Chicago 50 - No. 26 - Lenora Nemetz as Roxie Hart

Lenora Nemetz was the original standby for Gwen and Chita in Chicago. Below she tells the story of her audition, and when she made her Roxie debut during the out-of-town try-out in Philadelphia.

“My friend Norman in Pittsburgh sent my picture to Bob Fosse, and he wrote back and told me to come in for an audition. Do you know what happened? I got on the wrong plane. I actually got on a place to Chicago. Then I got off and got a place to New York. Well, I auditioned for Bob and went back to Pittsburgh, and then a week or so later he called me back. At the second audition, I sang ‘Lullaby of Broadwqy’ and ‘Me and My Shado,’ and then Bob made me a standby for both Chita and Gwen Verdon. Then, last May, when Chita announced she was leaving the show, I auditioned again. I never expected Bob to go with a standby, but he did, and I got the job.”

“I was standing by in Philadelphia before the show was on Broadway. I was alone in the dressing room when I heard my name over the loudspeaker. So I went backstage, Gwen was in such pain. She had just pulled a muscle, and all the people backstage were crazy, ‘Do you know what you’re doing? Can you go on for Gwen?’ they kept asking.

“I heard Bob in front of the curtain say, ‘I found this girl in Pittsburgh, she’s my new discovery.’ He set me up good, he said, ‘I trust her to do this role, and I want you to welcome her.’ He was SO GOOD at setting it up.

“I got on the piano [for Funny Honey] and the audience was looking at me like ‘we don’t really know you…do you think you can do this?’ and I said, ‘Don’t worry! I won’t let you down.’ and off I went!"

Ann Reinking as Roxie, Lenora Nemetz as Velma, Jerry Orbach as Billy Flynn

Photos by Martha Swope, 1965