Michelle Williams is talking to the right people. And they’re listening.

On a journey to move forward — but not completely detach — from the fame she earned as a member of Destiny’s Child, the singer-actress is taking her Broadway career to new heights.

After wetting her feet with the title role in a 2003 production of “Aida,” Williams went on to star as the brassy Shug Avery in a national tour of the smash musical adaptation of “The Color Purple.” Now, it seems the forces behind a fresh production of the famed musical “Chicago” were destined to reach out to Williams, despite her well-established sweet persona, for the role of Roxie Hart. Their decision made her the first African-American cast on Broadway as the femme fatale, who has been portrayed by actresses ranging from Ginger Rogers to Renée Zellweger and Brooke Shields.

One of the character’s signature lines — “You’re talking to the wrong people” — apparently doesn’t apply to Williams when it comes to accepting challenging roles. In particular, she relishes parts that place her firmly outside the expectations of a public that has followed her career for more than a decade.

“To me … playing both [Shug and Roxie] has been liberating, because there are a lot of characteristics in each character that are nothing like me … so being able to get that out every night, living something who I’m not, is actually kind of cool,” Williams said in a telephone interview from New York, where she is wrapping up a run of “Chicago” at the Ambassador Theatre. She will be in Hollywood on April 20 to begin a run at the Pantages Theatre now scheduled to run through May 9.

Asked if she recognizes any part of herself in the latest character, Williams laughs. She calls Roxie “a bad girl,” and acknowledges that the role is “like living something that I’m not.” In the well-known story, the chorus girl murders her lover, then engages in a rivalry with another killer.

“I don’t know if folks are going to be walking out saying Roxie is their hero,” Williams said. “But I do know that at the end, she and Velma put aside their differences and work together. … Throughout the show, they’re always trying to one-up each other, but at the same time, there is some admiration for one another. They just don’t show it until the end, when they [say], ‘Look, we’re both in bad situations, let’s make the best out of it.’”

She added: “When Roxie [thinks] of something she does it. That’s how we have to be with our lives and careers. … If not, somebody else will take your idea and run with it. … I think that’s why a lot of people are so bitter, because they didn’t do something that was in their heart to do.”

In first considering the part, Williams was not entirely unfamiliar with the era in which it is set. She has long admired a black-and-white photograph of her grandmother that was taken during the 1920s. In the photo, her grandmother is coolly smoking a long-stemmed cigarette and wearing a hat with netting over one eye. Not that she’s endorsing smoking, she said, but she always thought the photo “was pretty cool.”

“We always see pictures of actors from that era … and they look so sophisticated and glamorous,” Williams said. “But this was my grandmother, so when I had to draw for Roxie, I drew from that photo.”

The chance to let go of herself, Williams said, is a large part of why she has fallen in love with acting. Still, even she is a little surprised by how invested she has become in the process. “I guess you never know until you try something,” she said. “People always want to see you just for one thing, but I think I can do it all.”

Offstage, Williams’ career as a recording artist is more unclear. After releasing two solo gospel LPs and an R&B album between 2002-2008, Williams announced in January that she was cutting ties with both her label, Music World Entertainment, and a management company headed by former bandmate Beyoncé Knowles’ father.

She denied reports that she is working on a fourth album between performances of “Chicago,” particularly a widely-circulated rumor that she is in the studio with hip-hop producer Timbaland. “I mean, I love his beats, and I might approach him to work on one of my projects — but I haven’t officially started working on a record,” she said. “Acting is what I’m invested in right now.”

All told, Williams said she still marvels at the “amazing journey” that is her professional career.

“I’ve been on this journey all by myself and on my own, and I’m learning so much,” she said. “I’m glad I was able to start off my journey with two other great ladies whom I love and miss very much … but I’m a woman now, and I’m excited about what I’ve been discovering.”