Chicago

Someone once told me that the sign of a great musical is not the solos but in fact the big chorus numbers. This statement could not have rung more true than when I went to see Chicago at Her Majesty's Theatre last week. To put it simply, the leads were less than satisfactory, but the ensemble made up for it.

The stage was set up with the bare minimum of sets. The main feature of the stage was the orchestra on a tiered stand halfway upstage. Added to this was a couple of swinging ladders at each side of stage, and a few chairs strategically scattered around. The cast would rise up from in amongst the orchestra, an intriguing use of the non-naturalistic style. However, despite an interesting use of the minimalistic approach, it was boring, and the leads did not help the situation.

Craig McLachlan and Sharon Millerchip, 'We Both Reached for the Gun'

Let me begin by pointing out my least favoured of the cast, Mr. Craig McLachlan. In the role of Billy Flynn, the cool, smooth and suave lawyer, who is only interested in the money (despite what he sings) McLachlan was downright dry and wooden. The lack of feeling expressed from the man made it blatantly obvious why his only previous claim to fame was being on Neighbours. A fault more related to the director than himself, was his inaccurate and forced use of the American accent. I did not for a second believe that he could have ever possibly hailed from the United States, even Canada would have been a stretch. For a character that normally should be one of the highlights for the show, McLachlan's Billy was not a highlight. Despite his feeble attempt at acting, I will give him credit for his singing, the man is certainly able to hold a note and deliver the goods when required. Despite this; however, his singing still remained dry as once again there was no feeling.

Caroline O'Connor as Velma Kelly

Moving on to a more well known member of the cast, Caroline O'Connor, a veteran star as Velma Kelly, was exactly that, a veteran. While demonstrating that yes, once she may have been amazing, it was difficult to believe that a woman who could be my own grandmother, could be convincing as a sexy vaudeville star in 1920's Chicago. It was also rather disturbing how she has managed to maintain her incredibly slim figure, and at times made me feel uncomfortable in my seat. Yet, despite being too old for the role, she deserved spot on the stage as a great performer. Although I never saw O'Connor play Velma Kelly in the production of Chicago about 10 years ago, I can understand that it would have been an experience one doesn't forget.

Caroline O'Connor and Sharon Millerchip

As Roxie Hart, Sharon Millerchip was good. I really don't have much else to say about her except, she was pretty good. Although, I will point out that whoever was giving them dialect training and perhaps the director for suggesting these accents, needs to reconsider choices. Her high squeaky voice was inappropriate for the character and downright annoying. Roxie Hart is the main character of the musical, and yet I wasn't particularly interested in seeing more of her, even after her brief appearance in the opening number. She can sing though, I will give her that.

Gina Riley and Caroline O'Connor

Gina Riley as Matron Mama Morton, was surprisingly good. Her voice was powerful and it made for an interesting rendition of 'When You're Good to Mama'. However; once again, no fault of her own, the direction of Riley's scenes and songs was poor. In attempting to maintain the minimalistic style, Riley's movements during When you're good to mama were awkward and she needed to either remove the movement from the entire song, or add movement to the entire song. Instead, she moved only on two, maybe three occasions through the song and it made for a very boring number. As I have stated before, her accent was wrong. Just wrong. Not one second did I believe that she was a from the south of America, yet I enjoyed her performance nonetheless.

'Cell Block Tango'

The main redeeming features of this musical was in fact its ensemble. With outstanding performances from all the ensemble cast, special mentions have to be given to Rohan Browne, as Fred Casely, and Ryan Stuart, as every member of the Jury. For me, these two actors made the show entertaining. The role of Fred Casely by Rohan Browne, was by far the most hilarious part of the show. In the court room in combination with Roxie and Amos (played by Damien Bermingham) the egotistical and over the top performance of Rohan as Fred, was a refreshing change to the somewhat slow pace of the first half of the show. Similarly, Ryan Stuart as every member of the court room also added to the fun atmosphere of this scene. Although these two actors particularly shone through, all the male members of the ensemble were incredible in their dancing skills. In seeing them come on stage to back up a song, I knew that the number would be lifted by their dancing, (special mention of their performance during 'Roxie'...nice). Likewise, the female ensemble members wowed us in a great interpretation of the 'Cell Block Tango', in this number the minimalism of the set worked in their favour, as there was nothing to detract from their characters.

A note on the technical aspects of the performance:

• I really enjoyed the incorporation of the orchestra into the set
• The followspot operators deserve a prize for an amazing snap from a full body shot of both Caroline O'Connor and Sharon Millerchip, to a headshot, while they were dancing. I salute you for that
• The ladders on the sides of the stage allowed for an interesting use of levels onstage
• The minimalistic set was interesting in its use, but I can't decide whether I liked it or not, or whether it actually worked

Finally a few quick mentions.

I really liked 'We Both Reached for the Gun', it was good fun and it got a few laughs, particularly when Craig McLachlan is essentially flopping Sharon Millerchip up and down. I leave that one to your imagination. I really didn't like 'Razzle Dazzle', it simply lacked any razzle or dazzle. I really didn't like 'All I Care About', Craig, you seem to me not to care about anything, so I can't believe you when you say all you care about is love. Sorry.

Chicago is playing at Her Majesty's Theatre on Exhibition St until October 25