By Elizabeth Lancaster

When you think Broadway superstar the common conception begins somewhere around Judy Garland and ends closer to Idina Menzel. Maybe the last person you would consider to star in an upcoming production would be an actress recently cut from a revision of an old TV show (paging: "Melrose Place"). Ashlee Simpson, while a successful artists for many years, has not exactly maintained a reputation as an all-star live performer, which makes her new lead role in Broadway’s "Chicago" a little surprising. But, since she's a veteran of the show (three years ago, she starred as Roxie Hart at the Cambridge Theatre in London's West End), we're going to cut her a little slack and hope that she can razzle dazzle us in the U.S. as well.

"I'm honored to be reprising my role as Chicago's Roxie Hart, returning to the stage and joining this amazing cast,"the 25-year-old mom and wife of punk rock star Pete Wentz said in a statement to MTV News. "Being on Broadway is a childhood dream come true.”

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By Nuzhat Naoreen

Every day a multitude of stars wander through the halls of MTV News to talk about their latest projects and goof around with staff members. But sometimes we catch stars elsewhere, and that's why we put together Spotted!, a daily compendium of stars in the wild.

The cast of "Glee" has a lot to be gleeful about lately (lame pun totally intended). Besides starring on a hit show, the talented stars recently performed at the World Series and captured the cover of Entertainment Weekly . So it's no wonder they took a little break from filming to soak in some Broadway time. Cast members, including Kevin McHale, Amber Riley, Jane Lynch, Chris Colfer and Dianna Agron were Spotted! backstage at the Norah Ephron play "Love, Loss and What I Wore," at Westside Theater. We're guessing they were there to support Jane, who recently joined the production. Jane fans need not fret though, her involvement with "Love, Loss and What I Wore," which has a limited 12-week run, shouldn't affect her role on "Glee."

Click on the photo above to get a closer look at the "Glee" cast and then check out Khloe Kardashian rooting for her husband at the Lakers' game after the jump!

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Hollywood has come down with a case of Broadway fever, as yet another young starlet is set to make her Great White Way debut. Just yesterday we pondered Scarlett Johansson's upcoming role in the Arthur Miller drama "A View From the Bridge," and now comes word (via Variety) that 13-year-old Abigail Breslin has been cast as Helen Keller in a revival of the 1959 play "The Miracle Worker."

Abigail will star as the blind-deaf girl alongside Alison Pill's ("In Treatment," "Milk") Annie Sullivan, a legally blind woman who teaches Helen to communicate. "The Miracle Worker" is quite a celebrated production having won four Tonys in 1960 and two Oscars in 1963 for the screen adaptation, both starring Patty Duke as Helen and Anne Bancroft as Annie.

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Scarlett Johansson has had plenty of experience being romanced by older men (and I'm not just talking about hot older hubby Ryan Reynolds). She was wined and dined by Bill Murray in "Lost in Translation." Lovingly rendered in paint by the artist Vermeer in "Girl With the Pearl Earring." And the girlfriend of her father's boss in "In Good Company." But when Scarlett makes her Broadway debut later this season, she'll be the object of a very different suitor's affection, reports Variety.

In the Arthur Miller play "A View From the Bridge," Scarlett will play an orphaned 17-year-old whose longshoreman uncle, played by "Wolverine" actor Liev Schreiber, becomes romantically obsessed with her. Kinda creepy sounding, right? And is it just me, or does the almost-25-year-old seem a tad old for this role? I know it's nothing new (especially for teen dramas on The CW), to cast adults in much younger roles, but even this seems like a stretch. Sure, makeup, costuming and, of course, good acting will all help Scarlett read younger, but with her husky voice and ample, uh, assets, I'm having a hard time imagining the bizarro world in which Scarlett could ever pass for teen.

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"Hamlet" is officially opening today on Broadway, and British screen babe Jude Law will be tackling the difficult and legendary role of the tortured Danish Prince. We're sure it is a casting decision that Mr. William Shakespeare would approve of.

Luckily we got to check out the play on Sunday, and Jude was perfection. Well, the whole cast was quite good actually. But, Jude really gets Hamlet. He not only looks like the Hamlet we've pictured in our head, but he brought the angst and torment vital to the role. Plus the costuming and stage design were decidedly modern and austere, even though the setting is, as we all know, supposed to be in a time long, long ago.

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