Review of Chicago The Musical (Broadway in Chicago)

Once upon a time I went to a show and it was called Chicago. It was directed by David Hyslop and it was choreographed by David Bushman. The book was by Fred Ebb and Bob Fosse. Music was by John Kander and lyrics were by Fred Ebb. It was about a girl named Roxy Hart (Bianca Marroquin) who went to jail for murder; she shot someone (Jon-Paul Mateo) who broke up with her. It was still murder, but it was not like she had no reason to do it. But it still was not a good reason to murder someone. It is about murder, adultery, exploitation, and wanting to be a celebrity. This was a sexier show than I am used to, and that made me feel uncomfortable for some of it, but I still really liked a lot of parts of it.

Roxy was different than I expected her to be--in a good way. I thought that she seemed nicer than I thought she would be. I liked how she seemed very happy all the time, even though she was in jail. I actually wanted her to have the baby because she seemed like even though she was kind of inappropriate sometimes she could be a good mom. Even if she were in the worst of circumstances she would still be enthusiastic and wouldn't give up hope. I loved when she said, "The audience loves me, and I love them" and she she did this hugging movement. She was just lovable all the time even though she wasn't exactly the best person. I laughed at a lot of the things she said and did, like when she gave the conductor (Jesse Kissel) her paper that said "Roxy Rocks Chicago!" and she was like, "Look at it. You can look at it for a while. Just take it for a little bit." And while he looked at her paper, she was like, "I'll take over the orchestra." She just waved the baton around randomly and at some moments she would do a little shaking of her butt. She's just so lovable; she's like comedy relief.

Billy Flynn (John O'Hurley) was her lawyer, and he wasn't exactly the best person. And he actually made Roxy a worse person. When you first meet him, he is singing about how all he cares about is love. He cares about love, but what he really cares about is money. The dance number around him I thought was really cool because it seemed like it was really from that time period, the 1920s. Feather dancing was popular in that time.

Amos Hart (Ron Orbach) was Roxy's husband. And he called himself Mr. Cellophane because you could look right at him and never know he's there. That means nobody noticed him. This is probably one of my favorite characters. You felt sorry for him all the time and you wanted to give him attention because he'd never gotten any. Well, he got some from his wife, but just for his wife to give him attention is not enough. I think this performer was really great at this part, even though he probably got more attention in real life, and I thought he did a great job at being sad.

Velma Kelly (Terra C. MacLeod) was Roxy's enemy and friend. I liked how at the end it seemed like after a few years they actually became friends. I liked how she wanted Roxy to be part of the act that she and her sister did. But her sister was dead, also known as she killed her because she was making out with her husband. Velma wanted Roxy to be her friend but only so she would get some attention too. I really liked the song. "When Velma Takes the Stand." It was a cool song because she was very overdramatic. And then at the end, Roxy said, "Can I make a slight bit of criticism?" And then she says, "It stinks!"

People who would like this show are people who like Mr. Cellophane, feather dancing, and lovable murderers. I think this show should be for people 13 and up. I can see it because I am more immune to sexiness than most nine year olds. It is great for grown-ups and teenagers because it is funny, all the dancing is very flexible, and there are things that people in that age range will like better than people in my age range. I think that people should definitely go see this show. It is very fun.

Photos: Jeremy Daniel