Ariana Madix Is the Latest Bravolebrity to Land a Role on Broadway

The golden era of Ariana Madix is not yet over. Fresh out of the Dancing With the Stars ballroom, the Vanderpump Rules star already has another headlining act lined up: a star turn on Broadway in the musical Chicago. Following in the iconic footsteps of Pamela Anderson, Mel B, and Christie Brinkley (to name a few), Madix will be portraying murderess and jazz singer Roxie Hart.

Madix made the announcement on Live with Kelly and Mark on December 6. “It is just the biggest dream come true. I cannot believe this is real life. I’m gonna cry.” You may be surprised to learn, as I was, that Madix has a college degree in musical theater, so she actually knows her way around a Broadway show.

This isn’t the first time Broadway in general and Chicago in particular has dipped into the Bravolebrity talent pool. Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star Erika Jayne, for one, also played Roxie Hart once, as did Lisa Rinna. And Real Housewives of Atlanta icons Kandi Burruss and NeNe Leakes both had stints playing Mama Morton.

After this, all Ariana Madix has to do is release a pop album and she will have completed her RDMC (Restaurateur, DWTS contestant, Musical artist, Chicago headliner), which is the Bravolebrity equivalent of an EGOT.

However, it’s not as random as it may seem. In June, Madix appeared on the cover of Glamour and talked candidly about her goals to make it in the world of musical theater, saying she first got interested in acting at age six. “Horse girl, theater kid. Those were the two things,” she said.

A point of contention with both her parents after high school centered around the fact that she got accepted to an acting conservatory in New York, but no matter how prestigious, programs like that don’t come with a bachelor’s degree—something that seems to possess an almost mythic importance to some Gen X and boomer parents. “They said, ‘No, you need to get a real degree,’” Madix says. She ended up enrolling at Flagler, a small private college in Saint Augustine, Florida, but never forgot her dreams. “Looking back, I would never change it, but in the moment, I was begrudgingly going because I wanted to go to New York and be on Broadway,” she said.