Classic Chicago at PPAC

Chicago currently holds the record for the longest-running show on Broadway, with 10,500 performances, and the current touring show is an exact replica of the revival that has been running on Broadway since1996.  It’s delightful to be able to see this classic production without having to travel to New York and the cast is across the board exceptional.

Chicago is a story of fame, infamy, murder and jazz set in 1920s Chicago, and focuses on Velma Kelly and Roxie Hart–two women who have killed their spouses and found themselves on Cook County Prison’s death row.  With the help of  fame-chasing lawyer Billy Flynn, the women try to gain acquittal and parlay their tabloid notoriety into careers on the Vaudeville circuit.

Because Chicago is such a well-known production–even if you haven’t seen the stage version, the film won the Best Picture Academy Award in 2003, seeing it often feels like revisiting an old friend.  What’s particularly fun about this version of the show is that while it still retains the polish of a Broadway musical, it also adapts to each new cast much more than other shows of this caliber. To wit, I’ve seen this version twice in New York, each time with a different cast, and it’s always a fresh experience.  The touchstones are reliably there–we know that All that Jazz and Cell Block Tango are going to whip the audience into wild applause every time, but each performance of “Roxie” is unique to the actress playing it. 

This production’s Roxie, Ellie Roddy, brings a delightful shrewdness to the role.  Roxie is always an operator, looking out for number one, but Roddy’s blase’ hauteur, particularly in her initial scenes with Velma lands very well.  She still brings us the giddiness the comes with her new flush of fame, but seems somewhat savvier than other Roxies I’ve seen, which makes her pregnancy announcement at the end of Act I seem more strategic than impulsive.

Taylor Lane’s Velma is the perfect counterpart to Roxie. Lane’s voice is somehow both sultry and bright, and it’s a pleasure to listen to.  She hits all the classic Velma notes–vamping her way through All that Jazz and executing high kicks with seemingly no effort at all.  She and Roddy also bring a somewhat more palpable frenemy vibe to the relationship between Velma and Roxie that’s subtle but effective.

Connor Sullivan as a deliciously smarmy Billy Flynn, Illeana “Illy” Kirven as Mama, and Andrew Metzger as Amos  round out the rest of the main cast, and all are perfectly cast.  Sullivan in particular seems to be reveling in Flynn’s worst attributes and it’s very satisfying to watch.

Chicago is a classic for a reason, and this current tour is a delightful treat sure to stoke nostalgia and deliver some new surprises.

Chicago plays at Providence Performing Arts Center May 2-4.  Tickets start at $47 and are available at PPACRI.ORG

Photo Credit: Jeremy Daniel

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