Angelica Ross speaks about making history in the musical "Chicago"
NEW YORK - Angelica Ross, from the TV series "Pose," is about to make Broadway history as the first openly transgender lead in the musical "Chicago."
CBS2's Dave Carlin spoke to the star about joining the show and her LGBTQ+ activism.
It is a flashy Broadway debut for Ross, bringing triple-threat performing skills into sharp focus as she hip swivels, finger snaps and belts out the signature moves and sounds of "Chicago," playing the stylishly murderous Roxie Hart.
"She's just, like, a girl about action, and I love that. That's the kind of girl I am," Ross said.
Ross recently posted to Twitter video of her rehearsing the show's finale. The LGBTQ+ rights activist, and star of TV's "Pose" and "American Horror Story," says she loves joining a small but growing group of trans performers conquering Broadway. This is a first for "Chicago."
"It's definitely time for the change," Ross said. "Changing the world, changing the face of who we get to see as talented ... As a trans woman I think that at the end of the day, you kind of realize you have to be your own best friend. You have to love yourself first."
Ross admits to Carlin at first, she was not sure about this Broadway leap, so she went to a Broadway legend -- a star of stage and screen that she describes as her mentor -- an original "Dreamgirl," Sheryl Lee Ralph.
"I said, 'Sheryl, I gotta ask you a question. You know, I got this opportunity, this offer," Ross said. "And I told her it was 'Chicago,' playing Roxie, and she said, and you know, dramatic Sheryl, she was just like, 'Oh honey, no you don't.' She was like, 'You are going to take this role.' She was like, 'This is for you.'"
"I'd like to ask you about your heroes," Carlin said.
"Black trans women like Raquel Willis and Miss Major, and obviously the ones that came before me, like Marsha P. Johnson and Sylvia Rivera ... Because liberation is for all of us," Ross said.
Ross plays Roxie for eight weeks starting Sept. 12.
Ross joins L Morgan Lee of "A Strange Loop" as trans women of color currently starring on Broadway, and she joins a small group of out trans performers who have played lead roles on Broadway — including Alexandra Billings in "Wicked" and Peppermint in "Head Over Heels."
