‘Chicago’ performs at auditorium

Vaudevillian dancers gracefully straddled each other as “Chicago” captured the audience’s attention Tuesday night at the IU Auditorium.

The audience watched as Broadway veterans Tracy Shayne and Terra C. MacLeod sang their sorrows as Roxie Hart and Velma Kelly, respectively.

“Chicago,” the longest-running American musical in Broadway history, told the story of guilty murderesses Hart and Kelly fighting for acquittals and the front page with the help of slick lawyer Billy Flynn.

The band, elevated in stands, took up the majority of the stage. The conductor occasionally interjected for comedic effect.

As a result, most of the signature sensual dancing occurred along the front of the stage, limiting the dancers to simpler moves.

With little room left for set pieces, shadows and spotlights signified set changes.
Songs such as the opening number “All That Jazz” and “Funny Honey” were juxtaposed with lighting as acted scenes occurred at the same time.

During “Cell Block Tango”, six lights dropped down to illuminate “the six merry murderesses of the Cook County jail.”.

Led by Kelly, the ladies confessed their sordid crimes.
Many dancers doubled as detectives and reporters, though they remained scantily clad in the style of the show.

The crowd cheered loudly for Matron “Mama” Morton’s rendition of “When You’re Good To Mama.”

“We Both Reached For The Gun” featured Flynn pulling the strings with Hart as his puppet amidst a swarm of reporters.

Kelly danced her way through what was formerly the double act she performed with her sister in “I Can’t Do It Alone,” pleading with Hart to team up and form a new duo.

Accompanied by a chorus of muscular men, Hart sang her self-titled number, “Roxie.”
She defined the musical’s theme with a singular line — “Who says that murder’s not an art?”

The second act of “Chicago” welcomed songs such as “I Know A Girl,” “Me and My Baby” and “Class,” all lesser-known numbers that didn’t make the cut for the
Oscar-winning 2002 film adaptation.

In “Razzle Dazzle,” performers broke out the acrobatics.

Confetti rained down on the stage amidst the gymnasts and a singing Flynn.

The number transitioned into a dramatic court scene with the lowering of a large American flag.

Flynn cautioned the crowd that things are not always what they seem as the character Mary Sunshine revealed herself to be a man.

The audience gasped in shock. Sunshine sang in impressive operatic style and hit some of the highest notes in the show.

A backdrop of gold streamers descended for the finale, “Hot Honey Rag.”
The cast received a standing ovation.

“The costumes were really cool, and it was overall an awesome production,” freshman Sammy Hanzel said.

Jan Pennington and Kathy Sanders came from Bedford, Ind., to see the show. It was their first time seeing “Chicago.”

“I think it was very well rounded with the dancing, the music and the plot,” Pennington said. “It was very entertaining.”

However, not everyone who enjoyed “Chicago” was unfamiliar with the show.
Sophomore Nat Zegree had seen the movie, and though he acknowledged the two were very different, he said the production blew him away.

“I absolutely loved it, and I’m a musical theater major, so I’m highly critical,” he said. “This was all about the message, and I got it completely. It was everything I hoped it would be.”