| Product: |
Chicago |
| Date: |
04/07/04 (1445 review reads) |
| Rating: |
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Advantages: singing and dancing, costumes, characters
Disadvantages: unsuitable for children
Last week I went to see Chicago the musical at the Adelphi Theatre in London?s West End as a big fan of musicals I thought I would share my views on this production with you as the cast has changed as of 21st June 2004.
*SYNOPSIS*
Without completely giving the plot away I?ll summarise the storyline of Chicago.
Welcome ladies and gentlemen you are about to see a story of murder, greed, corruption, violence, exploitation, adultery and treachery. All things we hold dear to our hearts. And so the show begins?
The story is set in the Jazz Era of the 1920s in Chicago, where Roxie Hart (Rebecca Thornhill), a struggling chorus girl, dreams of one day becoming an onstage star. The show opens with Velma Kelly (Anita Louise Combe) singing All That Jazz; a great song with some equally stunning choreography. However, Roxie soon shoots her lover because he not only decides to end their affair, but also lies to her about helping advance her career, so the song sums it up nicely here; he had it comin?. Roxie is arrested and then locked up in the women?s prison run by a warden called Matron ?Mama? Morton (Zee Asha); the Cook County Jail's murderess row, this is where Roxie finally meets her stage idol, Velma Kelly, a performer who killed her own sister and her husband after catching them cheating on her together. However Roxie and Velma soon begin to hate each other. In order to beat the rap in her case, Roxie convinces her husband Amos (Paul Leonard) a small, balding man who is completely devoted to Roxie and overlooks her travesties in order to hang on to her (the devoted but senseless type), to raise the money to hire the evangelical Billy Flynn (Cavin Cornwall), the be
st lawyer around, to represent her. Flynn accepts the challenge of taking on the case and proceeds to make Roxie into a media celebrity in the local press as he builds her defence. However, the two murderesses quickly learn that getting away with murder is much easier than maintaining the media's interest?
The story continues about how the case will be presented to the courts and how they can stop Roxie being hanged for murder.
*MY OPINION*
I thoroughly enjoyed the show and it was actually quite different from what I expected. The storyline is slightly confusing at first but once you know what is going on it is quite straightforward and at times rather predictable. However the characters certainly come to life and the show exudes energy from start to finish; the fact that the plot is so far removed from reality that it is unbelievable actually makes it more exciting and . The set is very minimalist but although simple it is actually very effective. In the middle of the stage there is a bandstand complete with jazz band who are essentially there to provide the music and play no other role in the storyline. The rest of the stage is bare apart from two ladders and a few chairs. Although this doesn?t sound very impressive the characters really bring the stage to life more than any amount of decoration and props ever could. And make no mistake they don?t bother much with props either, they consist of the afore mentioned chairs and a couple of guns that?s about it really.
However, the costumes are definitely key to this musical. Apart from the silver shoes everything is black, from fishnet stockings to the very revealing costumes. Skimpy is the word here for example black underwear with a see-though black netting, floaty top is the attire for a seductive dance. The dancing is spectacular and the choreographer is to be congratu
lated although not all the steps are that technically demanding as all the girls keep so well in time and move together it is a highly visual, very sexy performance. I?m sure the men in the audience didn?t fail to notice how gorgeous the female dancers were and the men in tight tights didn?t look too bad either!
Rebecca Thornhill is new to the musical but she suits the role of Roxie perfectly. An ice-cool murderess with sex-appeal she dominates the stage at every stage. Calvin Cornwall is also new as Billy Flynn the lawyer. He is also well-suited to his role adopting the ?circus ringmaster? nature of the Flynn character which works extremely well. His voice is strong and he gives a captivating performance, I was pleased to see that he embraced the cynical satire and moments of comedy that were to a certain extent lost in the film. There were numerous other good performances and none of the actors seemed wooden the American accents were surprisingly believable too but in my opinion the real strength of the musical is the singing, dancing and costumes rather than the acting. This is to be expected from a musical of which the large majority of the story is told through song.
Chicago comes highly recommended for the excellent singing, the sensational dancing and the fantastic comic timing. All the leads especially those who have recently joined the cast are brilliant and the ensemble are full of energy and passion. Although I wasn?t sure what to expect from Chicago I have been pleasantly surprised; it really is an excellent show.
*OTHER INFORMATIO N*
Due to the content of the film it doesn?t come recommended to children and the content overall would be described as adult. It contains a number of swearwords though nothing which most people would take offence but do be warned that
the musical does explore taboo social issues such as corrupt legal systems, crimes of passion, and a lot of sexual innuendo. There are also a lot of suggestive positions and revealing costumes so in a nutshell probably not recommended to those who are easily offended or particularly sensitive though this will apply to very few people.
The seats are quite comfortable and legroom isn?t too bad but I?d recommend you get seats near the middle of the theatre as a lot of the scenes are played to either side of the stage so it?s best to be as central as possible.
Tickets prices range from £15 to £42.50 and the Adelphi Theatre do have spaces allocated to wheelchair users though I would suggest you enquire about availability when booking.
Performance times:
Monday: 8.00pm
Tuesday: 8.00pm
Wednesday: 8.00pm
Thursday: 8.00pm
Friday: 5.30pm & 8.30pm
Saturday: 3.00pm & 8.00pm
Sunday: No performance
Thanks for reading!
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