Wednesday 16 March 2022

AMATEUR THEATRE REVIEW: Chicago - The Evans Theatre, Wilmslow.


The musical, 'Chicago' is loosely based on fact. The city of the same name was a notorious hot-bed of crime, but the populace seemed to refute the idea that a woman could be as culpable as a man, and so 47 years went by between female hangings. In that time, those women who were, shall we say, criminally inclined, tended to capitalise on this, and indeed a few did find fame and fortune through the Vaudeville circuit because of their crimes and infamous trials. Kander and Ebb's book and music is filled with the music, style, and general feel of that early 20th century era, and is actually written to be performed as an extended Vaudeville ["Music Hall"] sketch.

The performers in this evening's show by Tempo at The Evans Theatre in Wilmslow were all youths - in fact, I have been reliably informed that only one of the performers was 17, with everyone else on stage being younger. They therefore used the 'High School' edition of the musical, which omits some of the more saucy, sexual, and profane references. [It does weaken the show a little in my opinion, and let's face it, there wouldn't be anything that these youths haven't heard before, but I guess a compromise has to be struck somewhere...!]

We entered the auditorium to low-level lights and a little haze, slightly reminiscent of a 1920's jazz club, with the stage already set with "big band" allocation in the centre of the stage and rostra / steps in a large 'C' around allowing the performers to work on all four sides of the band, with the largest performance area directly in front. A large neon sign hanging from the rear proclaiming "Chicago". So far so good...

...and once the band struck up the overture and the cast and chorus entered to perform their opening number, 'All That Jazz', the show was just taken to a completely new level! In fact I stopped thinking of this show in terms of amateur youth, and started to view it as professional it was that good! To say that this opening chorus blew me away would not be an overstatement; the singing, the choroegraphy, the costuming, the band, the sass, the mood, the lights, everything all came together to absolutely wow. 

Directed by Vicki Clarkson, this was a fast-paced, slick, solid production where minimal props and costumes helped to keep the story flowing. The characters were clearly defined and the storyline clearly signposted. Clarkson did miss a few opportunities to put the cherry on the icing though, but maybe that's because I know the show so well, and that my expectations, after the opening number, had gone into the stratosphere! John Barry's musical direction was spot on throughout, and the band sounded superb. Whilst Benjamin Carter took his choreography into the realms of acrobatics and gymnastics, which were carried out flawlessly and creatively. I loved the way he brought a completely fresh dynamic to the dances without them feeling extraneous or out of the contemporary period... there were even quite a few "hat nods" to Bob Fosse in there too, and the routines and steps of the era were wonderful to watch. 'Hot Honey Rag' was amazing. And also, before I leave the choreography alone... those energetic and balletic boys.... simply incredible!

Maggie Thompson interpreted the role of Velma Kelly a little more sullenly than I have seen previously; however this really worked for her. Her po-faced scowl throughout the opening bars of 'All That Jazz' gave us a very clear indication of her character and this very much worked in her favour throughout. A powerful singer, a talented dancer and actress, she brought much to the show, and truly made Velma her own. Her 'co-star', Roxie Hart, was performed by Honor Thompson {are they sisters?}, and again showed us just exactly what a triple-threat she truly is. A truly talented performer with boundless energy, her character was excellently focussed, and I loved the puppet-on-the-knee sequence in "We Both Reached For The Gun".... I was laughing so hard at that!

Joe Butler-Smith had an easy charm and stage presence about him as lawyer Billy Flynn. He was able to be both the charming, dreamboy love-idol, and the hard-nosed money-grabbing uncaring lawyer with aplomb. A very personable actor with a lovely singing voice. Amos Hart was played by Jake Butler-Smith {are they brothers?}, and again had a lovely easy style of performance which was almost self-deprecating even before he got himself into character. I enjoyed his 'Mr Cellophane' and his on-stage relationships with both Roxie and Billy were sincere and believable. 

Other roles were taken by an equally stong cast of talented youths. Ruby Thake was a suitably on-the-take Mama Morten ["Class" was lovely]; Poppy Lloyd played a role normally (in the adult version at least) played by a male, Mary Sunshine, and Marco Dennis was Fred Casely.

The Cell Block girls were Poppy Preston, Abigail McVicker, Ella Kershaw, Keira Lambe, and Pippa Banford. I have never seen a production ever where the respective 'other halves' of these murderesses are portrayed and 'killed' during The Cell Block Tango before. I really liked this and it worked well. Also, bravo to Banford, for once the Hungarian actually sounded authentic. The 5 of them worked well together, their dances secure and exciting, their singing and acting very good. 

Sound levels were good throughout, there was much use of creative lighting too, although the areas on the side rostra and the small steps leading to the rear rostra were frequently unlit even when performers were using those areas, and they were in the dark unfortunately. The only other comment I might proffer is that seeing the stage hands man-handle the table etc back into the wings at the end of the court scene was a little chaotic and messy. As a personal preference I would have liked to have seen more of the chorus. 'All I Care About Is Love', 'Me And My Baby' etc could easily have showcased the talents of the ensemble too.

One thing I know.... this was a highly professional, hugely proficient, and superb production. The age and experience of those involved made it even more so. Continue to give 'em the old razzle dazzle!

Reviewer - Matthew Dougall
on - 15/3/22





1 comment:

  1. It was hard to believe that the cast in this show are so young. We saw the show for the first time on Wednesday with the B team cast and I must say it was excellent. Very professional throughout, clear in their diction and solo and duets were faultless. Group songs and dances were handled well given the lack of much space, Costumes, makeup, choreography and the music were excellent. This group of very talented youngsters work really well together as a team. Could not fault it and it was so good we are going again on Saturday.

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