Music, murder, mayhem: what’s not to love? That’s pretty much how LEAP students felt about Bob Fosse’s “Chicago,” performed this week in College Station.
Performed at the Rudder Theater on Texas A&M University’s Campus, “Chicago” is in the midst of a seemingly endless national run. This tour included Taylor Lane (Velma Kelly), Ellie Roddy (Roxie Hart), Connor Sullivan (Billy Flynn), Andrew Metzger (Amos Hart), Illeana Kirven (as “Mama”), with Lane and Kirven as particular standouts (the latter is from Tyler, TX).
For those who haven’t seen it, the play is a satire on the strange world of celebrity in the United States, particularly the country’s tendency to elevate the most notorious of criminals. Written in the 1970s, the musical anticipates a world in which people such as O.J. Simpson, Kim Kardashian, Brittney Spears, and the “Hawk Tuah” girl are seen as influencers.
Such individuals not only escape the criminal justice system, but they also seem to win in the court of public opinion, maintaining a celebrity status.
In the musical, the story of Roxie Hart is told through songs. Hart, who is indicted for the murder of her lover, obtains a not guilty verdict through the “Razzle Dazzle” of her Johnny Cochran-like attorney, Billy Flynn. As salacious as Hart’s case is, however, she competes with the girls of the “Cell-Block Tango” among others for attention from the media and the public.
With a rewritten narrative of the murderous night (“We both reached for the gun“) and the manipulation of Roxie’s hapless husband, Amos (Mr. Cellophane), Roxie is acquitted.
But in a world where everyone receives 15 minutes of fame, Hart’s fame gives way to others, and she and Velma Kelly are relegated to Vaudeville, a kind of forerunner to TikTok.
For a group of aspiring lawyers in the 21st century, it was a worthy fable and a wonderful night of entertainment.
Indeed, different aspects of it appealed to each of us. For Chrissy, she enjoyed Bob Fosse’s choreography and the song “Nowadays.” Olivia enjoyed “Cell Block Tango” and, even more so, “We Both Reached for the Gun.” Michelle, on the other hand, favored “Me and My Baby” and the satire and irony that suffused the production–the very first play she has seen! For Mike and Stephanie, a “favorite” is less clear, but “All That Jazz” never gets old.
Nor does “Chicago: The Musical,” which is why it is the longest-running American musical in Broadway history. And the third time–but not the last–that LEAP Ambassadors have seen the production!
Center for Law, Engagement, and Politics 