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THEATER TALK: Christie Brinkley Brings "Chicago" To LA, Wildhorn Gets Another Broadway Show

Katie Buenneke |
January 31, 2012 | 11:38 a.m. PST

Theater Editor

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Christie Brinkley, the model/actress, will be reprising her turn as Roxie Hart in the national tour of "Chicago" that has been added to the Pantages' season, running May 15-27. She also appeared in the role of the young woman who shoots her husband in a fit of passion on Broadway and the West End. The casting process for "Chicago" seems to be a revolving door of celebrities with varying levels of fame and talent (and the two are not always related), so hopefully Ms. Brinkley is talented enough to lead the show in Los Angeles.

In other tour news, one of Broadway's worst-received composers, Frank Wildhorn, has yet another show that is bound for the Great White Way: "Jekyll & Hyde." Granted, this show is one of his most successful, unlike "Bonnie and Clyde" or "Wonderland," (both of which ran for about a month on Broadway excluding previews). "Jekyll & Hyde," which is based on the Robert Louis Stevenson short story, ran for almost four years on Broadway, though it lost investors $1.5 million. Constantine Maroulis (of "American Idol" and "Rock of Ages" fame) is set to star in a 25-week national tour that will end on Broadway next spring. With Wildhorn's marked lack of success on Broadway—even at his peak, in the early 2000s, he had already lost investors over $20 million—one has to wonder why his shows keep getting staged. Clearly, someone has enough confidence in him and his work to warrant another show.

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