Marilu Henner taxies over to ‘Chicago’

Friday, July 2, 1999 | 9:22 a.m.

When Marilu Henner was a mere tot her parents operated a makeshift dance studio out of their three-car garage.

"We all performed and it was the neighborhood dancing school," Henner said during a recent phone interview from her home in Los Angeles. "We'd have nuns come over for stretching classes. When the Catholic church needed 15 kids for 'The King and I,' we'd round 'em up.

"In those days, we really thought we were in show business."

In those days Henner was in Chicago. Fittingly, she is again.

A native Chicagoan and versatile star of the stage, television and motion pictures, Henner joins the cast of "Chicago" at Mandalay Bay hotel-casino as a replacement for Chita Rivera in the role of Roxie Hart, beginning Tuesday.

Rivera, whose last engagement at the 1,800-seat Mandalay Bay Theatre is Sunday, departs to portray Hart in the London production of "Chicago." Rivera has played the role since the resort opened in March, but Henner is also quite familiar with the character, having earned laudatory reviews while starring as Hart opposite Joel Grey on Broadway two years ago.

Henner joins Ben Vereen (Billy Flynn) and Stephanie Pope (Velma Kelly) in the popular 2 1/2-hour production, which is expected to stay at Mandalay Bay at least through the first four months of 2000.

"It's a popular show and has held up well," Henner said of the tale of deceit and conceit. "It still rings true in many ways. I can't wait to get going and work there with Ben and Stephanie. We'll have fun, and it'll show on stage."

Henner's run in Las Vegas is set to end after just seven weeks so she can return home to Los Angeles in time for her children (5-year-old Nicholas and 3 1 / 2-year-old Joseph) to begin school.

"I was called (by producers Fran and Barry Weissler) months ago about coming to Las Vegas," Henner said. "But I was on a book tour and my kids were in school, so they asked about the summer. I said I'd do it, but I had to be back by September so the kids could be in school. The theme of my life is really family."

Even so, portraying the irascible, fame-famished Hart is a natural for the woman who gained national fame as red-headed siren Elaine Nardo on the TV sitcom "Taxi."

"Being from Chicago helps with the accent, that's one thing," Henner said. "I recognize every little reference to the city. A red-headed woman from Chicago who loves publicity? I think I can handle that."

Replacing the tireless, 66-year-old Rivera, who starred in the original 1975 Broadway production, is both daunting and exhilarating, Henner said. But for her, supplanting a legend is not a novel experience -- Henner stepped in for choreographer/co-star Ann Reinking on Broadway in 1997.

"Coming in after Ann, one of the finest people in the business, helps get you prepared for something like this, and it helps being familiar with a part you can put your own spin on," Henner said. "Chita is so wonderful, an inspiration. She's one of the first people I ever saw in live theater."

It was during "Taxi" that Henner first displayed a knack and passion for Broadway-style entertaining to a national audience. She had already performed with the touring company of "Grease," co-starring with John Travolta, and also joined the cast on Broadway before landing her part on the highly acclaimed sitcom.

However, it was an episode of "Taxi" that allowed Henner to show off her considerable singing and dancing skills. In the episode, each character had a chance to live out a fantasy, and Henner showed off by performing "Lullaby of Broadway" with the entire cast.

"That was one of my all-time favorite episodes," Henner said. "That's what I thought I'd be doing in the first place in this business. But a lot of people didn't realize I had that in me until that particular show. (The cast) was great about it, because they knew it was so important to me."

Since "Taxi" was canceled in 1983, Henner has kept her celebrity afloat with several disparate projects. She has starred in 13 feature films, including "L.A. Story," "Noises Off," "Johnny Dangerously," "Perfect" and "Blood Brothers."

Henner's return to situation comedies helped produce the highly-rated "Evening Shade." She dove into the competitive world of celebrity-sponsored health and fitness projects with her own talk show, "Marilu Henner's Total Health Makeover," and in the past two years has written a book by that name, as well as "The 30-Day Total Health Makeover."

Her TV movies have included "Abandon & Deceived," the true story of Gerri Jensen's efforts to track down deadbeat dads, and "Fight For Justice: The Nancy Conn Story," an examination of battered women. One of her more ambitious television productions, "We're Having A Baby," detailed her second pregnancy and followed her from an appearance on "Comic Relief" to the birth of Nicholas the following morning.

"I have always tried to have a lot of variety in my life," she said. "I love to work."

Henner hasn't worked in Las Vegas in more than a decade, however. Her lone Las Vegas-linked project was a little-remembered TV movie entitled "Stark."

"It was a detective show, and I played a showgirl-turned-blackjack-dealer," Henner said. "We stayed at the Dunes and we had so much fun. Every night I would tell my assistant, 'We're not going out with the crew anymore until 2 a.m. Being in a 24-hour town, we wanted to do anything, all the time, and we'd work out, go out, go to the Laundromat, do anything at odd hours."

The indefatigable Henner says she'll remain busy after "Chicago." She's finished work on the eagerly awaited "Man on the Moon," playing herself in the story of the late eccentric comic actor Andy Kaufman (played by Jim Carrey).

All of Kaufman's "Taxi" co-stars appear in the film.

"When we walked on set, everything immediately clicked like it did in the old days," she said. "I got to shoot home movies with my kids in Louie's cage and they got a kick out of that."

And how did the group catch up on old times?

"We sat down at the little table in the middle of the garage," Henner said, "and played cards."