Backstage with Midge Purce as the Gotham and USWNT forward makes her Broadway debut in ‘Chicago'

New York Times

02-05-2025

Midge Purce steps out of a black Cadillac SUV that brought her to the 49th Street entrance of the Ambassador Theater just off the bustling drag of New York City's Times Square. The professional soccer player slips through the backstage gate with the same ease she walks through the tunnel at Sports Illustrated Arena before a NJ/NY Gotham FC home game, only this time, instead of stadium chants, she is greeted with the jazzy swell of the orchestra warming up.
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Decked out in black joggers, a green t-shirt and a black Nike bomber jacket, she walks through the stage door like she owns the place. She breezes down the corridor lined with camel colored staff lockers, past the security guard and into the tucked-away wardrobe room. In a few hours, she'll take center stage, this time literally, to deliver the opening lines of the musical 'Chicago'.
Now, in the quiet moments before show time, there's no blasting pregame playlist, no cleats clacking through the cement corridors, just the distant sound of showtunes floating around the tiny staircase of the theater, a reminder that tonight's pitch comes only from the instruments, with spotlights and not corner flags.
She isn't there to dodge defenders and score goals as she has weekly for the past eight years, but somehow she looks just as ready.
'I would not mind taking singing lessons throughout the season,' she tells The Athletic, stepping through the narrow stage door at the end of a long alley. Her arena tonight is just down the worn corridors of a theater where hundreds of people have worked year-round since 1996 to keep Broadway's longest-running American musical alive. 'I'd take lessons in-season so I can be on stage in the off-season,' she adds with a grin.
The 29-year-old U.S. women's national team forward jumped at the chance to make a cameo in 'Chicago' alongside a star-studded cast that includes model Ashley Graham, Sophie Carmen Jones, Rema Webb and Max von Essen. The offer came via the show's marketing team, which sees crossover appeal as key to Broadway's evolving promotional playbook.
'Women's sports and folks who buy tickets for the theater are very similar,' Whitney Britt, the founder of Two Dog Circus agency that works with 'Chicago', told The Athletic. 'They are both live entertainment audiences that are willing to spend a decent amount on a ticket and want to come out and have a good time.'
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The theater sold multiple tickets to Gotham fans for Thursday night's show, using a special discount for Purce's performance.
Though she admits she wasn't quite theater material as a kid, despite her dad insisting she was always performing and singing, Purce has long been a Broadway fan. 'My boyfriend takes me to shows on my birthdays,' she says. 'I loved 'Wicked'. And I regret not watching Hamilton with the original cast.'
True to her form, she approaches her Broadway debut with a mix of professionalism and personality — the same attributes that helped her lead Gotham to the 2023 NWSL championship title and the solo honor of MVP. She even asked 'Chicago's' production for a bigger role to flex her acting muscles. The crew did not push back. Not only will she kick off the show, but she's also landed a second cameo act in Act II.
After some quick backstage introductions, Purce takes the stage with stage manager Evan Ensign to rehearse her lines. Her only previous prep had been over one Zoom session. But composed as ever, the same way she has jumped into Gotham games this season as she works her way back from injury, she follows Ensign's cues with the same focus she gives her Gotham coach, Juan Carlos Amorós, before a big match.
But Thursday night, she isn't going to sub in; she has a starting role to deliver the opening monologue.
Purce is no stranger to the spotlight. The Harvard alumnus created and starred in the docuseries 'The Offseason' alongside friends Lo'eau Labonta, Taylor Smith and Paige Nielsen, bringing a dose of her natural charisma to the camera. She is also a regular guest in the podcasting world, and co-hosted a World Cup recap show with Katie Nolan called The 91st in 2023 after missing out on the roster. She also serves as the executive director of the Black Women's Players Collective and, in 2023, was named to the Forbes '30 Under 30' list.
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'Honestly, being so intimately inside of another industry that's like at the top, at its highest level, you don't get to see the behind the scenes,' Purce tells The Athletic while getting the final touches of her make-up done. 'It's really cool to see people pursue their passions in ways that I pursue my own, but in a completely different industry.'
With half an hour to curtain, Purce slips into 1920s vaudeville. Her outfit: fishnet tights, a black Skims tube top, a sheer black button down and sequinned boy shorts. Her smoky eye was applied in the backseat of the car on the way to the theater. She quickly pulls out her phone to scroll social media and posts a quick video of her costume to her 113,000 Instagram followers. A few last adjustments from the wardrobe coordinator, and she is stage-ready, poised, and showing no signs of nerves.
'Welcome ladies and gentlemen,' she speaks into the darkened theater, loud enough for the fifth row to hear without a mic — there is not much the sound guy can do if she does not push for that. 'You are about to see a story of murder, greed, corruption, violence, exploitation, adultery and treachery. All those things we hold near and dear to our hearts. Thank you.'
She delivers her opening speech as naturally as she delivered the ball to her teammate Geyse for the fourth goal in a dominating win over Angel City on April 19.
'Chicago' is a musical about women, but it's also a biting commentary on how the media sensationalizes crime and how fame can whitewash even the most heinous acts. It's a story of ambition, manipulation, and the dark side of the American Dream. For Purce, it's another challenge, one she was ready to meet with her trademark grace and confidence.
'I am a game-time player for sure,' she says once safely backstage again when asked about nerves. 'I definitely show up for big games.'
She returns for Act II unfazed, coming back on the stage as a reporter covering Roxie Hart's sensational trial.
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Among the roughly 1,100 people filling the 104-year-old theater were Gotham co-owner Emily Tisch Sussman, a handful of teammates and fans all on their feet cheering Purce's performance at the end of the show. She acted the part.
The next day, she'll be back to lift weights so her 5ft 5ins (165cm) frame can do the things she does on the pitch against — who else — the Chicago Stars on Sunday. But before she leaves this stage for the next, Purce reflects on what character she'd want to play if she could do it again.
'I'd play Velma (Kelly),' she answered. 'I love how spunky her character is. But in this dark 'Chicago' world, her story is really fun, and it's a bit more complex than other people realize. Roxie is not my vibe.'
(Photos: Asli Pelit / The Athletic)