Special Reports

Broadway Shockers 2015: NeNe Leakes Is No Broadway Novice

The “Real Housewife” has become Broadway’s go-to mean “mama.”

As 2015 comes to an end, TheaterMania looks back on some of the most surprising stories of the year.

NeNe Leakes recently ended her run in Broadway's long-running musical Chicago as Matron "Mama" Morton.
NeNe Leakes recently ended her run in Broadway's long-running musical Chicago as Matron "Mama" Morton.
(© David Gordon)

The only thing more surprising than welcoming NeNe Leakes to Broadway in 2014, was welcoming her back in 2015. The famed "Real Housewife" and television star made her debut last year as the evil stepmother Madame in Cinderella. By the time she came back to take over as Matron "Mama" Morton in Chicago, she was a bona fide Broadway veteran. Maybe her Bravo tagline was more prophetic than we knew: "I have arrived, and the spotlight is on me, honey."

NeNe Leakes in Broadway's Cinderella and Chicago.
A side-by-side view of Leakes' Broadway performances in Cinderella and Chicago.
(© Joan Marcus/Allison Stock)

For tickets to Chicago, click here.

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