Dancing 7 Months After THR

Bebe Rebounds on Broadway 7 Months After Surgery
By Mark Kennedy
January 3, 2007

Bebe Neuwirth returned to her old stamping grounds
of "Chicago" on New Year's Eve with a brand new
part -- in more ways than one.

For one, she high-stepped into the revival as Roxie
Hart rather than Velma Kelly, the role that earned
her a 1997 Tony Award. Plus she's joined the high-
intensity musical with a brand, spankin' new hip.

Neuwirth, who also celebrated her 48th birthday on
Sunday, underwent hip replacement surgery just 7
months ago. For many, walking or running again so
soon would be a feat. Tackling Bob Fosse choreo-
graphy sounds insane.

"I got my life back by getting a new hip," she
explains, sipping chamomile tea with honey in a
cafe after a recent rehearsal of the Kander and Ebb
musical. "I wanted to get out and wiggle again."

Wiggle she will, though not in the original part
she starred in opposite Joel Grey, James Naughton
and Ann Reinking. This time, she plays the slightly
less physically taxing part of Roxie.

"I can have a good time doing TV and I can have
a good time doing films, but at a certain point I
start climbing walls. I'm coming back because I
wanted to dance," she says.

That possiblity was fast becoming a long-shot for
Neuwirth, who has been shimmying in pain since
suffering cartilage damage while performing in "A
Chorus Line" when she was 21. "I've had a strange
hip for awhile -- it was just a peculiar hip that
bothered me every once in a while."

It went from peculiar to downright bad in 2001
while performing in "Fosse." The pain continued
during a high-concept Kurt Weill revue, "Here
Lies Jenny" in 2004. Neuwirth soon underwent
arthroscopic laser surgery to remove cartilage.
Her surgeon told her that down the road she'd
need replacement.

A titanium hip was implanted the 2nd week of
May at the Hospital for Special Surgery in New
York. Within 8 weeks, she was attending ballet
classes, a swift recovery she attributes to good
genes and her athletic background.


.... If kids=home then sanity=out_the_window