Theatre Review - Chicago

Having booked tickets for this show in November, one can only imagine the excitement and anticipation that went into watching this at the magnificent Esplanade Theatre. Our seats were excellent, in the middle of the floor, literally. So, without further ado, it is on with the show.

And the brillant Aussie cast did not disappoint. From the amazing choreography of all the dance sequences to the amazing band that spent the entire time of stage, it was a great musical experience. It amazed me how much like a younger Madonna "Roxie" looked. Also amazing was the 8 foot tall (or so it seemed) Kitty, who literally had legs that went on for miles and a six-pack that would make any Manhunt contestant cringe in shame.

The ensemble cast did it for me more than any of the main parts, their collective talents going into making Chicago the great production that it is. Like the band, they too spent their off-stage time, on stage, sitting in chairs next to the wings and watching the actors like it was the first time they had seen this musical.

Of course no show is ever perfect and this one had its down moments too. Not too many, thankfully and probably none that will be noticed by the average audience member.

For one, Velma looked a little winded about halfway into the 1st half and when she lifted that obviously-too-heavy chair above her head, I really thought she was gonna brain herself in the head. It was a bit worrying, because they were only 3 days into the run, and she already looked sligghtly tired. Maybe it was the jetlag.

The other thing was this. While it is great that they had a black man in the production, they might have wanted to check if he could do a Mid-western accent before they gave him lines! It kind of ruined it for me that he had sort of Jamiacan-immigrant meets Cockney accent. Messed with my suspension of disbelief, as it were.

And yes, that was really his butt. He had a good coloured man butt. Get over it. Sheesh.(Sorry, a bit of passive agression there. But you won't beleive how much conversation that poor man's posterior elicited.)

If you have seen it yet, please go. The movie can't even compare, Richard Gere notwithstanding:)

Showing at the esplanade till 9 May 2010.