The 1996 Broadway revival of Chicago is now the longest currently running show there, following the closure of the 1988 Broadway production of The Phantom of the Opera in April 2023. And so, this is one of those reviewer-proof shows that will draw in the crowds as it has done since it premiered on Broadway in 1975. Or is it? The house on opening night at Wimbledon was unusually quiet – at the interval, I spoke to other members of the press at normal conversational volume rather than shouting myself hoarse whilst jostling for space in the foyer. Someone in the row behind me gasped at the very start of the show, with one person dressed comfortably for a song-and-dance number, and by no means ‘scantily clad’. I don’t know what they were expecting coming to see Chicago – it’s not exactly set in a nunnery.
Here, the outcome of Roxie Hart’s (Janette Manrara) trial is as predictable as night follows day. Elsewhere, however, Hunyak (Lucy-Anne Stacey) does not have access to top lawyers of the calibre of Billy Flynn (Darren Day). With a limited command of the English language and a public lawyer who was nonchalant at best when it came to defending her, her story ends very differently but just as predictably. The scales of justice in the United States can be very oddly weighted. Not that Britain is any better, but that’s another conversation for another time.
Okay, so don’t bother coming to Chicago for the storyline. What else is there? In this production, an on-stage band, ably directed by Neil MacDonald, even gets up and dances during a lively Entr’acte. The costumes are sufficiently glittery, though in terms of ‘razzle dazzle’, some other shows do it better, Kinky Boots and 42nd Street in particular. The minimalist set, however, means that everything is set in what the musical revue Forbidden Broadway once referred to as “non-specific every place” – the courthouse and the vaudeville show venue, and everywhere else, look the same.
Brenda Edwards as Matron ‘Mama’ Morton came across as more of a safe space to confide in than the title ‘matron’ would usually suggest. But she makes the most of the role. Jordan Lee Davies as Mary Sunshine, best described as a gossip columnist (Roxie Hart is a star of vaudeville, y’see, as is Djalenga Scott’s Velma Kelly, the show being set in the interwar period), was delightfully playful. But it says something when for all the efforts to bring glitz and glamour, the most charming moment came during ‘Mr Cellophane’, sung by Amos Hart (Joshua Lloyd), a much-maligned character who struggles to be noticed so much he feels he has some sort of cloak of invisibility which he can’t get rid of.
Sleazy, yes. Sexy? Well, frankly, no. You’d probably see more seduction in an episode of Strictly Come Dancing, let alone Love Island. As a satire on the pervasiveness of corruption in the criminal justice system and the manipulative tactics of mainstream media, it’s a sad indictment on the supposedly more progressive times in which we live that not much, if anything, has changed for the better. The standing ovation at the performance I attended left me feeling that I have a minority viewpoint on this production. Still, some questionable American accents (no names) didn’t help, and there wasn’t enough (for my liking, anyway) of Bob Fosse’s distinctive style in this production’s choreography. A serviceable and just about satisfactory evening out, nothing more and nothing less.
Review by Chris Omaweng
Set amidst the razzle-dazzle decadence of the 1920s, Chicago is the story of Roxie Hart, a housewife and nightclub dancer who murders her on-the-side lover after he threatens to walk out on her. Desperate to avoid conviction, she dupes the public, the media and her rival cellmate, Velma Kelly, by hiring Chicago’s slickest criminal lawyer to transform her malicious crime into a barrage of sensational headlines, the likes of which might just as easily be ripped from today’s tabloids.
CAST in order of appearance
Go-to-Hell Kitty – Jessica Keable
Velma Kelly – Djalenga Scott
Roxie Hart – Janette Manrara
Fred Casely – Josh Crowther
Sergeant Fogarty / Judge – Jacob McLay Reid
Amos Hart – Joshua Lloyd
Liz – Annabelle Laing
Annie – Victoria Anderson
June – Ria Tanaka
Hunyak – Lucy-Anne Stacey
Mona – Bethany Adamson
Matron ‘Mama’ Morton – Brenda Edwards
Billy Flynn – Darren Day
Mary Sunshine – Jordan Lee Davies
Doctor / Jury – Joe Dale
Aaron – Robin Kent
Bailiff – George Olney
Clerk – Matthew Sweet
Martin Harrison – Jonathan Milton
McVickers – Robin Kent
Lyrics by Fred Ebb
Music by John Kander
Book by Fred Ebb and Bob Fosse
Original production directed and choreographed by Bob Fosse
Based on the play by Maurine Dallas Watkins
Director: Walter Bobbie
Choreographer: Ann Reinking
Set Design: John Lee Beatty
Costume Design: William Ivey Long
Lighting Design: Ken Billington
Script Adaptation: David Thopson
UK Tour Musical Director: Neil MacDonald
David Ian for Crossroads Live and Michael Watt in association with Barry and Fran Weissler present
CHICAGO
New Wimbledon Theatre, 9 to 14 June 2025
UK tour continues to 30 August 2025
Book Tickets for New Wimbledon Theatre
