By Annabelle Higgins
When I heard Chicago was coming to Oxford’s New Theatre, my musical theatre heart skipped a beat. ‘The Cell Block Tango’, ‘Roxie', ‘We Both Reached For The Gun’… these are classics that have travelled far beyond their original context to reach Instagram reels and TikToks; if you hum the first musical phrase of any of these songs, I can almost guarantee someone will start singing along. Now, did the performance live up to the expectations I inevitably had for the evening?
The answer is — yes. It most certainly did.
As the audience filed in, my gaze was held by a single chair, atop which a bowler hat was jauntily perched. When the lights dimmed, this simple tableau transformed into a glittering array of music, dance, and sultry seduction. The opening number ‘All That Jazz’ immediately showcased Djalenga Scott’s silky alto voice, dazzling in the spotlight against the backdrop of a live orchestra.
The scenery was elegantly constructed, serving alternately as nightclub and courtroom and not feeling incongruous with either setting; the ladders on either side of the stage were used with aplomb, from Roxie’s condescending ‘Funny Honey’ from on high to Hunyak’s Hungarian — er — rope trick. As for ‘The Cell Block Tango’, I know not what to say other than that it has been stuck in my head for days since — it was masterfully done.
From beginning to end the choreography was excellent, with elegantly crafted lifts and seamless dance moves that showcased the musical’s 1920s pizzazz and, of course, its thrilling sexiness. To those of us who grew up in Strictly Come Dancing households, Kevin Clifton as Billie Flynn was instantly recognisable and great fun to watch. I will admit, while impressed by the sleek moves, I was sceptical about his vocal capacity; however, for the most part, he held his own amongst the incredibly skilful cast. Faye Brookes as Roxie Hart managed to capture the housewife/criminal/wannabe celeb’s attitude perfectly, modulating her mellifluous mezzo soprano to capture the various shades of her character, from starry-eyed ambition to devious cunning.
Matron ‘Mama’ Morton (Brenda Edwards) stole the show with her impressive belts in ‘When
You’re Good To Mama’ and paired impressively with Velma in ‘Class’, with the two drawling out the titular word in unison to one another as though it were some private in-joke that we as the audience were not privy to. Several strong rounds of applause punctuated the arrival and
departure of Joshua Lloyd as Amos Hart, with a resounding ‘awww’ during and after ‘Mr
Cellophane’ and an extra-loud cheer when the orchestra declined to play him exit music. We saw you, Amos — Roxie might not have, but we did.
If I have one criticism, it is that Act 2 somewhat languishes in the looming shadow of Act 1, which features hit after hit of musical dopamine with not a single filler song in sight; after the interval, it does feel as though some of the production’s spark fades a tad. For instance, compared to Billie Flynn’s opening song ‘All I Care About’ with its flamboyant feather-fan-wielding backing dancers, ‘Razzle Dazzle’ doesn’t quite hit the mark, filling the stage but not quite perhaps making as good use of it; the intent behind this may be purposeful, however, as the entire point of the song is to describe how to bedazzle the courtroom into reacting passionately instead of rationally. Nonetheless, Roxie’s showgirl number ‘Me and My Baby’ is a scintillating reach for sympathy and celebrity, and ‘When Velma Takes the Stand’ certainly turned some heads.
Overall, this was a fabulous production and a delightful way of passing an evening in the glitz and glamour of The State of Illinois vs The Merry Murderesses of Cook County Jail. If you had been there, if you had seen it… I bet that you would have thought the same!
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