If you love theatre in New York, you love Tracee Chimo. The acclaimed actress is typically the best part of everything she’s in and she’s got the awards to prove it (Lortel, Drama Desk, Obie, Equity’s Clarence Derwent Award—plus OCC and Drama League nominations). Honestly, who can forget her performances in Circle Mirror Transformation, Bachelorette or Bad Jews? (Just treat yourself to the video below from Bad Jews.)
Now the Orange Is the New Black actress is slaying it as five wildly different women in the first-ever Broadway revival of the groundbreaking Tony and Pulitzer Prize-winning play The Heidi Chronicles. It’s like ‘Where’s Waldo’ but infinitely more fun and interesting because Chimo’s characters range from ‘70s lesbian activist Fran to traditional mother-to-be Betsey to vapid ‘80s talk show host April. Below, Tracee Chimo introduces BroadwayBox to each of the five ladies (and their Jessica Pabst ensembles).
Fran
I love playing this woman. She's a "cut to the chase" kind of girl.
The patches and pins on her jacket are my favorite!
She inspires me to be a stronger person every time I'm out there.
Joey
She's my sweet cowgirl! I love the long skirt and Doc Holiday hat. I'm only onstage for a brief moment with her, but I love her spirit.
Betsey
I am so my mother in this costume. The jean onsie. The bow. And the wig is Debbie Chimo back in '79, for SURE.
I love playing Betsey because she's the kind of woman I would avoid at a party. It's always really fun to play characters I would run from if I met them on the street.
Molly
She's oddly the most intriguing character I play. She's mysterious to me because I feel so strongly that she's got a big life outside of this play. She's pretty observant, that Molly. Plus, I totally had that dress in college.
April
Ohhhh, April. I love her so much. She's what I like to call a 'together mess'. She just...knows what she knows and that's where it stops for her. This dress was built for me by our designer, Jessica Pabst. She knows me well enough to know if I'm supposed to be in a tight dress, then there needs to be some room in there for me to have a sandwich.
Seriously, don’t miss the award-winning Tracee Chimo swing between five characters in the acclaimed Broadway revival of ‘The Heidi Chronicles’ at the Music Box Theatre.
