Angelica Ross Makes Broadway Debut In CHICAGO

Angelica Ross – best known for her turn on the groundbreaking POSE as Candy Ferocity and roles on American Horror Story – broke through another glass ceiling this week making her Broadway debut in Chicago the Musical as the indomitable Roxie Hart.

✨ R O X I E ✨ 9.12.22 see @angelicaross pic.twitter.com/c5OWlrrbp7

— Chicago The Musical (@ChicagoMusical) September 9, 2022

According to producers, this is the first time a transgender actor has led a Broadway musical production. Yes, there have been trans, non-binary and gender-nonconforming actors on Broadway in recent years (Peppermint in Head Over Heals, L Morgan Lee in A Strange Loop), it’s still a rarity to see a trans performer in a leading role. https://youtu.be/jDBGZyvKn0Q “I’ve been in musical theater for a long time,” Ross told The TODAY Show prior to her debut. “For 12 years, before I even got into television, I did community theater. I’m prepared to meet this moment.” Summing up that confidence, Ross added, “My spirit feels so ready for this moment, and I’m just over the moon.” The 41-year-old says she found some shades of ‘Candy Ferocity’ in her new role describing both characters as “streetwise” with the ability to “navigate a space.” “It really landed with me how similar the journeys are for women like Roxie to women like myself and Candy Ferocity who have to navigate a world that has been dictated by men, and knowing that you are a star but struggling to find the spotlight,” Ross told queer website INTO. “And being in an environment where all signs point to ‘this is not your time; this won’t happen in your lifetime.” That might be true for some people, but as Roxie Hart says in Chicago, ‘No, no, no. But it ain’t.’” You can catch Angelica Ross in Chicago the Musical at the Ambassador Theater through November 6. https://youtu.be/eIQtdbQx5FY