CHICAGO - Canberra

 

Anthony Warlow (Billy Flynn) and friends in CHICAGO

Lyrics by Fred Ebb – Music by John Kander – Book by Fred Ebb & Bob Fosse

Original Direction: Walter Bobbie recreated by Tania Nardini - 

Australian Assoc. Director:  Karen Johnson Mortimer - Musical Director:  Anthony Barnhill

Scenic Design: John Lee Beatty – Costume Design: William Ivey Long

Lighting Design: Ken Billington – Sound Design: Julian Spink

Canberra Theatre 11^th to 29^th September 2024.

Opening night Performance on 11^th September reviewed by BILL STEPHENS

Produced by John Frost for Crossroads Live this slick new production of CHICAGO arrives in Canberra for its final season following an extensive tour of Australia’s Capital Cities.

Although, after such a tour it could be forgiven for looking a tad tired, as is the trademark of all Frost productions, CHICAGO arrives in the city for its last Hurrah with its original cast intact and looking as shiny as a new pin.

“Chicago” is one of the longest running shows in Broadway history, though not always in the version that has now become the ‘official’ version. 

The first version of “Chicago” premiered on Broadway in 1975. It was directed and choreographed by Bob Fosse as a showcase vehicle for his wife, Gwen Verdon and Chita Rivera, who had appeared with Verdon previously in another Fosse musical Sweet Charity.

CHICAGO was an immediate hit enjoying 936 performances on Broadway and another 600 performances on London’s West End. Australia got to see its first production of Chicago in 1981 when Richard Wherret directed a now-legendary production starring Nancye Hayes and Geraldine Turner.

The production we’re seeing in Canberra is the version, originally directed as a concert version by Walter Bobbie in 1996. Ann Reinking choreographed this stripped back production ‘in the style of Bob Fosse”, incorporating all his signature moves. So popular was this version that it is now the ‘official version’.

John Frost introduced this version to Australian audiences in 1998 in a production starring Caroline O’Connor and Chelsea Gibb. Since then Frosty has continued to tour this show regularly, showcasing a succession of the country’s most accomplished, triple threat leading ladies in the coveted roles of the merry murderesses, Velma Kelly and Roxie Hart.

Zoe Ventoura (Velma Kelly) - Lucy Maunder (Roxie Hart) in CHICAGO

For this 2024 tour, and its first season in Canberra, those roles are played to perfection by Lucy Maunder (Roxie Hart) and Zoe Ventoura (Velma Kelly), both of whom have interesting Canberra connections.

Lucy Maunder’s father, director Stuart Maunder, currently the Artistic Director of Victorian  Opera,  previously directed productions for the Canberra Philharmonic Society, while Zoe Ventoura’s mother, Ruth Osborne, is on the verge of retiring from her long-held role as  the  Artistic Director and CEO of QL2 Dance in Canberra.

One of the fascinations which keep audiences returning to this production year in and year out is to see what nuances each combination of leading ladies brings to the roles of the murderous pair, without straying from the confines of the original choreography and direction.

That they will be superb dancers is a given, after-all both Verdon and Rivera, who created Fosse’s template, were exemplary Broadway dancers, and so too are Maunder and Ventoura. 

Roxie Hart (Lucy Maunder) and her boys in CHICAGO

Lucy Maunder has received numerous Helpmann Award and Green Room Award nominations for her performances in leading roles in a succession of major musicals including Mary Poppins, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Pippin, Beautiful: The Carole King Musical and In to the Woods as well as creating the role of Lara in the world premiere of Doctor Zhivago opposite Anthony Warlow.  

None of these roles provided her with as much opportunity to display her considerable comedic and dance skills as does the role of Roxie Hart in this production. Her Roxie Hart is zany, calculating and adorable.

Velma Kelly (Zoe Ventoura) and friends in CHICAGO

Zoe Ventoura’s fame has been earned as an actress in high-profile television roles. She won a TV Week Silver Logie for her role in Packed to the Rafters, and nominations for her role in Kick. Other television shows in which she’s appeared include Hyde and Seek, Underbelly: Chopper, Summer Bay, Love Child and Doctor Doctor.

However, she’s also toured nationally in musicals such as Grease, Footloose, We Will Rock You and most recently La Cage aux Folles. Again, none of these roles prepared audiences for the level of singing, dancing and acting pizazz that she displays in her stunning turn as the hilariously viperous Velma Kelly.

Together they’re a superb team challenging and supporting each other to reveal previously unsuspected nuances like Velma’s subtle look of triumph when the pair launch into “Hot Honey Rag” towards the end of the show. It’s the routine Roxie rejected when Velma pitched it to her in “I Can’t Do It Alone”. Now Roxie needs Velma and that routine. Velma can’t resist giving Roxie sly triumphant glances as they go on to perform it brilliantly.

No need to sing the praises of Anthony Warlow, a genuine Australian musical theatre superstar who these days divides his time between Australian and Broadway stages. Warlow’s performance as the shifty lawyer, Billy Flynn, is pure class. Even at his most despicable this Billy Flynn is the epitome of style and sophistication, particularly when surrounded by a bevy of ostrich feathered showgirls and declaring unconvincingly, “All I Care About is Love”.

Billy Flynn (Anthony Warlow) gives Amos Hart (Peter Rowsthorn) some free advice in CHICAGO

And who could not love Peter Rowsthorn, outstanding as Roxie’s cuckolded husband, Amos Hart,  effortlessly breaking hearts with his plaintive rendition of “Mister Cellophane”; or thrill to the powerhouse voice of Asabi Goodman as Matron ‘Mama” Morton laying down the law with “When You’re Good to Mama” ?

A feature of this production is that it is played out in a single setting; a large bandstand occupied by 15 onstage musicians conducted by Anthony Barnhill and a large ensemble of trim, taut and terrific dancers who remain seated on either side of the stage throughout the show when not executing Fosse’s iconic choreography with fastidious attention to detail or doubling as reporters, jurors or townsfolk whenever required.

Whether you’ve never seen a production of CHICAGO or seen them all, it would be a crime to miss the opportunity to experience this brilliant production before it is put to bed.  

                                                    Production photos by Jeff Busby

                         This review also published in AUSTRALIAN ARTS REVIEW.