"This is Broadway. This is huge!" Talk show queen Wendy Williams told her studio audience on June 12. The stage-bound Williams is getting ready to make her Broadway debut as Matron "Mama" Morton in the Tony-winning revival of Chicago at the Ambassador Theatre on June 25, and she took some time on her daytime chatfest The Wendy Williams Show to fill fans in on everything she is doing to prep for her big moment.
Williams discussed rehearsing her two big numbers ("When You're Good to Mama" and "Class") with longtime Chicago music director Leslie Stifelman, showed footage of a wardrobe fitting, and meticulously picked out the perfect wig for her role. So, which hairpiece did the wig-obsessed diva choose? A brunette Anna Wintour-esque wig. Williams will channel the Vogue editrix's iconic 'do for the right amount of power and sass as she plays the commanding prison warden in the classic Kander and Ebb musical.
Williams also revealed why she is absolutely falling head-over-six-inch-heels "in love" with the Broadway community. "We are a kitschy, weird bunch. And I mean weird in a good way," she said. "It's just about the craft and the love of the game." Williams, who hosted the Broadway.com Audience Choice Awards in May, will star in Chicago for a limited seven-week engagement.