Chicago, York Grand Opera House
An antidote to a dreary January night: immerse yourself in the “old razzle-dazzle” of Chicago. The musical has once again been revived and is on the road, even stopping in York for a fortnight, and filling the Opera House to bursting point.
The cast certainly didn’t disappoint. From the first, the audience was swept up into the high-kicking world of Chicago vaudeville. Roxie Hart and Velma Kelly were appropriately reckless, flirtatious and egocentric; Billy Flynn wonderfully sleazy yet suave, and Roxie’s unwitting husband Amos, had the audience whimpering sympathetically into their programmes. The dancing was truly superb, especially the raunchy “Cell Block Tango”, and the unexpected harmonies in some of the songs were excellent.
The band and conductor were also worked into the narrative, which was refreshing. Characters stopped and chatted on their way on and off stage, and after the interval we were treated to a lively instrumental rendition of “All That Jazz”. It was clear that the stage was significantly smaller than the cast were used to, but they coped well with barely any slip-ups.
However, for me, Chicago has always lacked something; it is one of the few musicals from which not all the songs are truly memorable, and seems to peter out towards the end, when the audience is expecting a spectacular finale.
Unfortunately, the Opera House uses Ticketmaster with extortionate service charges, leaving me with a rather light wallet, but certainly a shimmy in my step all the way home.
