Remember how Ashlee Simpson got that role as Roxie Hart in Chicago on Broadway after she got fired from Melrose Place last year? Yeah, well, it looks like she got fired again … Michelle Williams, formerly of Destiny’s Child, has just be cast to take her place. Much Ashlee before her, Michelle first played the part in the West End production of the show in London … but now she’s headed for Broadway, y’all!

Former Destiny’s Child star Michelle Williams will see her name in lights next month when she high-kicks her way into the starring role of Roxie Hart in Chicago on Broadway. Williams, 29, will play the wannabe star-turned-murderess for a limited run in the hit musical from Feb. 8 to March 28. Williams will be taking over from Ashlee Simpson-Wentz, who debuted in the revival on Dec. 1. (A winner of six Tonys, this production of Chicago has been running on Broadway for 13 years.) Williams first played Roxie last year in London’s West End production. Williams, who won three Grammy Awards while she was with Destiny’s Child, has since released three solo albums and in 2003 made her Broadway debut in Aida, replacing fellow singer Toni Braxton. She also performed in the national tour of The Color Purple.

Well, at least we know that Williams can sing … so, on that accord, she’s got Ashlee beat. I was certain that Ashlee would be able to hang on to this role for more than just a couple of months but, well, them’s the breaks. I wish Michelle Williams nothing but the best of luck … Broadway can be tough but I think she can handle it well. Break a leg, kiddo!

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The new Broadway production of Arthur Miller’s A View from the Bridge, which stars Liev Schrieber, Scarlett Johansson and others, went into previews in NYC last night at the Cort Theater ahead of it’s official opening on January 24, 2010 (for a limited 14-week engagement. Here is a photo of Scarlett and Liev as they stopped to sign a few autographs after last night’s debut performance and some deets about the show itself:

Tony Award winner Liev Schreiber plays bruising Italian-American longshoreman Eddie Carbone in the new Broadway production of Arthur Miller’s A View From the Bridge, beginning previews Dec. 28. In director Gregory Mosher’s new staging of the Greek tragedy-inspired drama, Golden Globe nominee Scarlett Johansson (“Match Point,” “Vicky Cristina Barcelona”) makes her Broadway debut as the object of Eddie’s affection, his niece. She’s attracted to a newly arrived immigrant cousin, Rodolpho, played by Santino Fontana (Billy Elliot), arousing Eddie’s anger. Also joining Tony Award winner Schreiber (Glengarry Glen Ross, Talk Radio) at the Cort Theatre are Jessica Hecht, Michael Cristofer and Corey Stoll, plus Alex Cendese, Anthony DeSando, Antoinette LaVecchia, Mark Morettini, Joe Ricci, Morgan Spector, Robert Turano and Marco Verna. Opening is Jan. 24, 2010. A 14-week engagement has been announced. According to production notes, “In A View From the Bridge, Miller’s most passionate drama, Schreiber plays Eddie Carbone, a Brooklyn longshoreman obsessed with his 17-year-old niece Catherine, played by Scarlett Johansson. When Catherine falls in love with a newly arrived immigrant [played by Fontana], Eddie’s jealousy erupts in a rage that consumes him, his family, and his world.” The play was first seen on Broadway in 1955 as a short play paired with A Memory of Two Mondays. (Miller is, of course, the major American playwright known for All My Sons, Death of a Salesman and The Crucible.) A View From the Bridge resurfaced Off-Broadway in 1965, starring Robert Duvall. A 1983 Broadway revival starred Tony LoBianco. In 1997, Anthony LaPaglia played Eddie in a Roundabout Theatre Company Broadway revival. The actor won a Tony for his turn, and the production won the Tony as Best Revival.

On the one hand, I would LOVE to see Liev Schrieber on the Broadway stage. He is actually a pretty fantastic actor (X-Men Origins: Wolverine notwithstanding). On the other hand, I can’t for the life of me imagine that Scarlett Johansson would be very good on the live performance stage. But … what do I know? After the jump, check out a short promo video that features Liev and Scarlett (among others) talking up the play …

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Earlier this month we learned that Ashlee Simpson was planning to make her Broadway debut in the NYC production of Chicago (the same show she performed in on the West End in London, England last year) after she was unceremoniously fired from her gig on Melrose Place … and last night was her premiere night! Here are a few photos of Ashlee on stage in the role of Roxie Hart last night:

Really, who needs a show that’s going to evict you after just 12 episodes? Certainly not Ashlee Simpson-Wentz! The former inhabitant of Melrose Place moved into her new home on Broadway officially last night, making her debut as Roxie Hart in Chicago at the Ambassador Theatre. Of course, the star’s unfamiliar territory was made a bit more cozy given that she performed the role in London’s West End. And her star-studded support system in the audience didn’t hurt either. Husband Pete Wentz and sister Jessica Simpson were sitting with papa Joe and mom Tina with figurative bells on. “I’ve looked forward to this moment since I watched her own the stage in London,” Jessica tweeted. (Obviously, the long-running musical isn’t as “crappy” as a certain CW show). “Roxie was all Heart! Watching her up on that grandiose stage made me the proudest sister in the world.” Pete was downright nervous for his baby mama’s big moment. “When I get nervous I jitterbug and dance inside my head,” he tweeted. “It doesn’t matter what you’re, saying it just sounds like the Black Eyed Peas to me.”

Welp, if you can’t make it on TV it makes sense that you heed the call if Broadway comes calling. Ash is very lucky that she already played the part in London because, I’m sure, it make her transition to Broadway all that much easier. Even still, I’m sure all the supportive folks in the audience helped her out immensely. After the jump, check out a photo of hubby Pete Wentz and big sis Jessica Simpson chatting with one another during the show’s intermission last night and see a couple pics of Ashl33n on their way to the afterparty …

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Now that Ashlee Simpson has been relieved of her acting duties on Melrose Place, it appears that she’s now got herself a bunch of free time to fill up. Rumor has it that Ashlee will be heading to Broadway now that she is in need of a new job. As you may recall, we learned back in August of 2006 that Ashlee would be appearing on the London West End stage as Roxie Hart in their production of Chicago … word on the street is that Ashlee will be reprising that role in the Broadway production of Chicago sometime soon:

Where does a crazy Melrose Place character go after she dies? Apparently, the Windy City by way of the Great White Way. According to reports, Ashlee Simpson-Wentz, 25, isn’t taking a break after getting axed from the prime-time soap. Instead, she’s set to play Roxie Hart in the Broadway production of Chicago, starting in December for six weeks, Gossip Cop reports. It’s not an unfamiliar role. Simpson-Wentz played the role in the London run of the musical. It would, however, be her Broadway debut.

HMMM … altho I remember hearing positive reports from folks who saw Ashlee’s Chicago stint in London back in ‘06-’07, I dunno how I feel about this rumored stint on Broadway. It makes sense that she would want to return to the stage now that she’s been fired from TV. At long last, folks on this side of the pond will be able to see if Ashlee’s got the acting chops to perform on the Broadway stage. Considering the dire economic straits that Broadway productions have been facing in recent months, it’s a risky move to pin one’s hopes on the acting/singing prowess of Ashlee Simpson. Are any of y’all excited to see Ashlee Simpson in Chicago?

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Sienna Miller and her costar Jonny Lee Miller took their bows last night at the Roundabout Theatre Company’s American Airlines Theatre in NYC, NY after their opening night performance of After Miss Julie last night. Sienna stepped out of the theater lookin’ beautiful … and was met with the first reviews of her performance. Critics thought she looked great in the play … but it was her acting that left something to be desired:

Sienna Miller received a guarded welcome to Broadway Thursday night, as critics measured her performance in the drama After Miss Julie, an update – to 1945 – of August Strindberg’s 1888 play about sex and class. “In a theater season that has felt like a boys’ club of male movie idols from abroad (Daniel Craig and Hugh Jackman in A Steady Rain, Jude Law in Hamlet), wouldn’t it be gratifying if one fearless woman – with fewer stage credentials than the guys but almost as much tabloid exposure – walked away with the laurels?” writes Ben Brantley of The New York Times. Adding to the anticipation of what he thought about her acting, he opines: “She has always struck me as a game, gutsy kind of gal, as intrepid in choosing film roles (Factory Girl, Interview) as in courting (and wrestling with) the fame that now accompanies her like an unwanted bodyguard.” But, ultimately, Brantley’s praise is limited to Miller’s “good diction, good posture and great legs. Commendable as these attributes are, they are of limited use in portraying a tautly wound, death-courting neurotic who is eaten alive by her own demons.” Slightly more approving is Michael Kuchwara, who for the Associated Press also notes that Miller “looks sensational: blonde hair done up in a quintessential 1940s ‘do, her trim figure wrapped in a pert floral print dress that shows off her great legs. The very model of a seducer awaiting to commence seduction … And there is a relentless quality to Sienna Miller’s performance, not terribly subtle or vulnerable, but compelling in its obsessiveness.” The infamously testy John Simon, of Bloomberg News, found much to like in her “persuasive performance,” however – finding Miller, 27, “convincing enough in the title role, managing superciliousness and condescension, lust and humiliation, with unassailable proficiency.” Reaction to Miller’s Broadway debut – she costars in the Roundabout Theatre Company production with Jonny Lee Miller, who was once married to Angelina Jolie – qualified as major news in her native England, where the Daily Mail tracked the reviews, as well as the fact that her former fiancé, Law, and even a former boyfriend, Craig, are also on Broadway right now.

You know what … good legs are a good thing to have in showbiz. Now, I’ve not seen the play myself so I can’t speak to its merits or pitfalls but I really loved Sienna in this Summer’s blockbuster action film G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra and found her performance in that film completely engaging, wholly interesting and yes, her legs looked amazing. In all seriousness, Sienna wasn’t savaged by the NY theater critics and I would take that as a win. I think congratulations are in order … after all, the reviews could’ve been a helluva lot worse.

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Great news for fans of the rock musical Rock of Ages which has proven to be huge hit on Broadway … Variety is reporting that the show is being made into a movie scheduled for release in 2011 and get this — it’ll be helmed (directed and choreographed) by famed choreographer Adam Shankman!

“Hairspray” helmer Adam Shankman is signing on to direct and choreograph the screen version of the Broadway musical “Rock of Ages” for New Line Cinema. The film will begin production by next summer and be released by Warner Bros. in 2011. The musical’s creator, Chris D’Arienzo, scripted the movie adaptation. Carl Levin, Matt Weaver, Scott Prisand, Tobey Maguire and Jennifer Gibgot will produce. Janet Billig and Hillary Weaver are executive producers. “I had the best time of my life making ‘Hairspray’ and badly wanted another musical, and when I watched ‘Rock of Ages,’ I was struck by the fact that not only had much of the audience seen it more than once, every guy in the audience knew the words to the songs,” Shankman told Daily Variety. “What an extraordinary opportunity to open the genre to an audience that otherwise wouldn’t go see a musical.” The tuner tells of two people who meet at the Sunset Strip club Rock of Ages, fall in love and try to stay together amid’80s rock anthems made popular by Journey, Twisted Sister, Joan Jett, Bon Jovi, Pat Benatar and other groups. New Line is clearing music rights to the tunes. Since its move to Broadway, “Rock of Ages” fills most of its 1,000 seats at Brooks Atkinson Theater, helped by five Tony nominations. The show will begin a worldwide rollout over the next several years. Shankman said he hopes to shoot the picture in its proper setting, which means lensing in Los Angeles. Shankman said, “I’m thinking big, and absolutely am going to attempt to cast with movie stars. Now that musicals are working again, actors are much more open to it.”

Yay!! This is very exciting news! Rock of Ages is my new fave musical and I can’t wait to see it make the transition to the big screen. While I wish the Broadway actors currently cast in the show would be allowed to reprise their roles in the film (particularly Kerry Butler and Tom Lenk), I’m pretty certain that bigger name actors will be sought out instead (much like when Hairspray the Musical made the transition from the stage to the screen). Nonetheless, I have no doubt that Adam Shankman will make a fantastic film out of this amazing show … I can’t wait!!

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Great news for fans of Daniel Radcliffe … the young British actor who took both the West End stage and the Broadway stage by storm with his powerful performance in Equus has just signed on for a new Broadway production. This time, DanRad will be performing in musical theater in a revival of the classic show How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying. Here is a great look back at Dan’s performance in Equus and some deets about his new B’way gig:

Harry Potter star Daniel Radcliffe is heading to Broadway for his first musical. The 20-year-old actor has been announced as the lead for How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying. Radcliffe is already used to the pressures of nightly Broadway and West End appearances, having wowed critics in Equus last year. He will play the plum part of J. Pierrepont Finch, a window cleaner who rises to the top of a huge company while, of course, wooing and winning a girl along the way. Robert Morse created the role on Broadway and in the 1967 screen adaptation. The original production, running for a healthy 1,417 performances, won the top Tony for best musical in 1962 as well as six more, including awards for lead Morse and supporting player Charles Nelson Reilly. And the 1995 saw Matthew Broderick win the lead actor Tony. Radcliffe is currently filming the final instalments of the Harry Potter movies, Deathly Hallows, which will be released in two parts.

This is FANTASTIC news!! I suspect that this is but the beginning of a long and storied carrer on the stage. I was lucky enough to see Radcliffe in Equus and was stunned by his performance. I have no doubt that he will be just as superb in this new role in How to Succeed. I have been nothing but impressed with every acting performance I’ve seen from the lad and I have been wondering what his future career in acting holds for him. I suspect he will make a great name for himself on the musical theater stage. I wouldn’t be surprised at all if he gave up films altogether and stuck with plays and musicals. Time will tell what other projects DanRad will take on but I, for one, am very excited about the prospect of seeing Daniel Radcliffe on the Broadway stage again.

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