Chicago

CAROLINE CULOT
01 December 2009

Norwich Theatre Royal

For many men, being dragged out to the theatre on a rainy Monday night by their wives or girlfriends could not have been their idea of fun. But, by the end of Chicago, I bet they changed their minds! The stage positively sizzled last night as the lithe female members of this show-stopping musical gyrated in the trademark black undergarments which have become the iconic costumes of Chicago.

Temperatures rose as the cast led by the fantastic Twinnie-Lee Moore and Miriam Elwell-Sutton as Velma Kelly and Roxie Hart took us through one sultry number to another, oozing sex appeal that definitely kept the men in the audience awake!

Chicago, now a firm favourite among musicals, and based on real life events, tells the story in the 1920s of nightclub singer Roxie Hart who finds herself banged up in jail alongside double murderess Velma Kelly and a load of other femme fatales only to use the guile of mercenary lawyer Billy Flynn (Gary Wilmot) and the paparazzi to aid her release. As the famous one-liner goes, "in this town, murder is a form of entertainment," and indeed the women awaiting trial are elevated to celebrity status by the media.

With the original choreography inspired by Bob Fosse, this musical takes us through songs which we all seem to know so well now; from the opening All that Jazz to Razzle Dazzle and When You're Good to Mama.

Even though I've seen Chicago a few times, including its last visit to Norwich, I never get tired of it and especially the inspired performance of We Both Reached for the Gun when Roxie performs as a ventriloquist dummy on Flynn's lap and also the sweet, lyrical duet Class by Velma and Matron.

Performances were top-notch with Wilmot showing a softer side to Flynn but really all eyes were on the two female leads, Moore and Elwell-Sutton who were simply awesome both in their singing and high kick dancing. The diet starts today for me!

Chicago continues until December 5.

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