20 -25 January
“Murder, greed, corruption, exploitation, adultery and treachery… all those things we hold near and dear to our hearts.” And so begins one of the most popular musicals of recent times. This year marks the fiftieth anniversary of Chicago, the longest-running musical in Broadway history, as well the second longest-running Broadway show of any kind. And not without good reason.
As the curtain rises, we find ourselves transported to 1920s Illinois, where we have become part of the crowd in a Chicago jazz club, complete with a full live orchestra on an elevated, central stage. And this is where we spend the next two and a half hours as the story of femmes fatales Roxie Hart and Velma Kelly unfold, two members of the Murderesses Row in Cook County Jail who find fame – and a welcome notoriety – after committing crimes of passion. Musical Director Neil MacDonald doubles as our MC for the evening, supported by members of the ensemble cast who fill in any plot gaps that the musical numbers which drive the narrative might omit.
One of the show’s great strength lies in the performances of its two leading ladies….and in this latest tour they are both exceptional. Faye Brookes and Djalenga Scott give powerful and versatile turns as Hart and Kelly respectively. Both leads successfully combine the sass and sexiness of these two killers, whilst also teasing out their vulnerabilities and ensuring that, despite their crimes, our sympathies lie very much with these two protagonists, women who themselves are victims of a corrupt system where the fame they crave is fleeting, their notoriety ephemeral. They are ably supported by an impressive Kevin Clifton, who has now swapped his Strictly glitz and sequins for spats and sharp suits as sleazy lawyer Billy Flynn, the legal puppetmaster who orchestrates the media circus around his female inmates. Brenda Edwards gives a wonderful cameo as the matronly matriarch Mama Morton whilst a superbly talented, all-singing, all-dancing ensemble cast form an integral part of every scene.
The dominant presence of the live orchestra, arguably less of an issue on bigger West End and Broadway stages, compresses the cast into the more confined surroundings of the Everyman Theatre, yet the resultant lack of set and staging is actually not an issue, such is the power of the musical numbers and the clever, subtle ways the musicians are integrated into the action as the jazz club experience is successfully evoked. Visually, Chicago is stunning: the whole show feels slick, sleek and meticulously rehearsed: the complex and superbly-timed choreography is faultless, while John Kander’s original score, allied to Fred Ebb’s lyrics, comprises some memorable, much-loved and very catchy, toe-tapping numbers, not least All That Jazz, but it is also a score which allows all the main characters to showcase their impressive vocal range. The whole show has the feel of a vaudevillian cabaret as we flit between ‘acts’, capturing the 1920s zeitgeist to great effect in terms of its attitudes to fame, infidelity and the treatment of women.
What is perhaps most astonishing about Chicago is that Maurine Dallas Watkins’ play on which this hit musical is based, itself inspired by real-life Prohibition-era events on which Watkins reported as a journalist before becoming a playwright, will be marking its own centenary next year. Clearly, the play’s humorous and satirical portrayal of corruption in the criminal justice system – and the advent of the “celebrity criminal” – is as relevant today (I am writing this on the same day as Donald Trump’s second inauguration as US President) as it has ever been.
★★★★★ Tony Clarke 21 January 2025
Photo credit: Paul Coltas
