After the judges raved about Whitney Leavitt's tango to "Cell Block Tango" in season 34, viewers wondered if Chicago on Broadway was in her future. And sure enough, the Secret Lives of Mormon Wives star made her debut as Roxie Hart in 2026, with her DWTS partner Mark Ballas co-starring with her as Billy Flynn during the final leg of her run.

Next, from December 1 to January 10 only, she stars as Sandra Dee in the Bobby Darin Broadway musical Just in Time.

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Gymnast Laurie Hernandez is always flipping the script on expectations. Since winning gold at the 2016 Olympics in Rio, she's gone on to write two books, win a Sports Emmy Award, and, with pro dancer Val Chmerkovskiy, win DWTS season 23 mere months after her Rio victory.

In spring 2026, she showed off her athletic skills in her Broadway debut, appearing in the & Juliet ensemble as a featured dancer. Next, she's showing off her verbal gymnastics as Logainne Schwartzandgrubenierre in The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee from September 7 to October 11.

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After doing Rent and Little Shop of Horrors on Broadway within two years, it was 20 years before Joey Fatone returned to the NYC stage again to star in & Juliet for multiple stints as Lance. In between, he actually competed twice on DWTS, placing second in season 4 and returning for the all-star season 15.

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Fresh off her run on season 32, when she placed third, Vanderpump Rules star Ariana Madix stepped into the role of Roxie Hart in Chicago in 2024. "Dancing with the Stars was the perfect bootcamp to prepare for Broadway [...] there's so much I learned in terms of just trusting in the preparation and then going out there and letting it all go," Madix told New York Theatre Guide.

Next, she returns to Broadway as Connie Francis in the Bobby Darin musical Just in Time from September 12 to November 22.

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What can't Wayne Brady do? When he's not hosting Let's Make a Deal and improv-ing on Whose Line Is It Anyway?, he's been headlining Broadway shows like Chicago, Kinky Boots, The Wiz, Moulin Rouge! The Musical and All Out: Comedy About Ambition. And if anyone doubted that he can steal a stage, he placed third on DWTS season 31.

In 2026, he's been stepping off Broadway, playing Georges in the New York City Center Encores! revival of La Cage aux Folles and, in fall 2026 at Vineyard Theatre, starring as real-life drag queen and presidential candidate Joan Jett Blakk in Ms. Blakk for President, the newest play from Moonlight Oscar winner Tarell Alvin McCraney.

Check back for information on Ms. Blakk for President tickets on New York Theatre Guide.

He may have sung I Don't Dance in High School Musical 2, but Corbin Bleu's second-place finish on season 17 suggests otherwise. So does his Broadway musical resume, which includes dance-heavy shows like Kiss Me, Kate and Irving Berlin's White Christmas, plus Little Shop of Horrors off Broadway and The Great Gatsby — first in London's West End, and now on Broadway as Nick Carraway.

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Many DWTS viewers know him from Disney Channel, but Broadway fans know season 25 winner Jordan Fisher as an onstage staple who's played beloved roles like Orpheus in Hadestown, Christian in Moulin Rouge! The Musical, John Laurens/Philip Hamilton in Hamilton, and the title role in Dear Evan Hansen.

Most recently, he starred off Broadway in Little Shop of Horrors as flower shop worker Seymour, and he's also venturing into producing with the new Off-Broadway musical The King's Critique in fall 2026.

Mark Ballas, back in the ballroom for season 34, isn't just a thrice-winning pro. He's a true triple threat. He had two all-too-short stints in hit Broadway musicals, starring as Frankie Valli in Jersey Boys from 2016-17 and Charlie Price in Kinky Boots in 2018.

And to fans' delight, he came back with his season 34 partner Whitney Leavitt in Chicago, playing Billy Flynn to her Roxie Hart in spring 2026. He returned for a second stint that same summer — and he teased on Instagram that he wants to dance back onto the Broadway stage again soon. We're manifesting Hamilton.

Having appeared in stage productions since she was young, Mira Sorvino is right at home when performing live. She proved that on season 32 of DWTS, and in 2025, she made her Broadway debut as Roxie Hart in Chicago.

Long before Alfonso Ribeiro won DWTS season 19 and ascended to the role of co-host, he was a 12-year-old kid making his Broadway debut as Willie, the titular role in The Tap Dance Kid.

Two-time-winning former DWTS pro and current co-host Julianne Hough made her Broadway debut in 2022's POTUS, and even though it was a play, she got to show off her dancing chops in a hilarious cheer-style sequence. That same year, she hosted The Tony Awards: Act One alongside Darren Criss. And in 2016, she starred opposite Broadway favorite Aaron Tveit in Fox's Grease Live! televised musical.

Social media sensation Charli D'Amelio made her debut in rare form for a celebrity: She joined & Juliet not in a starring role, but in the ensemble, where she could put her years of dance training to maximum use. Those skills, which have earned her millions of fans on TikTok and beyond, also took her all the way to the Mirrorball on DWTS season 31.

Having made her name as the frontwoman of the girl group The Pussycat Dolls, Nicole Scherzinger proved her dance skills long before winning DWTS season 10. She won a 2025 Tony Award for her Broadway-debut performance in Sunset Boulevard — and she even snuck a few Dolls moves into her portrayal of silent film star Norma Desmond.

After competing in DWTS season 10, the Baywatch star made her Broadway debut as Roxie Hart in Chicago for a limited run in 2022.

Jason Mraz made his Broadway debut as Dr. Pomatter in Waitress from 2017-18. He may be best known as a two-time Grammy winner and Songwriters Hall of Fame inductee, but he proved he has dance chops, too, by placing second on season 32.

You can't stop Marissa Jaret Winokur's beat! She competed on season 6 of DWTS, and she's best known for her Tony Award-winning performance as the original Tracy Turnblad in Hairspray on Broadway.

Besides being a member of the boy band New Kids on the Block, Joey McIntyre is a theatre kid, having played Fiyero in Wicked and Dr. Pomatter in Waitress on Broadway. Off Broadway, he performed in tick, tick...BOOM! and Drag: The Musical. He's also a DWTS O.G., placing third in the first season.

Season 27 runner-up Milo Manheim has yet to appear on Broadway, but the Disney Channel star made his Off-Broadway debut as Seymour in Little Shop of Horrors in 2025. He's also performed in L.A. productions of American Idiot and Jesus Christ Superstar.

Elaine Hendrix has only appeared on the NYC stage once — in It's Just Sex off Broadway from 2013-14 — but she had an honorary theatre renaissance in 2025, with two of her fan-favorite movies getting the Off-Broadway treatment: 1997's Romy & Michele's High School Reunion, which was adapted as a musical, and 1998's Parent Trap, parodied in the play Ginger Twinsies, on which Hendrix was a producer. She used to be a professional dancer, so we were thrilled to see her make it to the finals on DWTS season 34.

Mean Girls and Hallmark Channel star Jonathan Bennett, who competed on DWTS season 19, made his Broadway debut as Sir Robin in Spamalot in 2024. How fetch!

Six Feet Under star Justina Machado doesn't have two left feet — she placed fourth in season 29. She's performed on Broadway in In the Heights, A Free Man of Color, and Real Women Have Curves, which earned Machado her first Tony Award nomination in 2025.

Jeff Ross only had a short stint on Dancing With the Stars season 7, but perhaps it prepared him for the song-and-dance of Broadway before he even knew it. He made his Broadway debut in 2025 with his solo comedy show Take a Banana for the Ride, and it even involved a little singing!

After Erika Jayne's initial 2020 stint as Roxie Hart in Chicago was cut short amid the pandemic, she returned to reprise the role in 2025. Previously, she had competed on DWTS season 24.

Since performing the title role in the Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat movie musical, he's become almost synonymous with the role. On Broadway, though, the DWTS season 9 runner-up has performed in the title role of Little Johnny Jones, as Gaston in Beauty and the Beast, and alongside his sister in the holiday special Donny & Marie: A Broadway Christmas.

In between starring as Anna Leonowens in The King and I and performing alongside her brother in Donny & Marie: A Broadway Christmas, Marie Osmond placed third on the fifth season of Dancing With the Stars.

Maureen McCormick played a brief stint as Betty Rizzo in the 1994 revival of Grease, and she starred in Pen Pals off Broadway in 2025. Best known for playing Marcia Brady on The Brady Bunch, she competed on DWTS season 23, becoming the third Brady Bunch star to appear on the series in its lifetime.

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On Broadway, the star of The Office played Roxie Hart in Chicago and appeared opposite Robert Downey Jr. in the 2024 play McNeal. She competed on season 30 of DWTS.

Before lighting up the ballroom on DWTS season 31, singer Jordin Sparks made her Broadway debut as Nina in Lin-Manuel Miranda's In the Heights and, almost 10 years later, starred as Jenna in Sara Bareilles's Waitress.

Dancing With the Stars got "98 Degrees" hotter when boy band member Drew Lachey won season 2 in 2006, returning for the all-star season 15. Also in the early aughts, he played Mark Cohen in Rent and Patsy in Spamalot on Broadway.

In 2008, Mario Lopez played two stints as the director Zach in A Chorus Line on Broadway, including in the closing cast. Ironically Zach doesn't dance much in the otherwise choreography-heavy show, but in real life, Lopez proved he had the moves by placing second on Dancing With the Stars season 3.

In 2018, the same year she placed second on Dancing With the Stars season 27, Evanna Lynch made her Off-Broadway debut in the play Disco Pigs. Her most famous onscreen character, the Harry Potter film series' Luna Lovegood, is also referenced in the Broadway play Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, as Harry's daughter is named Lily Luna Potter.

Marlee Matlin made an immediately memorable acting debut with her Oscar-winning performance in Children of a Lesser God (adapted from Mark Medoff's play), and she later played multiple roles in Deaf West's Broadway revival of Spring Awakening. The trailblazing deaf actress competed on DWTS season 6.

All My Children star and DWTS season 7 contestant Susan Lucci made her Broadway debut in 1999, playing Annie Oakley during Bernadette Peters's vacation from Annie Get Your Gun. She was among the starry lineup for the 2018 Broadway special Celebrity Autobiography, and she appeared in the Off-Broadway play My First Ex-Husband in 2025.

Seven-time Grammy Award winner Toni Braxton is a triple threat: She's an iconic R&B singer, a dancer from her time competing on DWTS season 7, and an actress who's performed in Beauty and the Beast as Belle, Aida in the title role, and the revue After Midnight, all on Broadway.

Lance Bass made his Broadway debut as Corny Collins in Hairspray in 2008, but he's better known as a member of *NSYNC and the third-place finisher on DWTS season 7.

Unlike many DWTS contestants, season 8's David Alan Grier is a Broadway regular. He won his first Tony Award in 2021 for A Soldier's Play after being nominated thrice, for The Gershwins' Porgy and Bess, Race, and The First.

Melissa Joan Hart trod the boards as an understudy in the 1991 Broadway production of The Crucible, but she's best known for her screen work, including playing the title role on Sabrina the Teenage Witch and competing on DWTS season 9.

The Blossom and Melissa & Joey actor both competed on DWTS season 4 and made his Broadway debut as Billy Flynn in Chicago in 2007.

Many celebrities step into Chicago as Roxie Hart, but Mýa played the other leading lady, Velma Kelly, in 2008. (Her influence remains on Broadway with Moulin Rouge! The Musical, as she was featured on the movie's hit rendition of "Lady Marmalade.") A dancer from childhood, she placed second on DWTS season 9.

Talk show host Wendy Williams debuted on Broadway as Matron "Mama" Morton in Chicago in 2013, two years after competing on DWTS season 12.

Before his untimely death at 34, Aaron Carter, the younger brother of the Backstreet Boys' Nick Carter, competed on DWTS season 9 and played a two-month stint as JoJo in Seussical on Broadway.

Before appearing briefly on season 11 of DWTS, David Hasselhoff made his Broadway debut in the dual title roles of the Jekyll & Hyde musical. He has since appeared in multiple other musicals in the U.K. and elsewhere, earning him a name-drop in a London revival of Jason Robert Brown's musical The Last Five Years.

Before The Brady Bunch made Florence Henderson a household name in 1969, she'd already appeared in four Broadway shows in just over 10 years: Wish You Were Here, Fanny, The Girl Who Came to Supper, and most notably, Rodgers & Hammerstein's Oklahoma! as Laurey. She competed on DWTS season 11.

Brandy's best-known musical credit is playing the title role in the 1997 film adaptation of Rodgers & Hammerstein's Cinderella opposite Whitney Houston as the Fairy Godmother. When that musical debuted on Broadway in 2013, the R&B singer didn't reprise her role, but she did make her own Broadway debut as Roxie Hart in Chicago two years later and played an encore run in 2017.

Earlier, Brandy competed on Dancing With the Stars season 11.

Considering that Broadway legend Joel Grey is her dad, it's a wonder that Jennifer Grey has only appeared on Broadway once (in 1993's The Twilight of the Golds)! She proved her dance talent, though, by starring as Baby in Dirty Dancing and later winning season 11 of Dancing With the Stars.

Shortly after The Karate Kid put Ralph Macchio on the map in 1984, he made his Broadway debut as Teddy in 1986's Cuba & His Teddy Bear. The DWTS season 12 contestant hasn't been back to Broadway since, but a Karate Kid musical is in development with NYC ambitions.

Ricki Lake, who placed third on DWTS season 13, only performed on Broadway for one night in 2002, playing Fanny Brice in a Funny Girl benefit concert. But she also, notably, originated the role of Tracy Turnblad in John Waters's 1998 film Hairspray before it became a hit Broadway musical.

Emmy-nominated, longtime The View co-host Sherri Shepherd has a larger-than-life personality that makes her perfect for Broadway, and she made her debut as Madame in Rodgers & Hammerstein's Cinderella in 2014. Two years earlier, she showed off her live performance skills on DWTS season 14.

In addition to guest starring in the long-running musical revue Smokey Joe's Cafe, Gladys Knight performed in a weeklong concert residency on Broadway simply titled Gladys Knight & the Pips & Kashif. The iconic "Midnight Train to Georgia" soul singer competed on DWTS season 14.

Talk about a full-circle moment: After rising to prominence for playing Laura Ingalls Wilder on the Little House on the Prairie TV series, Melissa Gilbert graduated to the role of Ma, or Caroline Ingalls, in the 2009 U.S. touring production of the stage adaptation. She competed on DWTS season 14.

He may be best known for his onscreen role as Lando Calrissian in Star Wars, but Billy Dee Williams is also a stage veteran, having performed in seven Broadway shows between 1945 and 1988. Among his most memorable live performances was starring as Martin Luther King Jr. in the 1976 play I Have a Dream — and competing in DWTS season 18, of course.

In 2007, Days of Our Lives and Real Housewives of Beverly Hills's Lisa Rinna joined the long line of reality TV stars to step into the shoes of Roxie Hart in Chicago on Broadway. Perhaps her stint on DWTS season 2 prepared her to learn the Fosse choreography.

The Real Housewives of Atlanta star NeNe Leakes played Madame in Rodgers & Hammerstein's Cinderella and Matron "Mama" Morton in Chicago on Broadway in quick succession between 2014 and 2015 — right after competing on DWTS season 18 in 2014. She was a busy woman!

In 2000, Lea Thompson briefly played Sally Bowles in a revival of Cabaret on Broadway. And while the DWTS season 19 contestant didn't appear in the 2023 Broadway musical adaptation of Back to the Future, her presence certainly loomed large in fans' minds, having originated the role of Lorraine Baines McFly on screen.

Before rising to fame as Mona Vanderwaal in the Pretty Little Liars franchise, Janel Parrish got her start as a Broadway child actor, playing a stint as Young Cosette during the original run of Les Misérables. She placed third on DWTS season 19.

Author and actress Suzanne Somers, who competed on Dancing With the Stars season 20, played both those roles in her one Broadway turn. She conceived and starred in the 2005 show The Blonde in the Thunderbird, adapted from her books Keeping Secrets and After the Fall.

Though best known as a singer thanks to his four studio albums and Masked Singer Australia win, he showed off his dance chops on DWTS season 18 and played Dmitry in Anastasia on Broadway from 2018-19. That makes him a triple threat — or quadruple, if you count his pro swimming skills.

The original singer of the hit song "Lady Marmalade," now heard eight times a week on Broadway in Moulin Rouge! The Musical, Patti LaBelle also appeared in numerous Broadway shows herself, including the musical Fella! and multiple self-titled concerts. The Godmother of Soul competed on DWTS season 20.

Mere months after winning DWTS season 20 in 2015, Rumer Willis showed NYC audiences her dancing skills by making her Broadway debut as Roxie Hart in Chicago.

The 10-time Grammy-winning Queen of Funk, Chaka Khan, played a stint as Sofia in the Broadway musical The Color Purple, and a musical about her life titled I'm Every Woman is set to premiere in London in March 2026. She competed on DWTS season 21 in 2015.

All his achy breaky heart cares about is love: Billy Ray Cyrus debuted on Broadway as Billy Flynn in Chicago. He competed on DWTS season 4.

Before delivering her five-time Golden Globe-nominated performance as Elaine O'Connor Nardo on Taxi, Marilu Henner got her start as a replacement for Marty in the original Broadway production of Grease in the '70s. The DWTS season 23 contestant has made multiple returns to Broadway since, in productions like Pal Joey, Chicago, The Tale of the Allergist's Wife, and Gettin' The Band Back Together.

Since launching her career with the triple-platinum album Out of the Blue at age 16, Debbie Gibson has gone on to an award-winning career as a singer, songwriter, and actress. She's played starring roles in four Broadway productions — Eponine in Les Misérables, Belle in Beauty and the Beast, Betty Rizzo in Grease, and Sally Bowles in Cabaret — and competed on Dancing With the Stars season 25.

Perhaps Harry Hamlin's Broadway performances in Awake and Sing! and Summer and Smoke prepared him for Dancing With the Stars season 3. In turn, perhaps DWTS prepped the Clash of the Titans and L.A. Law star for his 2007 stint as Billy Flynn in Chicago!

Best known for playing Jo Polniaczek on the sitcom The Facts of Life, Nancy McKeon competed on DWTS season 27 and made her Off-Broadway debut in Pen Pals in 2024, reprising her role in the show's 2025 encore run.

The late Anne Heche made her Broadway debut as a replacement in the starring role of the award-winning play Proof (now being revived in spring 2026) in 2002. She went on to earn a Tony nomination for starring as Lily Garland in a 2004 revival of the play Twentieth Century, and she competed on season 29 of Dancing With the Stars.

In between his three stints as Billy Flynn in Chicago — twice in 2002 and once in 2007 — George Hamilton brought his performance chops, and his signature tan, to DWTS season 2 in 2006.

It's no wonder former The Talk host Amanda Kloots went far in DWTS: She's also a fitness instructor, former Radio City Rockette, and Broadway actress. Her career in musicals like Good Vibrations, Young Frankenstein, Follies, and Bullets Over Broadway, led her to meet her husband, fellow stage actor Nick Cordero, who died in 2020 from Covid complications.

One of her most memorable dances on DWTS season 30, in which she placed fourth, was a touching tribute to Cordero, performed to "Live Your Life" during the semifinals.

Before starring in the Oscar-winning Best Picture CODA, Daniel Durant gave his breakout performance as Moritz in Deaf West's Spring Awakening Broadway revival in 2016. Fun fact: After competing on DWTS season 31 with Britt Stewart, the pair fell in love and got married in 2025!

In between his Broadway stints in Prelude to a Kiss in 1991 and Relatively Speaking in 2011, Police Academy actor Steve Guttenberg competed on DWTS season 6 in 2008.

After breaking out as Greg Brady on The Brady Bunch and before competing in season 32 of Dancing With the Stars, Barry Williams acted in the original Broadway production of Pippin and in the 1988 play Romance / Romance, stepping into the role of Alfred Von Wilmers/Sam originated by Scott Bakula.

Before getting his big break in Beverly Hills, 90210, DWTS season 4 contestant Ian Ziering appeared on Broadway in the 1979 play I Remember Mama.

Eric Roberts starred as Pale in the original 1987 Broadway production of Burn This, a role originated by John Malkovich and later performed by Adam Driver in the 2019 revival. The brother of Julia Roberts (who appeared on Broadway once herself in 2006) competed on DWTS season 33.

Marla Maples stepped into The Will Rogers Follies from 1992-93, playing Ziegfeld's Favorite. In 2016, she competed on DWTS season 22.

Michael Bolton has never appeared on Broadway, but he is credited as a songwriter on the musical The Cher Show, as he wrote the hits "I Found Someone" and "You Wouldn't Know Love" for the title singer. He competed on DWTS season 11.

DWTS season 8 contestant Belinda Carlisle never performed on Broadway, but the songs from her band The Go-Go's scored the 2018 jukebox musical Head Over Heels.

DWTS season 5 contestant and Shark Tank star Mark Cuban made his 2025 Broadway debut not as a performer, but as a producer. He backed George Clooney's play Good Night, and Good Luck with his media company 2929 Entertainment, which also produced the 2005 film.

Season 22 winner Nyle DiMarco has yet to perform on Broadway, but the deaf actor and model was a producer on the 2018 revival of Children of a Lesser God.

Actress Debi Mazar never performed on Broadway, but her one Broadway job was just as cool: doing Madonna's hair and makeup for the 1988 play Speed-the-Plow. Mazar competed on DWTS season 9 and had previously appeared in five Madonna music videos.

After touring the world, the dance show Burn the Floor came to Broadway with multiple DWTS pros in tow: Sharna Burgess, Maksim Chmerkovskiy, Karina Smirnoff, Sasha Farber, and Peta Murgatroyd. Chmerkovskiy and Smirnoff went on to star in another Broadway dance show, Forever Tango, and Burgess played a stint in the Off-Broadway play Pen Pals in 2025.