Touring Broadway production always a crowd-pleaser
Having logged more years on Broadway than any other musical revival, Chicago is back in Denver with a marvelous touring production that hits all the right notes with an exemplary cast and on-stage orchestra. With music by the renowned Broadway team of John Kander and Fred Ebb, it has a score that is not only hummable but also memorable, with such hits as “All That Jazz” and “Cell Block Tango,” to name a few. And, of course, there is the high-stepping choreography by Ann Reinking in the style of Bob Fosse.
Set in Chicago in the late 1920s, the story centers around Roxy Hart (Katie Frieden), a wannabe Vaudevillian star who murders her lover and ends up in Chicago’s notorious Cook County Jail. While in jail, she meets Velma Kelly (Kailin Brown), a nightclub singer and ‘double’ murderer, using the services of Billy Flynn (Connor Sullivan), a lustful, money-grubbing lawyer who also happens to represent Roxie. Roxie’s pushover husband, Amos (Robert Quiles), tries desperately to scrape together $5000 for Roxie’s defense with little luck.
Trying to keep her “girls” in line, Matron “Mama” Morton (Illeana “illy” Kirven) does everything humanly possible to keep Roxie and Velma from killing each other as they rise to stardom and compete for the top prize in the press as ‘Killer-Diller’ of the year. The ubiquitous Mary Sunshine (J. Terrell) offers press coverage to Roxie and Velma with a big Broadway voice and bright red lips. But as with many things in life, Roxie and Velma are eventually overshadowed by the fresh faces who have committed even more heinous crimes than they did.
So, what’s a girl to do? With great trepidation, Roxie and Velma join forces on the Vaudeville circuit and give their adoring fans just what they seem to want: not ‘one’, but ‘two’ previously sought-after murderesses direct from the Cook County Jail to sing and dance their way into stardom. Well, sort of, anyway.
In the roles of Roxie and Velma, Frieden and Brown are both accomplished actors with solid voices and all the right dance moves. They both command the stage and are each worthy of being named Killer of the Year. It is magical when they finally come together at the show’s finale with the songs “Nowadays” and “Hot Honey Rag,” including the original choreography from Bob Fosse.
Others in the cast deserving special recognition include Sullivan as Billy Flynn, Kirven as Matron “Mama” Morton, Quiles as Hart, and Terrell as Mary Sunshine. Each has an overabundance of stage presence and musical comedy skills that fill the auditorium from the first row to the last.
The style of the production is stark – with a 10-piece orchestra center stage conducted by Cameron Blake Kinnear, who happily becomes part of the action at several moments during the ensuing mayhem. There isn’t much to the costuming. Most are in black, and that works just fine with the overall flavor of the production.
Even in the middle of January, ‘Chicago’ is hot, hot, hot. This production delivers many times over with exceptional singing and dancing that raises the temperature several notches. Only in town through February 4, now is the time to see ‘Chicago’ before Roxie and Velma pack their bags and move on to their next gig.
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