You might say that “Chicago,” the hit Broadway show, still has “legs.”
Add elbows, and arms, and wrists, and fingers.
The show, the final installment of the “Broadway in Hawaii” series, opened last night (Dec. 2) at the Blaisdell Concert Hall, and received a genuine, hearty, and roaring welcome.
The applause — loud and proud — was constant for the elbows, arms, wrists and fingers, a trademark of the legendary Bob Fosse, long associated with “Chicago.”
“Chicago” has become the longest-running American musical running on Broadway, and the hit show –this national touring company — is in residency through Sunday.
If you’ve never seen “Chicago,“ it’s still a dandy.
Why you might go see this one:
C horeography – Ann Reinking has retained the original Bob Fosse style, and Gregory Butler recreated the original choreography. Fosse is the legendary dance wizard, whose trademark style taps succinct movements of elbows and wrists and fingers. His presence is all over the place, and but credit is merely a wee, teeny note in the playbill. Oldtimers will recognize the Fosse finery, but I fear the younger generation is unaware of his lofty status and style.
H it tunes – the music fuels the action, , thanks to the songwriting team of Fred Ebb (lyrics) a John Kander (music), who collaborated on the book. The popular, inventive songs in the score include “All That Jazz,” “Cell Block Tango,” “When You’re Good to Mama,” “Razzle Dazzle,” “Mister Cellophane,” “Class,” and “Nowadays.”
I ntensity – There is terrific interaction of the singing and dancing actors, who excel in the numerous e
nsemble numbers, with even the orchestra members roped into many numbers. This version feeds off the orchestral crew, too, because they’re not in the pit, but in the midst of the action, surrounded by key entrances and exits of the performers.
C harisma – The interaction and reaction are possible because of the pent-up emotion the ranks, and the stage is like a cabaret club, with singers chirping amid the musicians, creating solid bonds.
A ttitude – The feeling among the performers and even among the audience is that this is borrows from such show biz facets as a speakeasy, a vaudeville show, a nightclub without a curtain, for the most part, to separate performers from spectators.
G rit – The hodgepodge of characters yields a community of curious denizens: fame-seeking murderesses on death row, a somewhat corrupt prison warden, newspaper reporters, a judge, jury members, law officials, and more.
O xygen – The splendid cast members are the ingredients of this stew, and their actions and acting styles, provide oxygen and flavors to the fray. The feuding murderesses are Claire Marshall as Velma Kelly and Ellie Roddy as Roxy Hart; Max Cervantes is lawyer Billy Flynn, Illieana “illy” Kirven is Mama Morton the jail matron; Amos Hart is Roxy’s husband, and J. Clanton is murder trial reporter Mary Sunshine.
FYI, the original “Chicago” – a commercial and critical triumph –bowed in 1975 with Gwen Verdon as Roxie Hart and Chita Rivera as Velma Kelly. Bob Fosse directed and choreographed.
This version of “Chicago,” reimaging the Fosse version and retaining his signature dance moves is 25 years old…but still has a lot of life.
So, in actuality, “Chicago” is 50 years old.
Remaining performances will be at 7:30 p.m. today (Wednesday) and tomorrow (Thursday). 8 p.m. Friday (Dec. 5), 2 and 8 p.m. Saturday (Dec. 6) and 1 and 6:30 p.m. Sunday (Dec. 7).
Tickets: $50 to $156, available at the Blaisdell Concert Hall and www.ticketmaster.com
‘Hamilton’ exceeds $4.8 million gross
Christmas arrived early this year for the cast, crew and investors of “Hamiton,” since the megahit Tony Award musical grosses an awesome $4.88 miilion, for the week ending Nov. 30. The Thanksgiving crowd surely contributed to the amazing ticket sales.
“Harry Potter,” “Wicked,” and “The Lion King’ continued their secondary sweep.
The Top 10:
1—”Hamilton,” $4.877 million
2—”Harry Potter and the Cursed Child,” $3.152 million
3—”Wicked,” “$3.012 million
4—”The Lion King,” $2.787 million
5—”Chess,” $2.066 million
6—”Mamma Mia!,” $2.020 million
7—“Aladdin,” $1.716 million
8—”MJ, the Musical,” $1.595 million
9—”The Outsider,” $1.562 million
10—“Ragtime,” $1.461million
The complete list, courtesy the Broadway Guild:
And that’s Show Biz…