UNITED KINGDOM: Eighties supermodel Christie Brinkley debuts in West End as Roxie Hart in "Chicago"

Record ID: 774814

  • Title: UNITED KINGDOM: Eighties supermodel Christie Brinkley debuts in West End as Roxie Hart in "Chicago"
  • Date: 16th July 2011
  • Summary: NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES (FILE) (REUTERS) BRINKLEY ON RED CARPET
  • Embargoed: 31st July 2011 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: United Kingdom, Usa, United Kingdom
  • City:
  • Country: USA
  • Topics: Arts
  • Reuters ID: LVA70TJ4MBJQ4IDFVBK3585C4M17
  • Story Text: Supermodel Christie Brinkley makes her debut in London's West End on Wednesday (July 13) playing the lead femme fetale role of Roxie Hart in "Chicago".
    After a successful run on Broadway, the 57-year-old and Amra-Faye Wright, who plays Velma Kelly, are taking their dual act to the Cambridge Theatre in Covent Garden for four weeks.
    Brinkley became emotional during an interview with Reuters Television about her on and off-screen friendship with Wright.
    "She's (Amra-Faye Wright) had a brilliant career. As you can tell, I hold her in high esteem and admiration and I really feel beyond, hang on a minute because I'm going to get choked up, that I still cannot believe my good fortune that I'm able to share the stage with all these talented people who have been so supportive, so amazing, through everything, through thick and thin," said Brinkley.
    "It really is (like you become family). You share everything, you share everything. You share your emotions," added Wright.
    But Brinkley, showing her upbeat side, joked: "I know I'm wrinkling my lace here. It's a wig. In case you didn't know, it's my Roxie wig. When you get expressive, it wrinkles up a little bit here."
    Brinkley is most noted for being a supermodel in the late Seventies and early Eighties, including appearing three consecutive years on the cover of wildly popular "Sports Illustrated" swimsuit edition of the magazine. She has graced more than 500 magazine covers and signed a contract to U.S. cosmetics giant Cover Girl for a record 20 years. She also is famous for appearing in ex-husband Billy Joel's music video to "Uptown Girl" and as the "Girl in the Ferrari," teasing family man Chevy Chase in 1983's "National Lampoon's Vacation".
    She surprised audiences and critics earlier this year when she took on the iconic role of Roxie Hart in New York but says London critics can be even harsher.
    "I know, this is the land of Shakespeare, you know? It's quite daunting really if you stop and think about it. So I've decided not to stop and think about it and kind of put it in the Roxie mindset that as soon as I walk out on stage, I'm just Roxie going out on her same ordeal," she said.
    Brinkley's return to the limelight has lead to many people praising her youthful appearance, as at nearly 60, she looks like a woman more than half her age. She says it's down to a good diet, children and now performing.
    "I'm a life-long vegetarian. I'm a mother of three kids, two of who are quite young and I've got to be able to ski, snowboard, surf, kayak, paddleboard and all that stuff and dancing has now become a major way to be in shape for all of that. Definitely my body has been in shape since I took on this role so I'm going to be doing the Honey Rag, every day," she said.
    Other cast members in the musical include Jonathan Wilkes, who will continue in the role of Billy Flynn, James Doherty as Amos Hart, Jasna Ivir as Mama Morton and R. Whitehead as Mary Sunshine.
    Brinkley said she wouldn't rule out returning to the stage if she is asked to perform again but currently, she will launch her own line of cosmetics following her run in the West End, which finishes August 6.
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