Dancing With the Stars' Whitney Leavitt steps into Broadway as she takes on Roxie Hart in “Chicago”

Whitney Leavitt is transitioning from reality television to the Broadway stage.

After completing her run on season 34 of Dancing With the Stars, where she reached the semifinals, Leavitt has been announced as part of the upcoming production of Chicago.

The 32-year-old performer will play the role of Roxie Hart at the Ambassador Theatre, with performances scheduled from February 2 through March 15.

Leavitt shared the news on Instagram on December 1, writing,

“Grateful beyond words to ANNOUNCE that I will be joining @chicagomusical in the iconic role of Roxie Hart. See you in New York City!”

Career transition from television to Broadway

Leavitt first gained recognition as a cast member on The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives. She then competed on Dancing With the Stars, where she advanced to the semifinals and received high marks from the judges.

During​‍​‌‍​‍‌​‍​‌‍​‍‌ the ninth week of the competition, she scored a perfect score. Leavitt didn't take home the Mirrorball trophy, but she ended her season with the semifinals as her last round.

Besides her career as a professional, she is a mother of Sedona, 6, Liam, 3, and Billy Gene, 13 months, and together with her husband, Conner Leavitt, she is raising them.

Her next role in Chicago is her first professional theater engagement.

Leavitt will be there for six weeks and will be one of the characters in one of the most famous Broadway productions, where she will perform every night to the theater-goers in New York City.

The Ambassador Theatre will be the venue of her shows from the beginning of February to the middle of March, thus, a limited but scheduled ​‍​‌‍​‍‌​‍​‌‍​‍‌engagement.

Social media announcement and reflections

The announcement confirmed her participation in a production that has maintained long-standing popularity in professional theater circles.

Prior to this announcement, Leavitt shared her thoughts about her departure from Dancing With the Stars in a video posted on November 20. She stated,

“Going to speak from the heart. Let's share what I'm feeling. I share the good, I share the bad, I share the ugly. So I'm just going to keep doing that.”

She​‍​‌‍​‍‌​‍​‌‍​‍‌ talked about her time on the show, sharing how filming each day would take up many hours of their time together as the cast members, and that when the season ended suddenly, it made her feel like it was a "breakup" kind of feeling.

Actually, she pointed out that this change brought a very strong feeling of missing the daily interactions and the usual things of the competition.

Also, in the same recording, Leavitt mentioned the bonds she created during her journey on Dancing With the Stars and, in particular, the importance of being with people who are always there for you and encourage you.

She used the expression "delusional dreams" to refer to her ambitions in order to indicate those goals which might look like farfetched ones to most people but were very essential for her own development and progress through the ​‍​‌‍​‍‌​‍​‌‍​‍‌program.

She added that the show allowed her to build a long-term friendship with fellow Dancing With the Stars cast members, stating,

“This is going to be the hardest part. Holy shit. Mark, is that friend to me? I will forever be so grateful for that friendship.”