Last night, I sat front row for the second-longest running show currently operating on Broadway in the musical, Chicago. I had high expectations for this show considering the Oscar winning film rendition is one I truly love a lot. The story itself is one that I enjoy very much and its concepts are very unique. I also enjoyed seeing the great choreography and music produced in this show. Not to mention, the cast all around was a great ensemble, I couldn't think of a better cast. I also enjoyed how the entire Chicago cast intertwined and connected with the orchestra cast the entire show. However, I did have a few things I did not enjoy about the Broadway rendition of the show. The stage had one layered segment in which the orchestra played on and the characters bounced around on and off of periodically throughout the show. It made the show hard to look at the entire show considering nothing in the setting really changed. Aside from, that hardly any props were used in the show. Not to mention, you had no idea what time period you were in or any setting of where the show was taking place at any moment of the show. I think it is essential for a show to use all these tools to describe the tale of the story and make the show more lively. Aside from this the one part of the show that bothers me is the man who Roxie Hart kills in the show named Fred Kaisley participates in the ensemble the entire show. If he is dead why does he keep appearing in the show? Some death, right? The one thing about the ensemble that bothered me as well that is all on the production team is that when the ensemble changed into a team of paparazzi members photographing Roxie Hart or other characters, they stayed in their typical bar costume outfits. I think the outfits should be changed for each setting. The entire show, each actress and actor wore the same outfit. Change couldn't hurt. From these fundamentals, it shocks me how the show can run so long like this. I also was not a fan of the actor who played Billy Flynn, the famed hot-shot lawyers of the show. This character is supposed to have a semi appeal to all audiences and be the one individual everyone draws to. The actor who played Flynn did not bring the audience into the show or have any significant appeal to the cast surrounding him. I also thought his acting was bare minimal to watch and he did not define the Flynn we all know from other works of Chicago. This role is not for this actor. I will also discuss the performance of Wendy Williams who played Mama Morton in the show. Wendy definitely knew how to connect the audience and fellow cast members into her performance, she drew both together very well. When she made her opening appearance, she threw a "How You Doin" in her opening skit which was very unique especially appealed to the fans of Williams including myself. However, I can tell she worked very hard at ensuring the lines did not sound like she just read them from the script and made it her own. She could have used a little more aggressiveness that Mama Morton usually shows. Wendy's singing was pretty good for the most part, but could have used a little work on some ends. All in all this was a nice relaxing show to watch mainly just for the great choreography and music. Go see it, you have time!
Rating - 3/5
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