Erika Jayne returning to Chicago on Broadway after her last run in the show was shortened by COVID-19

Erika Jayne is returning to Broadway as the leading lady Roxie Hart in Chicago - five years after she previously played the role.

The current production of Chicago opened in New York in 1996 and, over the course of its juggernaut run, has become known for its celebrity stunt casting.

A wide range of famous faces including Wendy Williams, Pamela Anderson, Ariana Madix, Melanie Griffith and Nene Leakes have stepped into the show.

Jayne, 53, previously played Roxie on Broadway at the beginning of 2020, but she was unable to complete her scheduled run because New York theaters were all shuttered that March owing to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Now, she will return to New York's Ambassador Theater for a limited engagement in Chicago from January 20 to February 9, 2025, People reports.

Although Jayne is best known for The Real Housewives Of Beverly Hills, she is also the singer of hit singles like Painkillr and How Many F***s.

Chicago first opened in 1975 with Gwen Verdon and Chita Rivera respectively as Roxie Hart and Velma Kelly, two murderesses who become stars through crime.

Roxie, who has been cheating on her husband, shoots her boyfriend dead for trying to leave her and winds up in jail - where she encounters Velma, in prison for murdering her husband and sister after she caught them in a 'spread-eagle' together.

Velma and Roxie face off in a fierce rivalry, fighting over their lawyer's attention and over the media celebrity they have attained thanks to their salacious crimes.

Set in the 1920s, the show is beloved for its iconic jazz score with lyrics by Fred Ebb and music by John Kander - as well as the scintillating choreography by Bob Fosse.

The current revival was directed and choreographed by Fosse's ex-girlfriend and muse Ann Reinking 'in the style of Bob Fosse' and became a thunderous sensation, to the point it is now one of the longest-running shows in Broadway history. 

Although Chicago was only a moderate success in the 1970s, its return in the 1990s came after the media frenzy trials of OJ Simpson and the Menendez brothers, lending a topical gloss to the show's satire of celebrity and the criminal justice system. 

In 2002, Chicago was made into an Oscar-winning movie with an all-star cast including Renee Zellweger, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Richard Gere and Queen Latifah.

Jayne made her debut on the Great White Way with Chicago, before Broadway was shut down on account of the COVID-19 pandemic.

'Well this is not the way I wanted to say goodbye to Roxie and my Chicago family but I have no choice,' she wrote on Instagram. 

'THANK YOU from the bottom of my heart to everyone that came to the shows . I leave NYC feeling like my mission is incomplete but I will treasure this time always.'

News of her return to the show comes four months after her ex-husband, disbarred attorney Tom Girardi, 85, was convicted of stealing $15 million from his clients.

The once-powerful lawyer was found guilty in August on four charges of scamming the injured or grieving people he represented out of their settlement fees.

Girardi stood accused of running a massive Ponzi scheme, lying to clients and misappropriating their millions to pay for his and Jayne's lavish lifestyles.

In 2018, while she was still married to Girardi, Jayne confessed on The Wendy Williams Show that her beauty routine alone cost her $40,000 a month.

She filed for divorce from Girardi in November 2020, a month before two of Girardi's lawyers sued her claiming she had 'aided and abetted' his malfeasance. 

Jayne firmly maintained her innocence and a judge found in her favor in 2022, ruling that she 'had no actual knowledge' of Girardi's crimes.

This Wednesday - the day it was announced Jayne is returning to Broadway - a judge delayed Girardi's sentencing, which was scheduled for Friday.

The judge ordered a psychiatric evaluation and a special hearing to decide if Girardi, who has been diagnosed with dementia, should be sent to a medical facility rather than serving a prison term, according to Law360.

Girardi's lawyers described their client, who has been in assisted living for two years, as a 'broke, half-blind, incontinent, 85-year-old man with dementia,' via Law.com.