STAGE WEST
  • Home
  • About David
  • Blog
  • Contact
  • David Coddon Fiction
  • Theatre Reviews
  • New Page

Theater reviews

Stage West

Sex appeal, sass keep Chicago young

1/1/2013

0 Comments

 
​San Diego Musical Theatre’s production of Chicago gets your attention before the first note of the longtime Broadway favorite is sung. When gorgeous cast member Jennifer Simpson, barely clad in black, struts down one of the aisles of the Birch North Park Theatre and takes the stage like she owns the place, you know this is going to be one sexy show – and it is. Maybe that’s why the1975 show written by John Kander and Fred Ebb, with collaboration on the book from the redoubtable Bob Fosse, never gets old. It’s saucy and sassy and still quite funny, and the SDMT production does not disappoint.
            You start with a worthy Roxie Hart, and Australian Emma Radwick, enjoying her U.S. theatrical debut, has all the right moves. Besides begin an agile dancer and expressive comedian, she makes for a lovable killer. Roxie, as you may remember, is incarcerated and subsequently on trial for the shooting death of the guy with whom she’s cheating on her nebbish of a husband, Amos (Jason James). Neither Kyra Da Costa, as Roxie’s jailhouse (and showbiz) rival Velma Kelly, nor Robert J. Townsend, as flamboyant lawyer Billy Flynn, possesses Radwick’s magnetism, but they hold their own in a benignly notorious show that brims with cleverly written (and choreographed, by Randy Slovacek) tunes such as “Cell Block Tango,” “We Both Reached For The Gun,” “Razzle Dazzle” and, of course, the opening “All That Jazz.” A highlight of Act 2 is Velma and “Mama” Morton’s (Ria Carey) wistful, laugh-out-loud duet “Class” (excerpt: “Oh, there ain’t no gentlemen that’s fit for any use, and any girl’d touch your privates for a deuce …”)
            The presence of the orchestra on stage can feel intrusive, in spite of the strong musical accompaniment conducted by Don Le Master. This is a Chicago for the most part without a set. But Roxie’s, Velma’s and the ensemble’s costumes (design by Janet Pitcher) are so eye-catching that who cares if there’s no jail cell or courtroom? 
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Author

    David L. Coddon is theater critic for San Diego CityBeat

    Archives

    January 2021
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    January 2016
    January 2015
    December 2014
    January 2014
    January 2013
    January 2012
    January 2011

    Categories

    All
    Theatre Review

David Coddon

About 
David Coddon Fiction
Theatre Reviews

Support

Contact
FAQ
Terms of Use
© COPYRIGHT 2017. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
  • Home
  • About David
  • Blog
  • Contact
  • David Coddon Fiction
  • Theatre Reviews
  • New Page