Jennifer Nettles to Play Roxie Hart in Broadway’s ‘Chicago’
One week after duetting with Broadway star Idina Menzel on the TV broadcast of the CMA Country Christmas special, Sugarland’s Jennifer Nettles has landed her own role on the Great White Way. From February 2, 2015, through March 29th, the country singer will play Roxie Hart in New York City’s long-running revival of Chicago.
Nettles is replacing current Chicago lead Amy Spanger, an A-list Broadway actress who originated principal roles in The Wedding Singer and Rock of Ages before re-joining the Chicago cast as Roxie — a role she’s played several times before — in early October. It’ll be Nettles’ Broadway debut, as well as her first stage show since performing with Clovers and Company, a teenage performing arts group sponsored by the Georgia 4-H club, during the late-Eighties and early-Nineties.
Nettles eight-week engagement on Broadway follows the release of her first solo album, That Girl, by nearly one year to the date. That Girl topped the country charts in early 2014 and produced a Top 40 hit with the album’s title track, which Nettles co-wrote with Butch Walker. Although she toured heavily behind the album’s release — often with Grammy nominee Brandy Clark as the opening act — Nettles’ touring schedule in 2015 is all but empty, leaving open the possibility that her Broadway run might be extended.