Photo: R Coudyzer
None of the South African productions of foreign musicals that have run in Cape Town have come even close to trumping producer Hazel Feldman’s superlative 2005 staging of the sexed-up Broadway revival version of Chicago. Its return two years later for a short season is most welcome. The musical itself hasn’t dated at all. The wicked ways of this world never do.
Good news is that all the leads are even better this time around, starting with Amra Faye Wright who went on to perform the role of Velma Kelly in the West End and on Broadway. Her co-stars Samantha Peo (Roxie Hart) and Ilse Klink (Matron Mama Morton) are now far from being overshadowed. The only lead change – Craig Urbani replaces Drummond Marais as the shyster lawyer Billy Flynn – is an improvement too.
And under the baton of the dependable Bryan Schimmel the 14-piece onstage orchestra delivers as well as ever.
The only backsliding is in the dancing. There are fewer dancers this time and more than half of them are new – a problem that probably arose from a short rerun season. A number of the present company are in poor form and don’t cope with Bob Fosse’s inhuman choreography. Yet, this doesn’t ultimately spoil what is a great evening at the theatre.
