Busy days and school pick-ups, late night rehearsals, seeing more shows on off-days, with some sauna and acupuncture in between—the lead-up to Ashley Graham’s Broadway debut as Roxie Hart in Chicago has been somewhat of a whirlwind. And while she’s still finding the rhythm with her new schedule, she’s sure as hell ready to pull back the curtain—and the Cook County Jail bars.
“I’m trying to be calm, but I’m having trouble sleeping,” she shares the day before opening night, after four weeks of prep and intensive rehearsals. While this is her official debut on The Great White Way, Graham recalls first putting the dream to be onstage on a vision board back in 2019. “I keep telling myself: ‘There’s been so many others like you before you.’ It’s not the first time someone like me is coming in as Roxie Hart. The cast is so nice. It was when I got to the dress rehearsal that I really felt like everyone was going to take care of me.”
From Tuesday April 15, Graham will do eight shows a week for six weeks in what is now the longest-running American musical, this time showing at New York’s historic Ambassador’s Theatre. Graham stars as the feisty chorus girl turned convicted murderer Roxie Hart, locked up in 1920s Chicago with an all-singing and all-dancing troupe of murderesses. She kick ball changes through a starry legacy of Roxie Harts, from Broadway to the West End: Liza Minnelli, Pamela Anderson, Brooke Shields, Michelle Williams, and Ariana Madix included; it’s a character that’s bagged Tony awards and seen each new actress leave their mark on the triple threat role.
The 37-year-old barrier-breaking supermodel, business mogul, and mother-of-three has been careful to forge her own path. She started by keeping a journal as Roxie. (Journaling has long been an important and personal outlet for Graham, helping her with anxiety and when she’s in a mental rut). “At first, I didn’t like Roxie,” she admits. “I thought, ‘Oh, you’re just out for all you can get. A narcissist, who killed somebody because you didn’t get it your way.’ Over time, I really felt endeared towards her. She’s had so much heartache, but she’s always been glass half full, a go-getter, which is what I try to do always.”
As she continued her character study, Graham felt a kind of kinship with Roxie. “She’s really taken a lot of her ‘nos’ and turned them into ‘yeses’—that’s literally my whole career. So, I’ve really tried to find myself in her—not that I know how to do method acting. I didn’t go to school for this or have an acting coach. Journaling really took the evolution of Roxie for me from sour to sweet.”
Every day for almost two weeks now, Graham has either run the full show or every scene she’s in. For up to eight hours a day: Rehearse, rehearse, rehearse. On her days off, she’s doing press, managing her businesses, and traveling for meetings. Often, she sings to her kids: Sometimes they enjoy it, other times it’s hands over ears. “It’s wild, but I know the play inside out now. It felt like a slow progression, but also super fast. Yesterday I looked at everyone and was like, ‘Next time I see you is opening night…like, don’t you think I should have another month of work?’ ‘No, you’re ready,’ they said.”
Some lifestyle changes come with this new role. The Velma to Graham’s Roxie, Welsh actor Sophie Carmen-Jones, advised Graham not to go to loud bars in the lead up. “Don’t go anywhere you have to strain your throat,” she says. “I’ve been dealing with allergies—always fun this time of year—but I take good care of myself anyways. One of the things new to me is singing while walking on a treadmill. It’s got my stamina up. As well, I sauna to keep everything warm. My calves and feet have gone through it, so I’m also doing a lot of acupuncture. My acupuncturist told me I need to tap into my quiet—find the prayer time, no phones. That’s easier said than done when married with three kids and some businesses. But I’m trying.”
Nerves, still, abound. “I wake up in the middle of the night with a sour stomach. Like, I’m about to be live on Broadway! It’s not a movie!” she says, taking over her black-rimmed glasses to rub the bridge of her nose. “I’ve never even filmed a movie, never danced or acted…This is all brand new.”
What will show day look like? Graham will bring her oldest child to school, get some sun, and do some light work on the treadmill. She’ll head to the theater for the 2 p.m. run-through. Then she’ll warm up her voice, put her wig on, get into makeup, and then it’s showtime.
Glam, of course, is a major part of the aspiring vaudeville performer Roxie Hart’s image. Costumes were, for the first time, custom made for Graham. “No Roxie has ever been my size—so everything is custom, she says, adding: “I’ve loved hearing the costume departments’ stories of the movie stars that came to Broadway or the iconic stage stars they’ve dressed,” she adds.
Her wardrobe consists of two dresses, a romper with fishnet sleeves, a kimono, and a blazer dress. There’s also three different sets of shoes, including Roxie’s iconic silver buckled heels. Graham had built-in bras added, and a new neckline. Unlike previous Roxie Hart costumes, Graham’s main costume features a sweetheart necklace with a singular strap, open shoulders, and long sleeves. Her opening costume has billowing bell sleeves and a flirty, flowy skirt: “Gorgeous, but a little dangerous when I’m singing that first song high up on a ladder,” she says. The necklines were an important costume change. “Everyone wanted me to feel super comfortable,” she says. “Prior, the necklines were mostly boatneck. I feel that, for me, that looks matronly. I need the girls contained too, there’s a lot of bouncing around. And I’m 37—yeah, I’m not 20, but I’m not 50!”
Having the wig made for her was also a big deal—“those things take time!”—and Graham’s features a swooshing, era-appropriate parting that mimics her own cowlick, as well as a retro teardrop bun. Rather than the usual, heavy-set stage makeup, Graham’s complexion is kept sheer and light. “They keep calling it ‘date night makeup,’” she says, “But it’s not a date night look I’d choose!” That’s a swipe of fire engine red lipstick, huge lashes, and sweeping black liner. Her own mole is made darker.
Amid the tumultuous last few weeks, Graham has been making time to see shows: She’s just been to see Denzel Washington and Jake Gyllenhaal in the record-breaking Othello, and plans to see Real Women Have Curves on her next night off. She’s seen Chicago three times, including a performance with Bianca Marroquin as Roxie, who has been helping teach Graham. Dylis Croman, an accomplished Broadway actor who has played Roxie both on Broadway and nationally, acts as Graham’s vocal coach. “She’s given me so many little nuggets that have really been transformative for me in understanding Roxie,” Graham says. She also saw Ariana Madix, the Vanderpump Rules star and Love Island U.S.A. host, take to the stage: “She gave Roxie this really goofy side, and that was so much fun to see in her version. Erika Jayne too is such a performer. It gave me a real boost of confidence that I can be myself to some degree—I can be goofy and carefree, and bring that to Roxie.”
She shares the floor with Velma, as well as her dressing room. “I’ve got everything except a shower. I’ll have to knock on Velma’s door to use hers. It’s bigger than I expected—it’s definitely not like Jake Gyllenhaal’s (I saw those photos!)—but mine looks like it has seen some things. It’s got a lot of stories.” Photos of legendary Chicago director and choreographer Bob Fosse and Tony Award-winning Chicago choreographer and previous Roxie Hart Ann Reinking adorn the walls of Graham’s dressing room. “It’s inspiration, being in there,” she says. “I think of all the women who were here before me.”
