Theatre Trip: Chicago

CHICAGO

Phoenix Theatre
Date: 6th December (Thursday), 7:30pm
Seats: Dress Circle, Row J 17
(with Jess and Karla))

Notes: This was a show I was very excited to see, as I have always been a fan of the movie and know it super well. I only had a few weeks before I go to Australia for Christmas, as it closes on the 5th of January and that’s also the day we get back from our trip! So it was down to the few weeks before Christmas. There were no discount tickets available on TodayTix for this show, but TKTS has a 30% discount on a range of tickets. So I headed into the city on my way home on the Tuesday to pick up tickets for the Thursday night. I was hoping for stalls seats, but they only had 2 together and we needed 3, so the dress circle it is.

On Thursday night, we met for Mod Pizza (first time in ages, and oh so good) before heading up to the theatre. Our seats were in the back few rows of the dress circle, but the view was pretty great. A bit further back than I normally like, but no restriction on our view.

I was surprised how the show was actually more different to the film than I had realised. There were a few numbers I didn’t know (like Me and My Baby), which was a bit strange, and some of the characters were developed quite differently (like Mary Sunshine, who has a bigger role in the musical and her own plot twist). The staging was very minimalist in design, with the band on stage and a row of chairs either side. This shrunk the size of the stage and meant it felt like a cabaret show rather than a fully staged production. In fact, this works in its favour, as it gives it a 20s pared back vibe.

The performances were solid, but I didn’t feel as if there were any standouts. Sarah Soetaert (Roxie Hart) was actually better than I expected her to be based on the opening number. She was actually rather funny and hit all her laugh lines (although the audience didn’t seem to get them all), and I loved how sassy Josefina Gabrielle (Velma Kelly) was. She was the most like her film character, I think. Paul Rider (Amos Hart) was great and had everyone’s sympathy for Mister Cellophane as well as the rest of the show. The current draw for ‘famous person in Chicago’ is Todrick Hall, who I don’t know at all. His acting was great and vocally he was very strong, but he clearly comes from a pop singing background rather than musical theatre, and it didn’t quite gel with the tone of the show. There were two standout performances for me. One was Mazz Murray (Matron Mama Morton - all those M’s!), who I had seen before back in 2008 in We Will Rock You (she played Killer Queen and was great). Her performance was just sexy enough and she has a brilliant rasp to her voice which she was able to pull out, as well as a huge deep belt which blew me away. Her accent did let it down a little though (I think that was true in general, as the 20s Chicago accent is quite grating to listen to) but I think her performance was one of the best. The other performance which I really enjoyed was A D Richardson (Mary Sunshine). Aside from Mary Sunshine having a bigger role in the show than in the movie, vocally she was absolutely brilliant, with a massive range and crazy over-the-top enthusiasm for reformed sinners. I definitely didn’t see the twist coming though (no spoilers here!)

I think the absolute best thing though was the band. On stage for the whole show, there were spaces for the actors to fit in with the band for some parts of the show, and the were such a great band. They also really hammed it up and enjoyed every second of being on stage. I do think its a great sign (but a bad one for the cast, I guess) when the band gets a bigger cheer at the end than the cast at the curtain call! They really enhanced the atmosphere overall and added to the experience.

All in all, I’m glad I went but I definitely don’t need to go again. Worth it once though!

Hoping my next trip will be to see Bill Bailey do comedy (before Christmas), then home to Australia for Christmas!