Since Chicago’s first production in 1975, revived in 1996, this Broadway Musical holds the record as the longest running musical revival and longest running American musical in Broadway history. Chicago is the second longest-running show to ever run on Broadway behind only The Phantom of the Opera. The Australian production at QPAC’s Lyric Theatre offers all the sexy, slick, foot stomping hits that have made Chicago one of the biggest musicals of all time with six Tony Awards, two Olivier Awards, a grammy and thousands of standing ovations. Set in Jazz-age Chicago, the musical follows chorus girl ‘Roxie Hart’ played exceptionally doe-eyed by Natalie Bassingthwaigthe who after murdering her boyfriend is sent to Cook County Jail where she becomes the latest inmate tabloid star.
Chicago opens with potentially its biggest hit All That Jazz by the scene stealing Alinta Chidzey who plays ‘Velma Kelly’ in black lingerie and matching flapper bob hairstyle. As Chidzey slinks to the front of the stage, followed by an impressive ensemble, this is the first of many show stopping choreographed numbers. The song interweaves Roxie’s murder of Fred Casely as he attempts to break off his affair with her. We’re introduced to the women prisoners at Cook County Jail played by the stunning ensemble, who look intriguing dressed in fishnets, high heels and black lingerie as they begin the number Cell Block Tango.
The inmates contribute hilarious confessions to murder with lines like “Some men just can’t hold their arsenic!” and “He ran into my knife ten times!”. The audience is then introduced to cell block leader Matron ‘Big Mama’ Morton played superbly by Casey Donovan, who originally appeared in Australian Idol in the year of 2004. Donovan’s number When You’re Good to Mama has this fantastic Ethiopian jazz feel. With Donovan’s powerful voice, matched by her grandiose delivery, you are reminded why she won Australian Idol and that she has found herself a new fitting place to showcase her talent as she gets the biggest applause.
Since arriving in prison ‘Roxie’ has quickly become a minor celebrity in the newspapers and is stealing Velma’s limelight, who was also once herself in Roxie’s position of using fame as a tactic to be let off with a lighter sentence. Making sure the girls stay in the public eye and lining his own pockets in the process is hot shot lawyer ‘Billy Flynn’ played suavely by Tom Burlinson. Flynn has his own hilarious number flocked by the all-female ensemble as he croons through All I Care About Is Love. Flynn also manages to successfully turns Roxie’s trial into a media circus as we enter intermission.
The second half mostly focuses on Roxie’s trial and gives Bassingthwaigthe some great scenes to showcase her talent. This half features some great songs and dance numbers that include Me And My Baby. The final acts bring together the terrific cast, and we even get to catch Bassingthwaigthe and Chidzey doing a great vaudeville tap dancing number together to bring the house down. The overall set design is quite minimal with a mostly bare stage and a set of stairs in the middle for any required entrance and exits. As the conductor swings his arms to the constant jiving music, the orchestra is strategically positioned to ascend from the furthest back area of the stage, and this lets the feeling of the swinging 1920’s Jazz scene never leave your mind.
The dance ensemble really does deserve far more praise than to be mostly nameless faces on the stage. Luckily, these various ensemble members get their mention in the performance program, as they are often on stage just as much as the leads in some cases and put on an excellent show. The physiques of the male and female dancers is rather staggering and it is definitely the most eye-catching cast I have ever witnessed. The men are completely shredded in muscles, dressed in leather pants and shirtless, whilst the women are in not much more than a bra and panties that leaves little to the imagination.
The choreography is thrilling with many of the performances demanding contortion and fast paced dance moves across the stage in high heels, which Alinta Chidzey makes look very easy, or maybe just made me stop and realize how incredibly talented she clearly is! I haven’t seen the movie Chicago, and knew very little about the storyline so the entire show was filled with a mixture of thrilling surprises, laughs, awe and admiration for the ensemble cast. The plot is easy to follow and relies heavily on dance numbers and great acting which is exactly what this production has done. Chicago is likely to go down as one of the best shows I’ve seen this year and recommend everyone to go out and watch some razzle dazzle!
Until 7th December, 2019
QPAC, Lyric Theatre
#ChicagoInAU
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By: Thomas Harrison