The Willis Family Comes to Broadway
This coming season will see two notable Broadway debuts from a well-known Hollywood father-daughter acting-team.
Playing the coveted role this fall as Roxie Hart in Chicago, Rumer Willis—daughter of Bruce Willis and Demi Moore—is taking a chance on the Great White Way after building a solid reputation as a film and TV actress. Immediately after Rumer’s run, her Emmy® and Golden Globe®-winning father will make his own Broadway bow in Misery, a new stage adaptation of Stephen King’s famed horror novel and feature film.
Currently the second longest-running musical of all time, Chicago—and the role of murderous vaudevillian Roxie in particular—has become a fashionable way for Hollywood stars to show off their talent and make their Broadway mark. Right now, actress-singer Brandy is tackling the demanding part (and earning strong notices for her work), following numerous other Hollywood darlings like Ashlee Simpson, Melanie Griffith and Brooke Shields.
But Rumer may have an edge on those performers, having recently won the 20th season ofDancing With the Stars on ABC, showcasing to the world that she is a bona fide dancer. Those skills ought to come in very handy with Chicago’s precise Bob Fosse choreography, and while the young performer is new to Broadway, she may well surprise audiences with her acclaimed dancing skills. (And what about singing that iconic Kander and Ebb score? If she’s on par with Oscar-nominee Renee Zellweger, we’ll be happy.) Rumer is currently slated to play Roxie through November 1.
And just as Rumer departs Chicago, her father Bruce begins previews in the brand-new stage version of Misery at the Broadhurst Theatre. The play, co-starring Tony®-nominee (and fellow Emmy-winner) Laurie Metcalf, follows a romance novelist who is injured in a car crash and nursed back to health by his self-described “Number-One Fan.” Unfortunately for him, he is at the mercy of his unstable fan, and she is not happy about the latest plot twist in his latest book.
This is the second time William Goldman has adapted the thriller, after first earning lauds for the screenplay of the 1990 movie that earned Kathy Bates an Oscar. The show is currently slated to run through February.
Misery will mark Willis’ first time on the Great White Way, but he’s no stranger to the stage, having started his career off-Broadway. His big break came when he was tapped to replace Ed Harris in the 1984 run of Sam Shepard’s off-Broadway drama Fool for Love. Since then, Bruce Willis has conquered television and the silver screen, and audiences are getting excited to see what he can do on the Broadway stage.
Help us welcome Bruce and Rumer to Broadway by getting tickets to either (or both) of these electrifying shows.