After conquering the beach, Pamela Anderson, the one-time lead actress of landmark TV series Baywatch, will now try to dominate Broadway.
Anderson will be playing the role of Roxie Hart, the infamous aspiring vaudeville star who is launched to stardom after murdering a man she’s having an affair with, in the latest version of the stage musical Chicago, which is a long-running revival of the Kander and Ebb/Bob Fosse classic.
Previously, the role was played by Gwen Verdon, Ann Reinking, Brooke Shields, Ashlee Simpson, and Melanie Griffith.
This will mark Anderson’s Broadway debut as she begins performing on stage from April 12. The show will be an eight-week limited engagement at the Ambassador Theatre through June 5.
“I have always been a huge fan of Bob Fosse’s and Gwen Verdon’s work. Ann Reinking, too,” Anderson said.
“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 announcement of the casting came after the Hulu series Pam & Tommy which stars Sebastian Stan and Lily James was released. The show documents a difficult time in the couple’s lives where her and ex-husband Tommy Lee’s stolen sex tape was distributed illegally.
According to a source close to Anderson, Anderson has no involvement in it and has said she has no plans to watch the series. The source also goes on to explain that it was one thing for Pam & Tommy to be about the sex tape, but entirely another for the show to feature brief clips of it.
Instead, she’ll set the record straight in an upcoming documentary that’s been set up at Netflix.
Anderson revealed the news of her documentary on her Instagram, sharing a handwritten note on Netflix letterhead and sealed with a lipstick kiss.
“My life. A thousand imperfections. A million misperceptions,” she wrote. “Wicked, wild and lost. Nothing to live up to. I can only surprise you. Not a victim, but a survivor & alive to tell the real story.”
