Actress enjoys challenge of playing murderous vixen in 'Chicago'

By: JAMES CURRAN - Staff Writer | Wednesday, November 8, 2006 12:13 PM PST ∞

Murderer, adulterer, cheat ---- in some ways, there's a lot to admire in Roxie Hart. "Roxie's opened so many doors for me in my career; it opened the door for so many other roles," said Bianca Marroquin, who will play the starry-eyed Jezebel that still wins hearts when the Tony Award-winner "Chicago" opens tonight at Pechanga Resort & Casino.

After five years of playing the role, Marroquin said she certainly appreciates the depth of Roxie, who tries to parlay the murder of the man she had an affair with into a show-business career. More famous actresses have played the role in the stylish musical, but she's one of the longest-running Roxies in the show's 10-year history.

For the uninitiated, Marroquin said it's perfectly understandable that virtually all the characters in "Chicago" are difficult to like. What makes Roxie challenging, therefore, is to add elements that makes her personable.

"What I like about the character, being an actress, is that I can play all these emotions," Marroquin said. "It's like the Olympics of emotions. That's what I enjoy, the art of it."

And despite being a woman who convinces her own lovesick husband to take the rap for the murder, Roxie does have traits that can be worthwhile, if you twist it.

"I like that she's a survivor," Marroquin said. "We can see at the end how she slams down to the floor, but picks herself up off the floor. ... She's taking what happened and still accomplishes her dreams."

But then Marroquin had to laugh at that notion, too.

"Just not in the right way," she added.

"Chicago" typically has star power in its lineup. Who will come to Temecula is up in the air, but Marroquin has performed alongside Wayne Brady, R&B crooner Usher, pop star Kevin Richardson of the Backstreet Boys and 1980s icon Huey Lewis. Conversely, Marroquin had to hone her craft to become one of the few Latinas who plays the starring role in a major Broadway production.

Marroquin was born in Monterrey, Mexico, and raised on the border between Brownsville, Texas, and Matamoros, Mexico. She still speaks with an accent, which makes her transformation to Roxie that much more striking. Marroquin performed while getting her college education in Mexico City. Eventually, she earned the role in "Chicago" there.

"The creative team came over to do the show," she said. "They remembered I had dual citizenship. They remembered my work. They invited me to cross over, and I guess I've passed the test with American audiences.

"You know what? I have been very privileged with how I was raised. Thank God for my mother raising me the way she did ... and I skipped all that starting from scratch stuff in New York because I started in Mexico City."

Still, the gravity of a Latina starring in one of Broadway's most-revered musicals did have an impact.

"You know, when there's something happening, I always go into this really serious mode, very quiet and responsible," Marroquin said. "I was telling these people all around me the news, and they would scream. They would ask, 'Aren't you excited?' But I got very serious."

The nerves took a minor toll backstage on opening night on Broadway.

"I had the first song for Roxie, and ... it took me about halfway through the song before I got my voice back," she said.

Ultimately, she got the reward that is more common in America than theater in foreign countries ---- the standing ovation at the closing curtain.

"I couldn't stop crying," she said. "It was a different culture. I wasn't used to that."

Actors who perform the same character for years have been known to add nuance to the performance. Marroquin said her task has not been to reinvent Roxie, but to make the character more human. When she started, Marroquin had trouble trying to portray someone so selfish.

"When I first accepted the role, I was 25 and young at heart," Marroquin said. "But I was too innocent in that way. I remember I couldn't even say the bad words. I would say them, but with a very apologetic gesture. I would cutify everything, if you'd allow me to make up a word.

"After these five years, I have more to offer her. Instead of cutifying everything, she has so many things. I try to bring comedy in a complex character. I try to bring a more human character to Roxie."

Casting for the Temecula performances is unsettled. Lewis' run as lawyer Billy Flynn apparently ended recently, for example. However, Marroquin said she is excited to incorporate the new energy of different actors. She said as the stage veteran, it's her job to conform to them as opposed to her will winning the day.

"We have a new Amos (Hart, Roxie's husband) and a new Billy Flynn," she said. "It's my responsibility to make them feel comfortable. This is about the show being 100 percent. I guarantee this production is going to be of the best quality ever."

Marroquin said the effectiveness of the script helps. "Chicago" isn't the first production to take someone unvirtuous and make them adorable.

"Playing Roxie is very tricky, because all the things that she does ---- and gets away with it at the end ---- she has to win the audience over," Marroquin said. "(People are) very surprised at the end liking the character.

"I don't think that would happen in real life, but with this great smart script, it's funny. She pulls it off. People say 'I love her ... and I shouldn't.' "

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