Reality Check: Ariana Madix to make Broadway debut in 'Chicago'

‘VANDERPUMP’ ROX

Making her Broadway debut, “Vanderpump Rules” star Ariana Madix will join the long list of performers to play fame-obsessed accused murderer Roxie Hart in the current long-running revival of “Chicago.” Madix, 38, recently finished in third place on ABC's "Dancing with the Stars" and succeeds veteran dancer Charlotte d'Amboise — who has played the part on-and-off in over two dozen stints since 1999 — for an eight-week engagement at the Ambassador Theatre, Jan. 29 through March 24.

In addition to many established singer-actors who have played the production’s Roxie, stunt casting has included “The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills” star Erika Jayne in 2020; Rumer Willis, daughter of Bruce Willis and Demi Moore, in 2015; and Bridgehampton supermodel Christie Brinkley on three occasions, in 2011, 2012 and 2019.

Ann Reinking played the role in this 1996 revival of Bob Fosse’s 1975 original, which starred Gwen Verdon.

SHE MAKES THE TOP 8!

Uniondale’s Donya Taylor still strides strong on “Hell’s Kitchen” season 22, outlasting Atoye Johnson and even getting some private time with chef Gordon Ramsay, who pulled her into the pantry for a pep talk.

‘SO YOU THINK YOU CAN’ RETURN

The Fox terpsichorean competition “So You Think You Can Dance” has set its 18th season for March 4, debuting a new format. Joining Nigel Lythgoe on the judging panel are choreographers and “Dancing with the Stars” ballroom-pro alumni Maksim Chmerkovskiy and Allison Holker. Cat Deeley returns as host.

PREMIERES

CBS’ new “Big Brother Reindeer Games” posits that “Big Brother” houseguests Frankie Grande, Britney Haynes and Danielle Reyes accidentally opened a portal to an alternate universe in which the house has been transformed into a winter wonderland with a new set of rules and a cast of “Big Brother” all-stars and fan-favorites. The miniseries starts Monday at 9 p.m. and runs five more episodes on various nights through Dec. 21 … Early Tuesday on the streaming service Netflix, 50 South Korean singles search for love on a deserted island from which they can escape only as couples, on season 3 of “Single’s Inferno” … Then from 10:02 to 11:06 p.m. on TLC, four new duos join the roster of apparently way-too-close mother-daughter friends on “sMothered,” along with one returning pair … Wednesday night at 9 on A&E, a “Court Cam” special brings a “best of” 2023 retrospective of disorder in the court … and early Thursday on the streamer Peacock, former “The Real Housewives of New York City” stars Kelly Killoren Bensimon, Dorinda Medley, Sonja Morgan, Ramona Singer, Kristen Taekman and Sag Harbor’s Luann de Lesseps reunite for season 4 of “The Real Housewives Ultimate Girls Trip.”

RECAPS

Actor Xochitl Gomez (“Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness”) and Val Chmerkovskiy won season 32 of ABC’s “Dancing with the Stars.”