Theater review
All choreographers have a style, but no one had capital-S Style quite like Bob Fosse.
That inimitable Fosse style — isolated limbs, sharp silhouettes and arms that flow like sea anemones in a current — is still one of the stars of “Chicago,” the nationally touring musical now running at The 5th Avenue Theatre. The tour is the first production presented under a new alliance between 5th Avenue and Seattle Theatre Group.
But choreography doesn’t exist without dancers to dance it, and watching this talented “Chicago” cast deliver is a treat.
Set in our title city in the late 1920s, “Chicago” centers on accused murderer and vaudeville star Velma Kelly (Claire Marshall), who dominates the city’s headlines until Roxie Hart (Ellie Roddy) shoots her own lover and knocks Velma out of the top slot. Both clamber to stay in the papers with the help of the oily and charming celebrity lawyer Billy Flynn (Max Cervantes), opportunistic warden Mama Morton (Illeana “illy” Kirven) and, in Roxie’s case, her milquetoast husband Amos (Marc Christopher, who the audience could not get enough of).
It’s a fun and sexy reminder that our national obsession with true crime and dedication to becoming famous by any means possible goes back a long, long way. As has our certainty that our own behavior is always the classy option, and anyone who changes the game is deeply déclassé.
John Kander and Fred Ebb’s musical, based on a 1926 play of the same name by Maurine Dallas Watkins, debuted on Broadway in 1975 and ran until 1977.
This revival, directed by Walter Bobbie and choreographed in the style of Fosse by Ann Reinking (with the exception of the number “Hot Honey Rag,” which features original Fosse choreography), opened in 1996 and is still running on Broadway today. (So that’s how long William Ivey Long’s Tony-nominated costumes have kept the black mesh fabric industry in business.)
“Chicago” is structured much like a vaudeville act, galloping from musical number to musical number without much scenework in between. From the first notes of “All That Jazz,” you get on this ride from hit to hit to hit. “Cell Block Tango,” starring the six merry murderesses of the Cook County Jail? Delish. “We Both Reached for the Gun,” in which Billy plays Roxie like a marionette? Delightful.
The onstage band, led by Andy Chen (who is also a delightful presence in the show), ably backs up the fabulous cast, particularly Marshall as the silken-voiced, world-weary Velma and Roddy’s ruthless, new-fame Roxie.
There were a few weaker spots — Cervantes sang Flynn beautifully but felt somewhat artificial (and not in the way a charming lawyer should feel artificial), and not all of the ensemble members are as strong at acting as they are at dancing. But the only real disappointment was that some sort of lighting bar or other equipment obscured my view of the stage surface (and therefore dancers’ feet), which is too bad for a dance-heavy show.
But none of that obscures how much fun it is to watch these climbers climb, get swept up in this cultural circus and find yourself cheering for these criminals. What fun is rooting for the good guys, anyway?
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