Another turn for Melanie?

Melanie Griffiths played the part of Roxie on Broadway last year

Hollywood actress Melanie Griffith is in negotiations about making a killing in the West End. Producers want her to play cheatin' and murderin' wife Roxie Hart in the stage musical Chicago.


The actress played the part on Broadway last year. She can't carry a tune and isn't particularly light on her feet when it comes to kicking up her heels.

But she is, from the tips of her lacquered toenails to the roots of her platinum blonde dyed tresses, the real Roxie in terms of voice, mannerism and attitude.

There are a dozen or more performers who can sing and dance much better than her but they make for a dull Roxie.

Through sheer force of personality, Ms Griffith can make you believe she is Roxie, a woman who connives her way out of a murder charge.

Her success in the role also has something to do with star power. As Bette Davis once remarked (for the young ones out there, Bette Davis was about as big as they got in Hollywood's golden age): 'A star is someone who people will walk through the snow to pay and see.'

She exudes a certain something, as she did in one of her best films, Working Girl.

Yet Griffith's film choices of late have been pretty poor, even though she was spot-on in Chicago when I saw her last year.

Frances Ruffelle is playing Roxie at the Adelphi in London and Rebecca Thornhill takes over from her in June - along with Marti Pellow as lawyer Billy Flynn - and the hope is Griffith will do it next year.

She can't stand for heart-throb hubby Antonio Banderas to be out of her sight, so their various agents and managers are trying to find either a film or a stage show for him to do while she's in London.

A spokesman for the show told me: 'It's something the production is looking into and it would be hugely exciting if it can be arranged.'

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in