|
|
|
 "Welcome. Ladies and Gentlemen, you are about to see a story of murder,
greed, corruption, violence, exploitation, adultery, and treachery - all
those things we all hold near and dear to our hearts. Thank you." |
|
|
So begins Chicago The Musical... and creators John Kander,
Fred Ebb and Bob Fosse never back off from their bold and sinister
promise. The kiss-and-tell tale of Roxie Hart, a nightclub dancer who
kills her lover; Velma Kelly the glamorous double-murderess vying to keep
her press supremacy; and Billy Flynn, the slick lawyer who has the power
to keep them from death row and make them in to stars. |
|
|
Lynda's
stage roles hasn't been exactly prolific. With the exception of her
school plays, she has only be seen on "THE VAGINA MONOLOGUES" back
in 2002. But this time the London producers of the world-acclaimed
musical gave Lynda such a great opportunity which undoubtedly adds
prestige to her résumé. |
|
|
Chicago
The Musical is based in the roaring 1920's with lots of hot jazz -
and cold-blooded killers!... songs include 'All That Jazz', 'Funny
Honey', 'Mr Cellophane', 'Nowadays' and 'Razz- |
|
|
|
le Dazzle'. Lynda's
role is that of Mama Morton and she sings such tunes as "Nobody's
Got No Class" and "When You're Good To Mama, Mama's Good To You". |
|
|
Lynda signed for an 8-week season to play
the role of jail-matron Mama Morton, the
merciless jailer of Roxie Hart, Velma Kelly and
the other bad-girls behind the bars in
"CHICAGO". |
|
|
Beginning in
September 26,
Lynda replaces
Zee Asha, and
becomes the latest in a line of stars to join the cast of the
musical which will celebrate its 8th anniversary on
November 8.
The role was also played by, among others, Alison Moyet on stage,
and by Queen Latifah in the big-screen version, a role which earned
her an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress. Lynda will be
joined by Sally Ann Triplett as Roxie, Amra-Faye Wright as Velma,
Terence Maynard as Billy Flynn, and Victor McGuire as Amos
Hart. |
|
|
 |
 |
|
|
|
"Come on, Babe. Why don't we paint the town? And All
That Jazz. I'm gonna rouge my knees. And roll my stockings down. And
All That Jazz. Start the car. I know a whoopee spot. Where the gin is
cold. But the piano's hot. It's just a noisy hall. Where there's a
nightly brawl. And All That Jazz!" |
|
|
|
 Chicago
is a musical by John Kander and Fred Ebb with book by Fred Ebb and
Bob Fosse based on the play by Maurine Dallas Watkins. Directed by
Walter Bobbie with choreography by Ann Reinking in the style of Bob
Fosse, scenic design by John Lee Beatty, costume design by William
Ivey Long, lighting by Ken Billington and sound by Rick Clarke. |
|
|
|
Based on an actual incident. The story of Chicago relates how
sensational press coverage of the trial of Roxie Hart, who murdered
her lover in 1920s Chicago, led to her acquittal and launched her on
a show-business career. The Story of Chicago has had several
incarnations, including a 1926 Broadway play by the reporter who
covered the original trial and two film versions - one starring
Ginger Rogers. |
|
|
|
The current production made its debut back in 1996 in Broadway and
multiplied its success from Mexico to Buenos Aires, from Düsseldorf
to London, from Amsterdam to Vienna, from Berlin to Lisbon, from
Munich to Basel, from Sydney to Tokyo. The British version made its
debut in London's West End at the Adelphi Theatre one year after the
American version with equal success. The Broadway production won 6
1997 Tony Awards including 'Best Revival of a Musical', 'Best
Lighting Design', 'Best Choreography' and 'Best Direction of a
Musical'. Chicago has now been razzle-dazzling London audiences for
almost eight years. Here's your chance to see stylish showmanship
live on stage. In 1998, the musical won the Olivier Award for
Outstanding Musical Production. |
|
|
|
"As close to musical theatre heaven as you are likely
to get" The News of The World
|
|
|
|
"The story of Velma and Roxie is a peg, in Walter Bobbie's dazzingly
coherent production, for a series of vaudeville routines - songs, dances
and wisecracks - presented in front of an on-stage band. It's a smart
retort to the blockbuster musical. Sometimes the songs are as sparely
focused as a concert performance. Sometimes the dance numbers are as
raunchy as a floorshow. Either way, what Chicago describes is not
a world but a process. And it does it in the language of cabaret - which
brings on all those s-words: sassy, sexy, seductive, sensual, sinuous,
sleazy, slinky, sophisticated and sultry... Chicago The Musical
is an excellent night out." The Independent on Sunday |
|
|
|
"Chicago The Musical, a show about the corrupting power of
publicity, has lived up to its own. This much-trumpeted and trumpeting
show at the Adelphi is an almost seamless chain of brassy high spots...
The first good decision of the director Waiter Bobble is to dispense with
any attempt at naturalism. This is a song-and-dance show, not a musical
play. The band is on stage, framed in a tilting golden rectangle" The
Observer |
|
|
|
"This great production of a magnificent show brings the
old razzle-dazzle back to the West End with a vengeance" The
Daily Telegraph |
|
|
|
"The story is straightforward, improbable but acidly credible... Of
course, Chicago is not a realistic musical in the sense that
Oklahoma!, say, or Company are realistic musicals. No,
this is a piece of hugely enjoyable fantasy send-up... Kander and Ebb
show, and they play on, a disillusioned awareness of sleaze and dirty
dealings in both high places arid low... You might begin to think that
Kander and Ebb have simply loaded their work with 'Significance'. In
actual fact, Chicago can make you think, and bitterly, but it is also
hugely enjoyable: a showstopping show, a gaudy, glorious, glittering hit.
One of the best things in it is Ann Reinking's superbly imaginative
choreography." The Sunday Times |
|
|
|
"Chicago The Musical tells the story of Roxie Hart, who shoots
her lover when he ditches her. It should have been curtains for Roxie, but
she finds a shameless, flashy lawyer in the business of defending the
indefensible or anything else - for a fat fee... The verdict on this show
will, I suspect, he unanimous. Kill for a ticket. (There's bound to be a
lawyer out there who'll get you off.)" The Mail on Sunday |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
As
the OVERTURE ends, we're introduced to Velma Kelly -a
vaudevillian who shot the other half of her sister act when
she caught her husband with her sister. Velma invites us to
sample ALL THAT JAZZ while showing us the story of chorus
girl Roxie Hart's cold-blooded murder of nightclub regular
Fred Casely. Roxie convinces her husband Amos that the
victim was a burglar, and he cheerfully takes the rap. |
|
|
|
Roxie expresses her appreciation in song (FUNNY HONEY) until
the police reveal to Amos that Roxie knew the burglar, shall
we say, intimately, and Amos decides to let her swing for
herself. Roxie's first taste of the criminal justice system
is the women's block in Cook County Jail, inhabited by Velma
and other merry murderesses (CELL BLOCK TANGO). The women's
jail is presided over by Matron "Mama" Morton whose system
of mutual aid (WHEN YOU'RE GOOD TO MOMMA) perfectly suits
her clientele. She has helped Velma become the media's top
murderer-of-the-week and is acting as booking agent for
Velma's big return to vaudeville (after her acquittal,
naturally.) |
|
|
|
|
Velma is not happy to see Roxie, who is stealing not only her
limelight but her lawyer, Billy Flynn. Eagerly awaited by his
all-girl clientele, Billy sings his anthem, complete with a chorus
of fan-dancers to prove that (quote) (ALL I CARE ABOUT IS LOVE.)
Billy takes Roxie's case and re-arranges her story for consumption
by sympathetic tabloid columnist Mary Sunshine, who always tries to
find A LITTLE BIT OF GOOD in everyone. Roxie's press conference
turns into a ventriloquist act with Billy dictating a new version of
the truth (WE BOTH REACHED FOR THE GUN) while Roxie mouths the
words. Roxie becomes the new toast of Chicago and Velma's headlines,
trial date and career are left in the dust. Velma tries to talk
Roxie into recreating the sister act (I CAN'T DO IT ALONE) but Roxie
turns her down, only to find her own headlines replaced by the
latest sordid crime of passion. Separately, Roxie and Velma realize
there's no one they can count on but themselves (MY OWN BEST
FRIEND), and the ever-resourceful Roxie decides that being pregnant
in prison would put her back on the front page. |
|
|
|
Back after the ENTR'ACTE, Velma cannot believe Roxie's continual run
of luck (I KNOW A GIRL) despite Roxie's obvious falsehoods (ME AND
MY BABY). A little shy on the arithmetic, Amos proudly claims
paternity, and still nobody notices him, MR. CELLOPHANE. Velma
desperately tries to show Billy all the tricks she's got planned for
her trial (WHEN VELMA TAKES THE STAND). Billy's forte may be
showmanship (RAZZLE DAZZLE), but when he passes all Velma's ideas on
to Roxie, down to the rhinestone shoe buckles, Mama and Velma lament
the demise of CLASS. As promised, Billy gets Roxie her acquittal
but, just as the verdict is given, some even more sensational crime
pulls the pack of press bloodhounds away, and Roxie's fleeting
celebrity is over. Left in the dust, she pulls herself up and extols
the joys of life NOWADAYS. She teams up with Velma in that sister
act (NOWADAYS), in which they dance their little hearts out (HOT
HONEY RAG) 'til they are joined by the entire company for the grand
FINALE. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Many
of you are already familiar with the basic story of
"Chicago"
from the movie, but for those of you who aren't... In
1929,
when
Roxie Hart
murders her lover for breaking up with her, she's sent to
prison and learns how the system really works! The prison is
run by
Matron "Mama" Norton,
and how you are treated there depends on how much you're
willing to pay Mama to make your stay more comfortable. Mama
is in cahoots with
Billy Flynn,
a highly successful but shady lawyer who, also for the right
price -part of which goes to line Mama's pockets- will
provide the best possible defence for your trial and won't
let the truth stand in the way of that defence. |
|
|
Naturally, Roxie signs up for his services, but encounters a problem
in the form of one
Velma Kelly,
another inmate who had been Billy's star project up until
then. You see, Billy's strategy for court victory is to get
his client's story into the tabloid newspapers in the
most sensationalised format possible, thus getting the
general public on their side in an
attempt to sway court proceedings. Prior to Roxie's arrival, Velma
had been the darling of the tabloid journalists, and was using the
publicity as a springboard to a glittering musical career when
she's ultimately cleared of the murder that she did, in fact,
commit. Roxie decides that whatever Velma can do, she can do better,
and the show focuses on the struggle between these two vicious
opponents and their bid for freedom and stardom. Along the way, we
meet several of the other inmates, as well as Amos Hart, Roxie's
loyal doormat husband, and Mary Sunshine, a particularly gullible
journalist who hides a secret of her own. |
|
|
|
"Chicago" is
one of the most successful stage musicals of all time, and is THE
longest-running US musical in the UK. Even if you'd never heard of
the show, you're bound to be familiar with several of its numbers,
such as "All
That Jazz",
"Razzle-Dazzle",
"Funny Honey",
"Mr.
Cellophane",
etc. For some years now, the London production has featured several
big names in various lead roles as part of an ongoing bid to hold on
to their audience. November 18th marked the show's eighth
anniversary in London's West End and, as anyone who pays any
attention to this site already knows, starred
Lynda Carter as Mama
Norton. I was
privileged to see that particular show in the second row from the
stage, dead centre. There's been a certain amount of grumbling in
the UK for a long time now that
"Chicago"
has lost a lot of its
"oomph"
and, having seen the
show twice before (but not the movie, to which I wouldn't even try
to compare a live show), I would have to agree with that sentiment,
but only in relation to the supporting cast who, at times, seemed a
little lack-lustre. All of the leads, as mentioned above, however,
were simply superb (see full list below if you're interested) but I
gotta tell ya, it was Lynda who
"razzle-dazzled"
me! |
|
|
|
I have
to confess that I was a little dubious about her as a choice for
Mama, based on previous Mamas who all seem to have been played by
big ladies, so I didn't think she'd have the physical presence for
the role. I was also a little worried that she hadn't sung on stage
since her last Vegas shows in 1987 - the human voice, like any other
musical instrument, needs to be used regularly to stay in tune. I
was wrong to worry. Very wrong. Lynda's assertion that it would come
back to her just like riding a bicycle was absolutely right. Not
only does she give a fine performance, but she has a strong stage
presence that compensates for her lack of physical stature. |
|
|
|
From the moment she steps onstage to sing her first number
"When You're Good To
Mama", you can
see that she's comfortable and confident in a live environment, and
it's obvious that she's having a whale of a time - she belts out the
number with gusto! And she looks simply stunning! All of the cast
are heavily made up. Big hair, big lips, big eyes, even big nails
are the order of the day. On someone else, this could look like a
drag queen gone wrong, but under the strong stage lights, Lynda
looks even more beautiful than ever. Dressed in a tailored man's
power suit worn over a lacy basque top, she really conveys the
impression that this is one tough broad who let nothing stand in her
rise to the top of the prison system, and was also not above using
her womanly wiles to help her on her way! |
|
|
|
Her
next number is a duet with Velma,
"Class",
which - despite singing along with someone else - really highlights
how strong her singing voice still is. It's hard to say whether it
was the contrast with
Alma-Faye Wright,
who plays Velma, or maybe it was because their voices complimented
each other particularly well, or perhaps a bit of both, but here
Lynda proves beyond any shadow of a doubt that she can more than
hold her own with seasoned West End veterans. Just as her speaking
voice has deepened over the years, so too has her singing voice and,
although it's still as sweet and clear as ever, the deeper resonance
gives her a more mature sound that is just right for the part of
Mama. |
|
|
|
Sadly,
those were her only two numbers, but she's onstage for much of the
show, interacting with most of the other characters, and I was
particularly impressed with her non-singing performance. From the
above synopsis it's obvious that Mama is a rather evil character, at
best amoral, but Lynda seems to bring much of her own personality to
the role, making her Mama a sweeter and decidedly more compassionate
one than previous incarnations. It works surprisingly well. In the
only serious part of the story, one of the inmates is due to be
hanged for murder. She has continuously protested her innocence, and
Mama is starting to believe that maybe she is actually telling the
truth. She appeals to Billy to get that inmate off the hook, but he
is more interested in his current pet project, Roxie, and when the
inmate is hanged, the sense of anguish and revulsion from
Lynda as Mama is
palpable. And,
as further confirmation of the many stories about what a consummate
professional Lynda really is, I watched her as she sat on the
sidelines out of the spotlight, and she stayed in character
throughout the entire show, reacting to everything that was
happening centre-stage (unlike the supporting cast who sat there
rather lifelessly), only coming out of character at the end of
several numbers to make a clapping motion to encourage the aucience
to applaud. Talk about a trooper!! |
|
|
|
"Chicago" is a thoroughly enjoyable musical in and of itself, but it
was greatly enhanced by Lynda's presence throughout. One can only
hope that, as a result, she will be offered more such work, and that
she herself will consider it. I know that I, for one, will be in the
front row cheering her on, regardless of where in the world it is
staged. Congratulations, Lynda, you have once again done your fans
proud! |
|
|
|
Paul
"Paraic" Kenny |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
