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Latest items? Unedited? Fringe Report Uncut
Chicago
Verdict: Baywatch star awkward
London - Adelphi Theatre - July / run continuing 2004
Chicago continues to pull in the punters, at least on the evidence of a full-ish midweek house shortly after David Hasselhoff's arrival (19 July to 4 September 04). The former star of Knight Rider and Baywatch plays lawyer Billy Flynn - ‘silver-tongued prince of the courtroom’.
If only David Hasselhoff lived up to the script's intro. But he doesn’t, because he’s just plain awkward. It’s extraordinary that a TV celeb with a famously good body should look so uncomfortable in it. A shame, too, because his voice is good – rich and resonant – and his muscular height would impress if he moved with any grace.
But it’s always the two female leads that carry this show. Rebecca Thornhill and and Anita Louise Combe are both outstanding as the murderesses who cash in on their infamy.
Rebecca Thornhill offers a fresh, wide-eyed heroine as Roxie Hart - clear-voiced, and nimble as a kitten when she dances. Her spoken performance is also well-crafted, delivering a Roxie who treats homicide with all the gravitas due to a game of jacks.
She brings touches of originality too: at the end of her character's title number, as the last of her dream ‘boys’ backs into the shadows, Thornhill looks heavenward and mouths a blissful ‘Thank-you’ - to good comic effect.
Anita Louise Combe (a former Roxie) returns to the show as Velma Kelly. She pulls off the seemingly impossible trick of being both ice-cool and sultry. Her dancing is technically excellent - and in all she says and does she embodies the Bob Fosse-esque fantasy of uninhibited female sexuality.
Cecilia Low, the understudy on as Matron Mama Morton, has a rich burnished voice. She projects a sophisticated, lipstick-lesbian presence. All that could be wished for is a little more clarity of diction when singing.
Similarly, Morgan Crowley gives a strong falsetto that’s full of character in the drag role of Mary Sunshine - but he could match this with equally strong consonants.
Paul Leonard as Roxie's put-upon husband Amos may be a little too gruff to draw sympathy consistently. But he is vocally very strong, and expertly milks his second-act number Mr Cellophane. A genuine sigh escapes the audience at his forlorn final exit.
The ensemble players are all excellent, both as a group and in their cameo parts. Especially good are the five girls who join Velma in the Cell Block Tango. Each narrates her character's lethal expoits with panache; there is not a weak actress among them.
Sarah Soetaert is moving as the Hungarian-speaking Katilin Hunyak, casualty of a legal system in which honesty is literally a foreign language.
The boys don’t get as much individual material, although Kevin Andrew is a hoot variously playing all the members of the jury in the trial scene.
Paul Basleigh in the role of Roxie's lover/victim Fred Casely has the right air of sleaze about him. The rest generally do a great job of being the sexiest chorus-boys in London, ably supporting the main players.
The band remains first rate, always in the thick of the action in its giant onstage jury-box. The build-up of brass solos in the entr'acte is one of the high points of the show.
Cast Credits (alpha order): Rebecca Thornhill - Roxie Hart. Anita Louise Combe - Velma Kelly. David Hasselhoff - Billy Flynn. Paul Leonard - Amos Hart. Cecilia Low - Mama Morton. Morgan Crowley - Mary Sunshine. Kevin Andrew - Jury. Keisha Marina Atwell - June. Paul Basleigh - Fred Casely. Simon Breen - Sergeant Fogerty/The Judge. Katy Carroll - Annie. Ben Clare - Swing. Matthew Cole - Swing. Kathryn Dunn - Mona. Bob J Harms - Bailiff. Helen Harper - Swing. Vanessa Leagh-Hicks - Super. Kay Murphy - Liz. Paul Omasta - McVicars Announcer. Rachel Pressland - Swing. Sergio Priftis - Harry. Sarah Soetaert - Hunyak. Ernesto Tomasini - Cover Mary Sunshine. Scott Ryan Vickers - Martin Harrison.
Company Credits: John Kander - Music. Fred Ebb - Lyrics. Fred Ebb - Book. Bob Fosse - Book. Chicago Partnership - Producer. Walter Bobbie - Director. John Lee Beatty - Design. Ken Billington - Lighting. Ann Reinking - Choreographer. William Ivey Long - Costume.
END
(c) Tim Passmore 2004
reviewed 28 July 04 / Adelphi Theatre
Fringe Report (c) Fringe Report 2002-2012
www.fringereport.com
