner of six 1997 Tony Awards including Best Musical Revival and the Grammy Award for Best Musical Cast Recording.
Set amidst the razzle-dazzle decadence of the 1920s, CHICAGO is the story of Roxie Hart, a housewife and nightclub dancer who murders her lover after he threatens to walk out on her. Desperate to avoid conviction, she dupes the public, the media and her rival cellmate, Velma Kelly, by hiring Chicago's slickest criminal lawyer to transform her malicious crime into a barrage of sensational headlines, the likes of which might just as easily be ripped from today's tabloids.
Directed by Walter Bobbie and choreographed by Ann Reinking, CHICAGO features set design by John Lee Beatty, costume design by William Ivey Long, lighting design by Ken Billington and sound design by Scott Lehrer.
Produced by Barry and Fran Weissler, CHICAGO has become a worldwide phenomenon with productions in 24 countries and 11 languages since 1996.
The record-breaking London production of CHICAGO continues to hold the record as the longest-running American musical in West End history. CHICAGO is also on tour throughout the U.S. and Canada, as well as international tours in Australia and the United Kingdom.
Visit www.ChicagoTheMusical.com for more information.
