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The great thing about bringing a musical like Ebb, Kander and Fosse’s “Chicago” to any theater anywhere is that it’s so purely Broadway, there is little room for disappointment.
The great thing about bringing it to a grand venue like the Saenger Theater in New Orleans is that the show gets every chance to meet its glorious potential, allowing a first-class theatrical experience from curtain to intermission to curtain call, and final reluctant emergence into the real world.
Little needs to be said about the play itself, other than a mention of its fascinating transformation from a journalist’s satire of public fascination with murderous Windy City women and the spectacle their trials had become back in the 1920s – as a static stage-play – to the jazzy, all-singing, all-dancing spectacle that burst onto Broadway in 1975.
Bowler hats, turned-in knees and jazz-hands, the late and great Bob Fosse’s choreographic signatures, are iconic to this show, whose campy score has doubtless launched thousands of would-be Broadway babies from their Midwestern farms to New York’s Port Authority Bus Terminal and eventual stardom or despair.
This production’s female stars will in no way be confused with Gwen Verdon and Chita Rivera, who first gave life to Velma and Roxy on the Broadway stage. But their performances are nonetheless more than adequate.
Bianca Marroquin, despite well-documented experience with the role of Roxie Hart, gives a performance that is enjoyable, though vocally uneven. Her comic timing is on point, and as a dancer she is super, although paucity of energy in several songs tends to distract.
Terra C. MacLeod’s Velma Kelly makes up for Marroquin’s iron-poor spots, however. She is equally adept as a hoofer, comedienne and singer, with a perfectly utilized Merman-esque flair in just the right places.
Veteran Roz Ryan’s Matron “Mama” Morton is a show-stealer, and rather than appear weary for all her performances in so many productions of “Chicago” – more than any leading actress in the show’s entire history – she projects pure excitement.
John O’Hurley plays the razzling, dazzling barrister Billy Flynn, who shamelessly pimps his fem fatalle clients off to the press. Recognizable for his role as J. Peterman on the TV comedy “Seinfeld,” O’Hurley takes command of the stage and has the presence required for the part. Some minor timing issues between O’Hurley and the on-stage orchestra strain an otherwise flawless performance, but are likely a case of opening-night kinks.
Jacob Keith Watson as Roxie’s hapless husband, Amos Hart, is theatrical perfection. Ironically, the man who says he is “Mr. Cellophane … look right through me, walk right by me and not even know I’m there” is a stand-out.
Jesse Kissel conducts the show’s well-synched orchestra, whose performance brings the show home to its ragtime roots.
Overall, any of the show’s minor glitches are easily overcome by a cast, from headliners to chorus, that appears to be having a whole lot of fun.The resulting audience experience should make you leave the august Saenger Theater itching to paint the town, and all that jazz.
“Chicaco” rungs through Sunday evening. Tickets are available at the theater box office or via Ticketmaster. Seats range from $40 to $104.
Terra C. MacLeod’s Velma shines in “Chicago,” which is onstage through Sunday at the Saenger Theater in New Orleans.
