Chicago

The set was the usual scaffold that you almost expect with a stage version of Chicago and I must congratulate the cast members who climbed up and down them throughout the show: Especially those who sang at the same time, my heart was in my mouth on occasions as it looked so precarious.

Whilst it was nice to see an orchestra support the cast, their positioning right at the front of the auditorium on the same level as the audience made it a little overpowering at times, which was a great shame. Even the lights on their music stands were like search lights, so my attention was drawn to them perhaps more than I should have. For future reference they could think about putting a cloth barrier up to deflect some of the sound and light. However, this is always going to be a challenge in small theatres like the Conquest and they really should be applauded for using 11 musicians.

The opening with the cell block inmates performing ‘All that Jazz’ was slower than other versions but this gave the audience a chance to see the characters unfold. Amy Burke as ‘Mama Moreton’ was a formidable presence and worked well with Emma Hughes as ‘Velma Kelly’. I absolutely loved their duet ‘Class’ and thought the direction for this number, whilst subtle, was very clever. This was Emma’s first time with Conquest theatre, and I hope it won’t be her last; she really played Velma very well and has a great voice that suited the role perfectly. She certainly had a lot of energy too for the song and dance routines she had to perform. It was very unfortunate that having just sung a duet with Emma Green as Roxie Hart, that the theatre was evacuated due to (thankfully) a false fire alarm and so had to come back and do it all over again.

Emma, I felt, held back on giving a feistier performance in the role of Roxie. I am sure it was nerves but her ‘wandering’ during her songs and the way her voice dipped, made her look a little uncomfortable and she would have been much stronger if she had directed the songs out into the audience with ‘sass’. I was aching for her to let rip with ‘Isn’t it great’ as this is such a fantastic number, but this is a huge role and she did it very well. 

Hugh Farey as ‘Billy Flynn’ proved that he is an allrounder in theatrical terms; his songs were strong, and he looked comfortable in the role. The ‘Press Conference Rag’ was well performed and Hugh managed to get all the tongue twisting lyrics out to much hilarity. Ellie Davison played Miss Sunshine and her operatic interpretation of her solo was interesting… It was a shame that this, like a few others, were overpowered by the orchestra and so the audience lost quite a lot of it.

The ‘hanging’ scene was covered by the cast and the chorus were well used throughout, with the male members putting their dancing shoes to good use, although some were more enthusiastic than others.

I have saved the best till last: I was delighted to see Sam Jenkins appear as Amos Hart. I’ve had the pleasure of seeing Sam in previous guises with other societies and this was, by far, his best yet. This was the perfect role for Sam. His portrayal of Amos was poignant and incredibly moving, especially when he beautifully sang ‘Mr Cellophane’, it was brilliant; he had the audience hanging on every word. This was the highlight of the evening and I think the whole cast should be congratulated for tackling this very powerful musical. Well done Conquest.

 

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