Chicago

Chicago
Music by John Kander. Lyrics by Fred Ebb. Book by Fred Ebb and Bob Fosse. Willoughby Theatre Company. Director: Andrew Castle. Musical Director: Alex Ash. Choreographer: Janina Hamerlok. The Concourse, Chatswood. Oct 13 – 22, 2017.

Long before TV hits Wentworth and Orange is the New Black, there was Chicago, the John Kander, Fred Ebb and Bob Fosse Broadway Musical collaboration about women in prison for killing their lovers and husbands, their slimy lawyer and corrupt prison warder. Based on a 1926 play, it’s inspired by real criminals of the time, telling its satirical tale of celebrity criminals and the corruption of the legal system in the vaudeville style, used as a sort of Brechtian device

The original 1975 production of Chicago, with its vaudeville styling, was a 936 performance Broadway success, but it was the stripped back 1996 revival (still running) that made the show a smash hit – Broadway’s second longest running show ever, longest running revival and longest running American musical.

Willoughby’s production is as slick and polished as always. Set on a stage, largely bare except for an imposing scaffolding set, it relies visually on vibrant costuming.

For anyone who has only seen the essentially black outfits of the internationally performed revival, this production is a real contrast, going all out for flashy, colourful theatrical costuming, inspired by the show’s vaudeville origins. The wardrobe team have excelled.

Musical director Alex Ash supports the production splendidly, leading a superb jazz era styled band.

The heart and soul of any production of Chicago are its two main murderesses, Velma Kelly and Roxy Hart, and this Willoughby production is blessed with two wonderfully accomplished, professionally trained triple threat performers, Kristina McNamarra and Erin Carlton. Kristina brought a credible cynicism, balanced with a certain ironic naivety to her jazz hot Velma, while Erin found Roxie’s conniving, opportunistic edge. Both are knockouts!

Also bringing the benefit of considerable professional training to the community theatre stage, Gavin Brightwell nailed Brylcream slick song and dance snake oil lawyer Billy Flynn.

Courtney Powell’s assured, vampish Mama Morton channeled the lewd red hot mama inspiration of the role.

Luke Davis MC’d with tremendous panache.

A program spoiler already breaks with the usual ambiguity surrounding Mary Sunshine and her big reveal, so I’ll safely say that Jared Pallesen brings one of the best falsettos to the role that I’ve ever heard.

Scott Dias, a convincingly downtrodden Amos, lands the role and his exit line nicely, though his “Mr Cellophane”, so often a barnstorming vaudeville showstopper, seemed under-conceptualised.

Amy Curtin, Bonnie Kellett, Chloe Horne, Dylan Hayley, Laura Dawson and Liz Hawthorne brought terrific raunchiness and energy to the other merry murderesses, though, like other numbers in the show, their Cell Block Tango felt over-populated with dead husbands and extra prisoners in a production seeking opportunities to utilize its large ensemble.

My reservations have nothing to do with the quality of the work on display, which was amazing. Yet, in this highly polished, huge ensemble cast production, the perceived need to use the big chorus overwhelmed certain numbers.

Impressive though Janina Hamerlok’s splendid production numbers were, wonderfully executed by a marvellous ensemble, they came at the expense of vaudeville’s trademark ‘wow endings’. There are slick, high energy whole company numbers galore, but I was waiting for something layered, building more gradually to a thrilling peak. Most numbers, though, started big, with little wriggle room to morph into an ending which would further exhilarate and razzle dazzle me.

Going big with a mirroring effect, for mine, splintered the focus of the “Press Conference Rag”, while for me a big glitzy finale undercut the dark cynicism of the show’s closing moments.

The theatrical allusion of this production sometimes seemed more toward that other great institution, the ‘Follies’, than ‘Vaudeville’.

That said, I may have simply done too much genre-based research when I directed this show some years ago. The general audience response felt unreservedly enthusiastic.

Regardless of any reservations I’ve expressed, Willoughby’s Chicago is unquestionably slick, accomplished community musical theatre.

Neil Litchfield 

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