Back in May, while I was attending the IPW travel industry conference in Florida, we had the privilege to preview a number of Broadway shows. Most of them were recent additions to the Broadway catalogue, like the brilliant Tony winners The Outsiders and Maybe Happy Ending.
But the classic Chicago was also amongst them, which at 30 years of its current revival run, makes it the second longest running Broadway show in history (behind Phantom of the Opera), the longest running show currently on Broadway, and the longest running American musical in Broadway’s history. With tickets available through The Broadway Collection.
Of course, the cast has enjoyed many changes over the years – with everyone from Pam Anderson to Mýa playing Roxie and Velma, respectively. And one actress who has played both for more than two decades is acclaimed Mexican actress Bianca Marroquin. She made history, in 2003, when she took on the role of Roxie, as the first Mexican actress to have a starring role on Broadway.
As the show celebrates 30 years on Broadway in its current revival, 50 years since it first premiered – and 100 years since the original play on which its based – I sat down with Bianca to reflect on the legacy of the show, her time with it, and on the Broadway stage. Who better, after all, than the actress who has performed as the Broadway lead for more than 4,000 performances.
When looking into your history with the show, I was surprised to discover that George Hamilton was playing Eddie Flynn when you joined the Broadway cast.
Yes, he was my first Billy ever, my Broadway debut in 2002, was George Hamilton. Isn’t it crazy?
But that wasn’t your first time in a Chicago cast?
I was first in Mexico. Mexico City, so in a different language. And then I found out (they wanted me on Broadway), and 4 days later, switched to English, and that was a crazy time too.
What is it about this show that has captivated audiences for some 100 years in different forms? It keeps coming back.
It never gets old. I mean, what it’s about, the planet has been seeing this all the time. You know, there are good people and bad people, and then there are criminals who cross that line, who are then sensationalised by the media – and all that creates a lot of attention.
When I started playing at first in Mexico City in 2001, there was actually something really big happening with a big pop star. She was in jail, pregnant. So I when (Roxie) says she’s gonna have a baby. At the end of the first act, people, you know, they’re responding to it because it was happening in the headlines. So there’s always something happening reflective of this show, what it’s about. And how the press is being manipulated and the lying in court and playing the system to your favour and then getting away with it. You see it all the time. But it’s handled with dark humour here, in a way that’s digestible for the audiences. And it’s hilarious.
And then, not to mention, John Kander and Fred Ebb’s music and Bob Fosse’s choreography. Plus, it’s a minimalist show. It’s easy, to carry on tour, because you just fold it up and take it. It’s just the raw talent on stage. So that’s a lot to do. We have any helicopters or any castles or any…
…you don’t have to fly into the crowd at the end as in Mary Poppins.
Those shows are wonderful to be a part of. And it’s just so monstrous that I feel so proud. You mention Mary Poppins, that’s one of the proudest of my career to pull all that off, all the magic tricks.
Literal magic tricks in a toy house…
The quick changes. You have five people on you, and you turn your torso this way, and you choose this way, and then you’re pulling down your side, while singing, da, da, da, da. It’s a jolly holiday for Mary.
You come out, and people are like, How did you do that? The final flight, running down to appear for the curtain call. It’s just magic, you know? And then in Chicago, it’s hardly any wardrobe changes. It’s just us and the script, which is magical and genius.
…and the music, which we all know, and we’ve all grown up with.
It’s really a masterpiece. It’s a gem. So that’s why I always say Chicago‘s gonna outlive us all. I’m so lucky that I have this relationship with the longest American musical running on Broadway. And they’re very loyal to their people, and they keep calling me. So I’ll do one or two contracts a year. And now, after 20 years of playing Roxie, after the pandemic, when the whole phenomenon of all the Broadway shows were reopening. They call me, like, we’re coming back. Oh, my God. They chose me, ’cause they could have chosen to come back as Roxie. Oh, no, not as Roxie. We’d like you to do Velma first.
I always say, if something scares you, all the more reason to do it. Because that’s where we evolve, where the growth is. Not in the comfortable zone – nothing blooms there. So, now, I’m on that short list of people to have played both Roxie and Velma. Chita Rivera, Bebe Neuwirth, Ruthie Henshall and Naomi C. Walley, which is such an honour.
How has your relationship with the show changed over the years? Obviously, changing the role would change the way you’re approaching the show, as well as playing with different companies.
Completely different beasts, completely. And, every time that I leave the show, something happens to me in my personal life, and that always gives me more depth. So I come back and have something new to offer or feed the character. Which is also such a blessing, right?
I just turned 50 in January. And so this October will be 25 years of playing Roxie. Half my life? Half my existence. that I’ve been having this role, that the universe said: Roxie and you, you’re gonna be connected forever.
Every time my monologue changes, every time I have a different approach, I understand something better. Something new hits me, and it just doesn’t matter how many years I’ve been playing, how many shows. Night after night, it’s same script. But it’s completely different. Something is happening in the climate. In the news, or with me, personally. Some new actor, some understudy… the audience is different every night. Sometimes they’re not English speakers. So then the comedy’s different. The timing is different. The approach, therefore, with the audience, is different, and so it’s a beautiful exercise as an actor. It’s one of the biggest gifts of my life.
We mentioned George Hamilton earlier. There’s been a lot of incredible casting choices on Broadway in the last in the last few years. Pamela Anderson. coming in and people like that… who else have you performed with on Chicago’s Broadway stage?
It’s funny, because normally they cast the celebrity in Roxie. Because Roxie really, truly, is a woman that has not made it. It’s a woman that’s not that talented. And she just shot someone, and that’s why she became famous. She has her charisma and these characteristics that make her very special and stand out.
But it’s harder to cast a celebrity in Velma, because with Velma, you can’t get away with it. You have to have your technique in vocal, in dancing. Otherwise, you will kill yourself with the choreography that Velma asks of you. So my celebrities in the first 20 years were always as Billy Flynn. Patrick Swayze, Kevin Richardson from the Backstreet Boys, both The Dukes of Hazzard, Usher, and then people from reality shows, from series like Gossip Girl.
So just recently, after I was cast as Velma, I had my first celebrity as Roxie. And it was Mira Sorvino. Lovely. We hit it off. And I just have that generosity… it comes from my mother, I guess… I want to take care of you. And I’ve also been dance captain, and cover for other shows, like Phantom of the Opera, or Rent. So I have that in me, that nature of taking care of somebody on stage, and making sure that they’re comfortable and safe, and that they get their experience. So, Mira was maybe a little nervous about her singing, they brought down all the keys to our songs that we do together. And I had to sing low. I loved it. It was another challenge. So it was a very nice experience with Mira. But it was my first time dealing with somebody that comes from another territory, another world, into our world, and welcome, welcoming them… acting as a steward. The show is always first. I love it.
You’re not currently in the Chicago cast, but what would it mean to you to get to return to show? You were saying how it’s like a family whenever you come back in.
It is, all of them. I have history with every single person you just saw with me on stage with in the Chicago number. My boys, and my ladies… these kind of events bring us all together, and it also gives us a chance to meet cast members from other shows. Because we’re all playing at the same time, we never really get to meet.
Not to mention the people, but do you ever get to see other Broadway shows?
Well, at events like this, I get a taste of shows that I haven’t seen, like Six – and I have to take one of my stepdaughters to see it. But I have seen Maybe Happy Ending. I have seen The Outsiders. I have not seen Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York) or MJ either. As a dancer, like, what the hell is wrong with me? But if I’m not playing on Broadway, I’m in Mexico City doing concerts or another show, or a TV show for Univision, or in Miami. So I’m always travelling or trying to do personal life now with all my children. And so it’s difficult, but every now and then I’ll take the time. I need to go see a Broadway show. Buena Vista Social Club I just saw. I just died, because I’m a dancer first, and I’m Hispanic, Latina. So the music. It was amazing. And I had a couple of friends in the cast.
Honestly, Buena Vista Social Club is the best concert in New York that you can see 8 times a week. Very special. Are there any shows that one day you’d love to be a part of?
Oh, well, for instance, I know they’re doing this next year, so just consider me, that’s all! But Kiss of the Spider Woman. Because my connection with Chita Rivera. In life, she was very good to me, and now she’s in heaven. I’m asking her to pull some strings for me. I portrayed Chita Rivera in the Fosse/Verdon TV series. Yeah. So there’s that connection, and it’s one of those shows written for a dancer first. Triple threat.
I was supposed to do Evita on the West End in 2007. Elena Roger originated in West End, and then she was going to take a hiatus for the summer. They auditioned me, they flew me to London. Andrew Lloyd Weber saw me gave the green light and I was going to do it. We were starting to negotiate. My mom, in heaven now, was already looking into buying tickets for everybody. But then it closed. So it didn’t happen. So it’s one of those shows that got away.
I hear it’s coming back to New York next year.
Is it? Is it? Oh but are they bringing Rachel Zegler*? Maybe there’ll be a production in Mexico City And then there’s Sunset Boulevard. It’s one of those characters. And when I saw it, I saw myself. So I don’t think it’s gonna come back anytime soon, but maybe in another country. Maybe in Spain.
Do you remember the first show you saw on stage?
Yes, it was Phantom of the Opera. In San Antonio, they were touring, and my mom took me to see Phantom, and I remember looking at the dancers, the Degas girls, and I eventually played it, and I was dance captain for that show, but I was a cover for all the Degas girls on point, because I’m a ballet dancer first. And then, the next show I saw was Cats. I have never done cats, but also a show for dancers. And I was just blown away. And then I saw Beauty and the Beast. And then eventually, I saw all the shows that I’ve ever done. I saw Rent, and I saw Chicago…
Where did you first see Chicago?
I saw it in 1998, December. On Broadway. And I didn’t dare to say I want to be up there. I said, please, someone in Mexico City, buy the rights to this and bring it down. And they did. And I did it, and I never imagined that after six months of doing it in Mexico, that I was gonna be on that very stage at the Schubert Theatre. before they changed to the Ambassador. So that’s where George Hamilton and I met.
Can you remember sitting in that room and seeing Chicago for that first time?
Oh, yes. I had… not front row, but, like, third row, all the way on the side. So I was looking at the show like that, and I remember Ute Lemper was Velma. And, Karen Ziemba was Roxie. But I remember being just mesmerised by Ute. She’s a creature. And just the dancers. And it just made me lose my mind. So when I learned that it was coming to Mexico, I auditioned for dance captain. I didn’t even dare go for a lead. Like the newspaper ad, seriously, in Mexico City, said auditions for Chicago, women between 35 and 47 years of age, preferably famous. Preferencia Famosas. I’m not making that up!
I was 25. I hadn’t done any television. No one knew who the heck I was in Mexico, but it’s still went. I never imagined that I was gonna be cast as Roxie. But they trusted me with the role, and that was my first lead in Mexico, and then I started winning all these awards, and six months later, the producer calls me to his office, and he says, I just got off the phone with Broadway, and they know you’re bilingual, and they wanna test you out with the audiences, and here’s the script in English. You leave in 3 weeks.
So I would study the script in English during the day, and I would do the show in Spanish at night. But because I was raised on the border, my brain could do that. I’m like, now I know why those were my parents, and I was raised on the border because this was going to happen. It was like a weapon I was gonna need later.
And lucky you’d seen the show, on Broadway… You knew what you were in for?
Yes it’s funny that I ended up actually doing the show. So when they say, if you can imagine, you can achieve it… if you can dream it, you can become it. It’s true.
Don’t stop dreaming because don’t let anything hold you back. Just go show up. You don’t know. Even if it’s not for that show, you don’t know what those casting directors are going to work on next, and they might remember you. You never know. If you don’t get it, you have to create tough skin, you can’t take anything personal in this career. Show up, do your best, do what you love for a little audience of five people behind the table. Do the work, put in the hours, say thank you, and then rip up the sides, and the music, and throw it away. That’s a sign, not for disrespect, for letting go, showing the universe, I’m releasing it. I’m letting go, and you decide if it’s mine or not. You can’t attach to anything to life. I know it’s hard. Because the only constant thing in life is change. Everything’s gonna change, everything’s gonna shift. and leave. And end. So enjoy it while you have it.
And speaking of change on Broadway, we talked about Phantom and Cats, and now you’ve got Masquerade and The Jellicle Ball.
With Masquerade (the immersive retelling of Phantom of the Opera), I get to go back and relive kind of my own version of the classic that I was in, and ended up sort of directing because I was a dance captain. I was in charge of rehearsing all the understudies, all the people that were coming to the revolving door. So I had to sit down every night and do a report and send it to Danny Berry, the choreographer from New York. So the show, I know it so well. So how amazing to see it come back and see this take. Well, that’s the great thing about Broadway isn’t it? It continues to reinvent itself.
Follow Bianca on Instagram. To learn more about Chicago on Broadway, head to the official website.
For tickets to Chicago on Broadway, and many of the other great shows mentioned in this article, head to The Broadway Collection.
Photos from IPW 2026 by Nina Babel. Used with Permission
*Yes, Rachel Zegler will be in the Broadway production of Evita, with previews from 27th February 2027. I wonder if they’ll still have her come outside in New York?
