Alyssa Milano is ready to charm audiences in 'Chicago'

Milano, best known for her TV roles in Charmed and Melrose Place, is making her Broadway debut decades after making her professional acting debut on stage.

She may be playing a murderess, but Alyssa Milano — making her Broadway debut in Chicago — is ready to charm audiences with playfulness and humor.

She's no stranger to straddling darkness and light in her characters. Milano most notably did so as the evil-fighting witch Phoebe on Charmed and as the playful Jennifer Mancini on Melrose Place. Those were both TV gigs, as was the sitcom Who's the Boss? that made her an instant child star, but her first professional acting job was a U.S. national tour of Annie.

Now, decades later, she's returning to her roots as another iconic leading lady. Her character of Roxie Hart is a housewife who, after landing in jail for killing her lover, manipulates the press, the public, and her lawyer to not only get her out alive, but make her famous.

"I had to audition for three days — the singing and the dancing and the acting — and was just so elated when I got the call that I got it," Milano said. "I'm very, very, very grateful to be doing anything at this point in my life that is art."

Milano, who performs from September 16 to November 10, spoke to New York Theatre Guide about her history with Chicago, her unique approach to Roxie, and her connections to the stars who have shone in the role before her.

Get Chicago tickets now.

What was your first exposure to Chicago?

I saw the show when it first came out, with Anne Reinking and Bebe Neuwirth.

What made you want to do Broadway at this point in your career?

My roots are all theatre. I had started in Annie when I was eight years old; I did the second national touring company. And then I did bunch of Off-Broadway shows — I did a Wendy Wasserstein one-act at EST [Ensemble Studio Theatre] and all this cool stuff — and then got Who's the Boss? when I was 11, and I've been doing TV and film ever since.

You know that John Lennon quote, "Life is what happens when you're busy making other plans"? I got married and I had my children, and this opportunity came about, and I did inventory of why I wouldn't take it, and it just seemed like the right time, so I took the audition.

What are the most exciting and most challenging parts of making your Broadway debut?

The exciting and challenging parts go hand in hand, and that's just discovering who this person is and and allowing the evolution of my Roxie to unfold. So many iconic, incredible actors and women have played this role, and it's all available on YouTube for you to see, so the tricky thing has been wanting to watch everyone's interpretation, but not be too influenced.

Have you been in touch with anyone else who's played Roxie? So many other celebrities have taken on the role, as you said.

I've met Ariana Madix, who is wonderful, and I actually saw her Roxie three times. I've been in contact with other people, like Greg Butler, who is a dance captain who I did my rehearsals with in Los Angeles before I got here. He also worked with Pamela Anderson. So we all have talked through people.

But I think everyone understands it's a process, and every actor that plays Roxie wants to have her own spin on it. The only advice I've been given was, the director Walter [Bobbie] said to me, "Get up on that ladder, kid. In heels. Get up there every day and just sing," because of the ladder scene. I've conquered the ladder scene.

What do you bring to Roxie that's unique?

My interpretation of Roxie is based on two lines she has [...] One is, "I'm older than I ever intended to be," and the other is, "Some men are like mirrors, and when I look at Amos, I'm always a kid." Those two things informed all I needed to really know about how I was going to approach it.

She had a rough childhood; maybe there's a little bit of arrested development. Part of her still wants to be recognized as a kid and wants to feel safe. The other part is she's this old broad whose opportunity has passed her by, or so she thinks. That is my approach, to try to straddle this youthful playfulness, but also a seriousness and a darkness — because, I mean, she does kill someone.

Are there any similarities between Phoebe, your beloved Charmed character, and Roxie?

The element I always bring to all the roles I play is, because it's what I have fun doing as an actor, trying to mine the comedy that might not be on the page. Roxie is funny on the page, but my thing is always, where else can I find her humor? What does that look like? So they'll recognize her humor.

Do you have any favorite places to eat in the Theatre District?

There's this amazing restaurant called Frena [...] in Hell's Kitchen.

Get Chicago tickets now.

Photo credit: Alyssa Milano. (Photo courtesy of production)