Chicago

USER (24Mar05): “CHICAGO” ALEXANDRA THEATRE BIRMINGHAM, 21 MARCH 2005 (David Ian for Clear Channel Entertainment) Chicago hit the second city and made a great impact last night at Birmingham’s Alexandra Theatre with the opening performance of a 2-week booking. A capacity audience were treated to great dance numbers, strong principal performances and an enjoyable evening out. I got the feeling that many in the audience were not seeing this show for the first time and as often is the case with long running musical tours they build up a loyal following of dedicated fans whose enthusiasm adds to the spectacle. The music is by the legendary John Kander and lyrics by the equally famous Fred Ebb, their first major success was in 1966 with “Cabaret” which had a run of 1,166 performances and won the Tony Award as the season's best musical. The original choreography was by the marvellously talented Bob Fosse and much of the atmosphere created by Ann Reinking and the talented team of dancers is down to him. The whole evening gets off to a great musical start right from the opening number “All that Jazz” and with orchestrations by jazz powerhouse Ralph Burns the tempo is set and the action begins. Musical director Dan Jackson and his large orchestra enjoy every minute of this rhythmic show and it is so refreshing to have a full size orchestra on tour as it adds so much to the sound quality. Cavin Cornwall gives a strong performance as the devious lawyer Billy Flynn hell bent on getting Roxie off her murder charge but it is Rachel Stanley as Velma and Claire Taylor as Roxie who get the best of the numbers and sequences throughout the production and the night was theirs song after song. The comedy and pathos comes from Christopher Howell as downtrodden Amos Hart and there’s a wonderful and quite bizarre cameo from C C Mullaney as Mary Sunshine. You have to see it to appreciate the twist! The stand out sequence is “Razzle Dazzle” where all the sassiness and sexiness comes together and the company give it 100%+ and the audience loved it. There is no doubting that this show which was first performed back in 1975 is still a big success and it deserves to do great business over the Easter break. If you want a memorable theatre night out then this has to be it, runs until 2 April. Clive Fuller 4