The role of Roxie Hart in the musical Chicago has been played by many notable women. It’s a list that includes names like Brooke Shields, Ashlee Simpson, Bebe Neuworth, and Rita Wilson. When Chicago comes to Calgary December 30th – January 4th it will have its own distinctive Roxie. Bianca Marroquin has made history as the first Mexican woman to cross over from performing in her native country to Broadway.
Marroquin was born in Monterrey, Mexico and had a successful theatre career in Mexico City, performing shows like Rent, The Phantom of the Opera and Beauty and the Beast in Spanish. She won the role of Roxie in the Spanish version, which lead to her taking the role on tour in 2001.
“When I got the invitation to cross over to the tour I was so busy learning the English by day and doing the show in Spanish at night and people would ask ‘aren’t you excited?’ Of course, but if I had allowed myself to rejoice I would lose focus and my feet really needed to be on the ground,” Marroquin told GayCalgary and Edmonton Magazine. “Right after I did my debut on Broadway I read in the press in Mexico ‘First Mexican woman to cross over to Broadway in a lead role.’ I had no idea the magnitude of the situation I was living. It was a lot of responsibility. One other person 45 years ago had crossed over with The King and I. Apparently after this man there hadn’t been anyone else, let alone a woman. So I started to have people looking up to me, I felt like an ambassador to my country. I eventually made peace with it and said ‘bring it on.’ I have been very blessed and grateful to be given this opportunity.”
We caught up with Marroquin while on a break from the show for the US Thanksgiving weekend. She said that there were some differences she noticed right away in performing the show in English versus Spanish.
“When I started doing the show in Mexico City in 2001, after six months I received an invitation to join the tour. They sent me the script in English and told me I had three weeks to learn it. Growing up I was right on the border so I knew both Spanish and English. Once I finished school I moved to Mexico City doing my professional career and the English part of my life was kind of over. When this opportunity came it was very handy where I had grown up. Doing it in another language wasn’t difficult, the big difference was the comedic side of the show. In Mexico the audience laughed at certain parts, and the US audiences laughed at different parts. So I had to work on the timing and pauses, it took me a couple of shows to get the rhythm of the comedy.”
“The first thing I noticed was that the theatre was packed. In Mexico City we don’t have full theatres. There was a time when there was a golden age of theatre there but with the economy people have different priorities. When I hit Broadway and the opening night, the theatre was smaller and more personal and packed. They were celebrating everything we said and were with us the entire way. At the end of the show people stood! That is the way they behave in the theatre,” she continued. “I remember in Mexico, the song where Roxie is a puppet, it is a funny scene. I remember in Mexico City there was a mother and child and the child was laughing at my funny faces and her mom was shushing her. I wanted to break character and tell her to let her laugh because that is what it is all about! There are differences in how they see theatre.”
Marroquin was on the first revival tour of Chicago that launched in 2003 after the success of the film version. She toured for two years in the role of Roxie. As someone who has done both touring and New York Broadway shows, she admitted to loving going on tour.
“The fact that we get to change cities every week is amazing. It is so magical every time we go to a new theatre, the dressing room is so different, getting to know the theatre, its structure, how are the seats lined up, it is a different exercise as an actor to play a different house every night – different acoustics and energy. It isn’t just the audience that changes but the different personality in every city. The fact that you get to celebrate the opening of your show every Tuesday! It is a lot of fun to get to know the cities. It is like a little break from your life. Your only responsibility is the show. There is nothing else, no errands you have to run. It is about you and your training and your craft. It is wonderful. I toured for two years consecutively the first time and it was hard being away from my husband and living out of a suitcase. So I decided to get off the road and have the home life again. We are going out for seven weeks this run - that is nothing for me. I didn’t even have to think about it. Plus we have a lot of layoffs because of the holidays. Calgary is my last stop on the tour and then I am moving on to other projects.”
She also takes advantage of the opportunity to check out new cities.
”Some cities I try to team up with other cast members and we will rent a car and go out. I love to visit the malls in every city and just walk around, especially during the holidays to look at the decorations. It is a good time to be on the road for reading.”
Marroquin takes a lot of pride in her heritage, which was emphasized in her final comments.
”Every city I go to on tour I like to invite the Latin communities to come, regardless of where they are from. I think it is cool that they find out there is someone Hispanic representing them in the theatre world.”
Chicago
December 30th 2008 – January 4th 2009
Jubilee Auditorium
www.chicagothemusical.com
