By Cate Marquis
The Fabulous Fox Theater hosts a fabulous musical treat over the post-Thanksgiving weekend “Chicago,” for a too-brief run of the beloved Broadway hit.
“Chicago” is an enduring audience favorites and one of the true greats of musical theater, Broadway’s longest running show that started on Broadway, longest running American musical, and fast closing in on the all-time longest running musical, “Phantom of the Opera” that close on Broadway in 2023. Winner of 6 Tony Awards, 2 Olivier Awards, and a Grammy, “Chicago” is packed with hit songs by John Kander and Fred Ebb, hot Bob Fosse-style choreography by Ann Reinking and recreated by Gregory Butler, and has a fabulous Roaring ‘20s Chicago book by Fred Ebb and Bob Fosse.
This excellent production of “Chicago” on stage is a delight not to miss, even if you have seen the musical before, either when it previously played the Fox or another local productions, or have seen the movie version with Catherine Zeta-Jones, Renee Zellweger and Richard Gere. There is something special about seeing it live and in-person.
While many musicals have sappy sweet stories, “Chicago” is a refreshing change, with a satiric crime tale set in the wild, prosperous Roaring ‘20s, that period of exuberant prosperity and artistic, cultural and technological innovation between the end of WWI and the hardship of the Great Depression of the 1930s, the decade when it fully became the twentieth century. The city of Chicago was the hottest spot for Prohibition-era gangster and bootleg violence as well as the hottest music of the still-new century – jazz. All that cultural history sets the stage for a couple of murderous Jazz-era babes, Velma and Roxie – and “All That Jazz.” The musical is both a crime thriller fantasy and darkly funny, further elevated with irresistible tunes and those distinctive Fosse dance moves.
Chicago opens with one of those irresistible hits, “All That Jazz,” in a production number featuring Velma Kelly (Taylor Lane, in a perfect Louise Brooks-style bob haircut), the first of our Jazz Age murderous babes, in a number showcasing that steamy Bob Fosse-style dancing. we quickly meet the other flapper, Roxie Hart (Ellie Roddy), as she shoots the fellow, Fred Casely (Brad Weatherford) with whom she’s been cheating on her mechanic husband, Amos (Andrew Metzger). An attempt by Amos to take the blame prompts Roxie to sing about her loyal hubby in “Funny Honey,” while hanging on to a ladder on the side of the stage. When the police sergeant Fogarty (Christopher Cline) reveals the dead man as furniture salesman Casely, Amos changes his tune and so does the theme of Roxie’s song.
Roxie meets vaudeville performer Velma is in the Cook County jail, where the star is locked up for killing her husband and fellow-performer sister, along with the other beauties who sing and dance another of the show’s many hit numbers, “Cell Block Tango.” Soon we meet the other major players, matron “Mama” Morton (Illeana “Illy” Kirven), with the bluesy “When You’re Good to Mama,” and hot-shot criminal lawyer Billy Flynn (Connor Sullivan), with “All I Care About,” along with gullible reporter Mary Sunshine (D. Fillinger) who gets a showcase in “A Little Bit Of Good” in the first act and a featured part in the ensemble “We Both Reached for the Gun,” with Roxie, Billy and the company. In Act 2, Andrew Metzger’s Amos gets his say in “Mr. Cellophane.”
Besides the showstoppers mentioned above, hit song and dance numbers include “Roxie,” Razzle Dazzle,” and Amos’ signature number “Mr. Cellophane.” Both Taylor Lane and Ellie Roddy both have fine voices and Lane has some gymnastic dance moves. Illeana “Illy” Kirven belts out “When You’re Good to Mama” with all the sass you’d want but one of the more surprising big wow voices is Connor Sullivan as Billy Flynn, with a long sustained note ending his showstopper “All I Care About.” Andrew Metzger’s is perfect in “Mr. Cellophane,” and D Fillinger goes operatic as prim Mary Sunshine in “A Little Bit Of Good” and surprises in “We Both Reached for the Gun.”
Dancing by this excellent ensemble is a constant delight in this production, making one look forward to each big production number with eager anticipation as another entertainment gem rather than an interruption of the story as they sometimes are in other musicals. The music and dance is so good in “Chicago,” it hardly needs anything more, but you do get a terrific story too.
This touring show has a cleverly-designed single set, with is a perfect show case for the performers. The big set is set back on the stage, providing a place above stage for the show’s band and bandleader Cameron Blake Kinnear, on risers stepping up from the stage floor behind the dancers, and with a center aisle stairway for grand entrances. Ladders on the sides, edging the curtains, and side aisles for additional exits one either side.
The Bob Fosse style choreography still steams up that stage, even after all these years from the musical’s original debut in 1975. Fosse’s distinctive style still looks completely modern in it’s eccentric, comic, sexy use of the human body. The songs are still hot, funny and deliciously sardonic as well as completely hum-able and memorable. The songs and dance numbers, and their complete integration with this story steeped in American gangster mythology, is a central part of why this musical is still a favorite.
What more perfect way could there be to close out an all-American holiday weekend than with another type of Americana, the darkly funny, winking, Roaring Twenties tale of “Chicago.”
“Chicago” is on stage at the Fabulous Fox through December 1.
© Cate Marquis
