'Doing the rounds' among the amateur societies at the moment is the ever-popular Kander and Ebb masterpiece, 'Chicago', and this evening it was the turn of Oldham's Congress Players to proudly present their version at Oldham College's Grange Theatre.
'Chicago' tells the story of two murderesses in the Chicago of the 1920s who end up starring in a Vaudeville double-act upon their release from prison and becoming famous. The Muscial is based on a 1926 novel, which was, in itself, based on real cases, where for a time at least, if you were female, and lived in Chicago, you could, quite literally, get away with murder.
Congress Players had chosen the 'traditonal' approach to presenting the musical this evening. A bare set, ameliorated only by chairs, was the main acting space, whilst behind this and high on a rostra was the live band and a balcony, accessed by a staircase on either side. Underneath this rostra was a curtained tunnel-like entrance. Lighting played an important role in the mood and ambiance of the show, and as much of the decor is black, as well as most of the costumes, it needed to be creative and spectacular; which for the most part it was.
The traditional elements of this production followed in true Vaudeville fashion, and the ensemble dancers as well as the principal jailbirds were all dressed in the now iconic sexy black lingerie throughout, and their choreography was very much a homage to the originator of this Musical's dances, the Broadway legend, Bob Fosse.
Despite having seen this show more times than I care to remember, there were still a few very nice surprises in store for me, as director John Wood was not afriad of putting his own personal stamp and sesne of humour into the production. The dead body outline of Fred Casely was one of several moments which truly made this show an original. I also very much applauded the idea of making just one person a dedicated narrator, namely Paul Ryan as MC. This worked much better than I have seen in previous productions which have either had a single MC or used several, or even (and I cringe at this), used just voice-overs.
There were some things though which didn't work quite as well for the society and the staging as perhaps they should have. The biggest problem for me was their decision to use a thrust stage format and have audience on three sides of their main playing area. The vast majority of dialogue, songs, and choreography were performed to the central front section. Seated as I was more than half-way along one of the sides, I was having a completely different and lesser experience than those in the front section. Also the use - and perhaps overuse - of the balcony in front of the band was not always optimal, as we were able to see directly behind the "Adultery" banner, when we shouldn't have been able to, and certain scenelets which were played up there would have had a greater and more meaningful impact had they been done in full view on the main stage.
The acting / singing / dancing of the comapny was, in the vast majority, excellent; despite the mic levels not being correct this evening (although that can be easily sorted for further performances).
Laura Meredith Hoyle (Roxie Hart), Amy Mason (Velma Kelly) and Gareth Smith (Billy Flynn), all gave very noteworthy performances proving to be very talented actors/actresses; however, for me, Jack Hawkins deserves the most praise, as his role as Mary Sunshine was simply one of the best interpretations of this role I have ever seen (professionally included).
The music was given a truly authentic sound by MD Paul Firth, and overall this is a production of which the society can feel extremely proud. Had more attention been given to the staging, or indeed a different stage configuration been used, then it would have been a stunning show.
Reviewer - Matthew Dougall
on - 5/11/19
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