Ariana Madix proves critics wrong with record sales for Broadway's Chicago

Chicago, the second-longest Broadway musical, turned some heads when it cast reality and television personality Ariana Madix as one of its leading ladies. But the ticket sales for the 2023-2024 season have proven critics and skeptics wrong.

The musical has entertained audiences for nearly 100 years with a franchise spanning the stage and the screen. The ongoing Tony Award-winning Broadway musical revival, which opened in 1996, has seen successful highs throughout its run. While Amra-Faye Wright's take on the dark and glamorous Velma Kelly has earned its share of praise, Madix's performance as the bubbly yet cunning Roxie Hart came as a surprise to many who assumed the choice to be no more than stunt casting to draw in larger crowds. While they were right about the latter part, with the show breaking its previous record with $939,177.40 earnings in the first week of the star's two-month run, they erred in their assumptions about Madix's abilities.

For fans of the star, however, there was never any doubt. The musical theatre graduate has always dreamed of hitting the Broadway stage, and she wasn't about to let the opportunity of a lifetime pass her by without making her mark.

They had it comin'

Madix graduated from Flagler College in St.Augustine, Florida in 2007 with bachelor's degrees in Theatre and Broadcast Communications. She began her career as a comedian on MTV and College Humor, before making her way to Bravo's Vanderpump Rules and Dancing With the Stars. Her early days were split between performing and bartending to make ends meet. But Madix, determined to see her dreams of making it to Broadway through, persevered, finally debuting in Chicago on January 29. From proving herself as a comedic actress to establishing herself as a dancer, Madix has now laid everything she has on the stage with a lauded vocal performance, proving her early skeptics wrong.

Chicago, which focuses on women who murder - and live to tell the tale through song and dance - is a satire that muses about our collective obsession with "celebrity," even when the glamor is clouded in crimson. Who better to tell the tale, than a celebrity who has repeatedly had to battle perceptions to prove, time and time again, that she has every right to stand on the stage, shoulder-to-shoulder with veterans and newcomers alike? Playing to audiences at the perpetually-at-capacity Ambassador Theatre, Madix has established herself as a starlet born for a stage with a well-earned bed of roses at her feet.

Paint the town and all that jazz

Originally slated to play the role for a limited two-month run, Madix has extended her time with Chicago through April 7. With standing ovations under her belt, the performer has cemented herself as a Broadway star who is sure to deliver stellar performances in whatever endeavors she moves on to.

Watch Ariana Madix sing, dance, and act her way into your heart in Broadway's Chicago.