Chicago (Theater Company)

[Anthony De Luca]

Chicago
Shanachie Theater Company
July 27th - August 8th

Cast

Roxie Hart - Anya Chavez
Velma Kelly - Carina Cox
Billy Flynn - Asher Price
Amos Hart - Arandir
Matron "Mama" Morton - Tippletoe Timbers
Mary Sunshine - Yasmin

[Anthony De Luca]

Synopsis

Act I

Velma Kelly is a vaudevillian who welcomes the audience to tonight's show ("All That Jazz"). Interplayed with the opening number, the scene cuts to February 14, 1928 in the bedroom of chorus girl Roxie Hart, where she murders Fred Casely as he attempts to break off an affair with her.

Roxie convinces her husband Amos that the victim was a burglar, and Amos agrees to take the blame. Roxie expresses her appreciation of her husband's willingness to do anything for her ("Funny Honey"). However, when the police mention the deceased's name, Amos belatedly realizes that Roxie has lied to him. Roxie, feeling betrayed, confesses and is arrested. She is sent to the women's block in the Cook County Jail, where several women accused of killing their lovers are held ("Cell Block Tango"); among the inmates is Velma Kelly, revealing herself to have been involved in the death of her husband and sister, though she denies committing the act. The block is presided over by Matron "Mama" Morton, whose system of taking bribes ("When You're Good to Mama") perfectly suits her clientele. She has helped Velma become the media's top murderer-of-the-week and is acting as a booking agent for Velma's big return to vaudeville.

Velma is not happy to see Roxie, who is stealing not only her limelight but also her lawyer, Billy Flynn. Roxie convinces Amos to pay for Billy Flynn to be her lawyer ("A Tap Dance"), though Amos lacks the funds. Eagerly awaited by his all-woman clientele, Billy sings his anthem, complete with a chorus of fan dancers ("All I Care About"). Billy takes Roxie's case before realizing Amos doesn't have the money; to make up the difference, he turns the case into a media circus and rearranges her story for consumption by sympathetic tabloid columnist Mary Sunshine ("A Little Bit of Good"), hoping to sell proceeds in an auction. Roxie's press conference turns into a ventriloquist act, with Billy dictating a new version of the truth ("We Both Reached for the Gun") to the reporters while Roxie mouths the words.

Roxie becomes the most popular celebrity in Chicago, as she boastfully proclaims while planning for her future career in vaudeville ("Roxie"). As Roxie's fame grows, Velma's notoriety subsides, and in an act of desperation she tries to talk Roxie into recreating the sister act ("I Can't Do It Alone"). Roxie turns her down, only to find her own headlines replaced by the latest sordid crime of passion ("Chicago After Midnight"). Separately, Roxie and Velma realize there is no one they can count on but themselves ("My Own Best Friend"), and Roxie decides that being pregnant in prison would put her back on the front page.

Act II

Velma returns to introduce the opening act, resentful of Roxie's manipulation of the system ("I Know a Girl") and ability to seduce a doctor into saying Roxie is pregnant; as Roxie emerges, she sings gleefully of the future of her unborn (nonexistent) child ("Me and My Baby"). Amos proudly claims paternity, but still, nobody notices him, and Billy exposes holes in Roxie's story by noting that she and Amos had not had sex in four months, meaning if she were pregnant, the child was not Amos's, in hopes that Amos will divorce her and look like a villain, which Amos almost does ("Mr. Cellophane"). Velma tries to show Billy all the tricks she has planned for her trial ("When Velma Takes The Stand"), which Roxie treats skeptically. Roxie, upset with being treated like a "common criminal" and considering herself a celebrity, has a heated argument with Billy and fires him; Billy warns her that her kind of celebrity is fleeting and that she would be just as famous hanging from a noose. At that moment, Roxie witnesses one of her fellow inmates, a Hungarian woman who insisted her innocence but could not speak English and whose public lawyer refused to defend her, as she is hanged ("Hungarian Rope Trick").

The trial date arrives, and the now freshly terrified Roxie runs back to Billy, who calms Roxie by suggesting she will be fine so long as she makes a show of the trial ("Razzle Dazzle"). Billy uses Amos as a pawn, turning around and insisting that Amos is actually the father of Roxie's child. Roxie steals all of Velma's schtick, down to the rhinestone garter, to the dismay of Mama and Velma ("Class"). As promised, Billy gets Roxie acquitted, but just as the verdict is announced, some even more sensational crime pulls the press away, and Roxie's fleeting celebrity life is over. Billy leaves, done with the case, admitting that he only did it for the money. Amos tries to get Roxie to come home and forget the ordeal, but she is more concerned with the end of her brief run of fame and admits she isn't pregnant, leaving Amos in the dust.

The final scene cuts to a Chicago vaudeville theater, where Roxie and Velma (acquitted off-stage) are performing a new act in which they bittersweetly sing about modern life ("Nowadays"). The former Mary Sunshine, revealed during the trial to actually be a man in drag, takes his natural male form as a pushy vaudeville promoter, shaping Roxie and Velma's dance ("Hot Honey Rag") to make it as sexy as possible. The show ends with a brief finale ("Finale").

((Post for your characters below!))

[Tippletoe]

Despite her diminutive size, Tippletoe's presence was big on stage. With a little illusory magic to give her some ample curves, the under-four-foot woman commanded a striking presence as Keeper of the Keys, Countess of the Clink, Mistress of Murders Row, Matron "Mama" Morton!

Tippletoe belted out 'When You're Good to Mama' with absolute passion. It was one of the things that Tippletoe loved about performance, she had a chance to be both authoritative and seductive in a way that surprised most people —the gnome was usually considered a paragon of good choices and joyful innocence.

Off-stage, Tippletoe enjoyed the presence of her fellow cast and meeting with fans after every show!

Note: To accommodate Tippletoe's Thursday night shifts at The Arena, Renee Russell (her understudy) performs one night a week.

[Anya Chavez]

Anya loved being able to take the role of Roxie Heart and be able to run the gamut of characteristics that Roxie goes through in the performance. From portraying innocence to being manipulative, coy to fierce - the young woman attempted to put herself in Roxie's shows and surprisingly found her easy to relate to. She imagined what she would do in Roxie's shoes, and decided that she may not act much differently if she was the one entangled in the events.

She enjoyed again being able to also explore the growing sexual aspect in Roxie, and how as Anya herself was growing up, that she was becoming more comfortable with herself and her own confidence. It wasn't always easy to wear revealing clothing - especially when so many people were watching - but Anya's confidence grew to where she knew many people were coming just to see here, and she used that to help drive her performance and put her best foot forward.