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Wednesday, October 6, 2004
At the Fox, ‘Chicago’
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
THEATER REVIEW: “Chicago.� Through Sunday.
To paraphrase Roxie Hart, the show on everybody’s lips this week is a certain Kander and Ebb musical with lots of brass, sass and … we can’t say it but it rhymes with “class.â€?
“Chicagoâ€? — thanks to director Rob Marshall’s Oscar-winning 2002 film — is a theatrical spectacle that needs no introduction. Choreographer Ann Reinking’s Bob Fosse-inspired 1996 revival is now the longest running show on Broadway, and on Tuesday the national tour of the ahead-of-its-time classic from 1975 arrived at the Fox Theatre.
Given that lyricist Fred Ebb died just last month, Broadway in Atlanta’s season opener seems like a particularly well-timed choice — an occasion to honor the man who, along with longtime composer-collaborator John Kander, penned the scores for “Chicago,â€? “Cabaretâ€? and more than a half-dozen other Broadway musicals.
How good was Ebb?
Well, he’s certainly the only pop writer we know who managed to rhyme “finagleâ€? and “bagel,â€? “Methusalehâ€? and “bambooz-a-lerâ€? — in the same song, no less. (See “Razzle Dazzle.â€?)
A jazz-age tale of “murder, greed, corruption, violence, exploitation, adultery and treachery,� “Chicago� ranks among the smartest musicals ever, and for the first four numbers of the Fox show, you see why.
Featuring William Ivey Long's all-black wardrobe of sheer tops and tight bottoms, Reinking and director Walter Bobbie's sexy take on the story is a flawless marriage of music and choreography. There's not a wasted note in their interpretations of the slinky “All That Jazz� and that wonder of one-liners “Cell Block Tango.� (“I fired two warning shots ... into his head.�)
But if the gin is cold and the piano's hot, the casting of this show is sometimes a tad lukewarm. As Velma Kelly, Brenda Braxton has a good voice and impeccable comedic timing, while Bianca MarroquÃn (as Roxie Hart) is an agile singer and dancer who captures the essence of her character's mix of vulnerability and vim.
And yet neither actress has the mankiller looks you equate with their femme fatale stage counterparts.
Fortunately, Gregory Harrison, famous for his work on TV's “Trapper John, M.D.,� cuts an elegant figure as sheister attorney Billy Flynn. Ray Bokhour lends that perfect hangdog sadness to the part of loser Amos Hart (“Mister Cellophane�). And Roz Ryan makes a mighty fierce Matron “Mama� Morton.
A fierce belter with a voice that can fill the Fox, Ryan’s Morton has a power ponytail, plenty of attitude and she knows how to spice up a pun. Example: “They say that life is tit for tat ... So I deserve a lot of tat.�
In sum, this “Chicago� — with its simple band-shell box of a set by “Color Purple� designer John Lee Beatty — deserves all the attention it will no doubt get. If you've never seen this sensational musical performed live and in the flesh, it would be a crime to miss it.
THE VERDICT: “It’s good, isn’t it? Grand, isn’t it?
8 p.m. Wednesday-Saturday. 2 p.m. Saturday. 1 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. Sunday. $23-$57. Broadway in Atlanta, Fox Theatre, 660 Peachtree St. N.E., Atlanta. 404-817-8700, www.foxtheatre.org.
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