The story of Roxie Hart and Velma Kelly — two gals in the 1920s who only wanted fame, fortune and a way to commit murder without getting prison sentences for it — comes to the Hobby Center next week, courtesy of Theatre Under the Stars.
An added draw is that hometown favorite and America’s Got Talent semifinalist Christina Wells is in the cast, embarking on her first national tour. Last seen in Little Mermaid at TUTS, Wells is a nurse and single-mother of two who, as she says, has a plus-sized body and was turned down repeatedly for TV talent show competitions — until she wasn’t.
She has since parlayed that experience into a rather continuous stream of work as a singer, actor and motivational speaker.
“I play Matron “Mama” Morton and she is the warden of the Cook County facility where all the merry murderesses live,” says Wells. “She is strong. She loves the girls, but she doesn’t put up with any bull.”
Taking on an iconic role previously played by Queen Latifah and Jennifer Holiday didn’t scare Wells. “I think it’s energizing,” she says.
“I joke and say I’m trying to follow Queen Latifah in all her roles because I did Motormouth Mabel [Hairspray] and I was Ursula [Little Mermaid]. I think I feel honored because so many really great individuals have played Mama. I feel grateful to be able to put my own take on it.”
Before taking on the role, she had watched the movie and seen a community theater production of the show. “But the thing that’s so unique about the production I’m in is we are an actual recreation of the 1996 Tony Award-winning show.”
She says the musical differs from the movie but not by that much. Initially she sat down with her tour script while re-watching the movie to gain a different perspective. The movie, she says, “goes between a world of farce and the real world and we kind of live in the middle of those universes.”
People keep coming back to see Chicago — the 1996 production is the longest running American musical in Broadway and the West End’s history — because of the show’s music and script, she says.
“I think this music has become timeless. And the themes of being fascinated by what famous people do. Velma Kelly is famous; that’s the way they’re going to get Roxie off the hook — by making her famous. The press pointing us to where we should look. They point to something else and everyone’s attention is taken over there. It’s the same thing if a Kardashian were to do a crime. We would all be glued to our cell phones. We would want to know every little piece of information and the press would really be the courtroom and we would be the jury.”
The musical is based on a play written in the 1920s by reporter Maurine Dallas Watkins who covered trials for the Chicago Tribune at a time when the public was especially fascinated by cases involving women accused of murder. In 1975, it opened as a musical running on Broadway till 1979. It was revived in 1996 and has been running on Broadway ever since.
Asked why she has gone on to a successful music and acting career after being on America’s Got Talent — when so many other contestants seem to disappear and we never hear from them again — Wells says:
“I think one of the biggest lies that we’re told is that if we get to work as our dreams or when our dreams come true that the work is done. That’s not true. It’s the other way around. When you finally find out your passion the work begins. I came off of America’s Got Talent not waiting for someone to come and answer the call of my dreams, I decided to make my dreams come true. I feel like America’s Got Talent finally told the world what I wanted to tell them, which is I can sing. So now what do you do with that?
She says she didn’t always know exactly how to accomplish the next steps. “But I’m a nurse; I’m a single mom That kind of makes me a MacGyver of sorts. I just think if I can see it, tough it, taste it, I can figure it out.”
In fact, it was the impending departure of her kids as they were getting ready to graduate high school, that prompted Wells to try something else to begin with. “I needed a hobby I wanted to sing locally so I started singing at community theater locally. Just volunteering. Then I did a singing competition in Houston called Pride Superstar and I won that in 2016” The prize was a chance to do a recording and she sang the song “I Know Where I’ve Been” from Hairspray and she made a little music video. It was shared online, got 100,000 views and ended up getting in the hands of a talent scout for America’s Got Talent.
“They messaged me and I thought it was a joke. I had auditioned for American Idol once. I had auditioned for The Voice at least twice and I have done numerous others and every time the message was kind of the same: “Nice voice but…”
“And so whenever they wanted me to come audition I was like ‘Yeah right. Now it’s going to happen? I’m older and fatter. You guys said I was too fat before.’ I auditioned and a couple weeks later they called me and said ‘We’d like you to come audition for the celebrity judges’.”
Asked why she wanted to be in Chicago, Wells pauses a moment before saying “I did Little Mermaid at TUTS and out of our 22 performances, 11 were cancelled because of COVID. When COVID cancelled the show my heart was broken and I was like ‘that’s it. I want to do theater more, I want to do Broadway.’ I didn’t want this taken away from me because I wasn’t satisfied. So I called my agent.”
The agent told her she was going to need to audition for more shows and needed to think about doing a tour. “So I started auditioning and six months later I got this offer to be Mama. I was shocked.”
“When I went on the show I thought ‘What am I going to do with this? It’s great that someone’s going to see my story and I want to share my story and I hope it inspires people and it’s great that I’m going to get to sing for the world.’
I just want people to know that I am so honored to get to bring this tour to my city and to step back out on the TUTS stage. And I hope they come see it and they come and see me after the show. I’m going to be out at the stage door.
“If Houston didn’t show up for me when I was on American’s Got Talent and all the events I’ve held, all the things I’ve tried to do, I wouldn’t be where I am right now.”
Performances are scheduled for January 31 through February 12 at 7:30 p.m. Tuesdays through Fridays and Sundays, 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays and 2 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays at the Hobby Center, 800 Bagby. For more information, call 713-558-8887 or visit tuts.com. $$40-$150.
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This article appears in Jan 1 – Dec 31, 2023.
