Fred Ebb and John Kander’s musical “Chicago” is a classic, but it’s not the wholesome kind with prairie dresses and singing about the beginnings of young love. It’s sensual and powerful, with women who know what they want and will do anything to get it. The Broadway Across America tour slinked into Madison Tuesday night and will feature scantily-clad performers sashaying across the stage until Oct. 6.
The recipient of six Tony Awards and two Olivier Awards, the show is set in 1920s Chicago and revolves around two women who are in the Cook County Jail for murder—even though they say the men had it coming.
Velma Kelly (Terra C. MacLeod) and Roxie Hart (Paige Kelly) are rivals from the moment they meet. Both women crave fame and strive to capture the attention of the press. They need Billy Flynn, played by John O’Hurley, to get them acquitted so they can move onto singing and dancing across a vaudeville stage instead of languishing in jail, fighting over the shoes they will wear to court.
But one actress comes out on top in this stage rivalry.
MacLeod is sensual and strong. Her movements are powerful yet seductive. Her dancing is technically better, her delivery of lines is sharper and her characterization of the famed murderess Velma Kelly is clear from her first scene. She may seem a bit old to be playing Velma, but she can strut across the stage and belt notes like no one else in the show.
Davis, though, does not lend her role a true sense of character until the number “Roxie.” Roxie seems stupidly naive, flat and overplayed by Davis in comparison to MacLeod’s Velma. There are only two songs left in the first act when Davis finally shows some passion.
As impressive as MacLeod is, it is O’Hurley who keeps the audience wondering when he will make his next appearance. They followed his suited form every time he appeared on stage. O’Hurley is exactly the silver fox that Flynn is supposed to be—smooth, languid, perfectly coiffed—and he knows all eyes are on him.
His interactions with the on-stage band and conductor are charming yet silly, his puppetry of Roxie during “We Both Reached for the Gun” manages to be smooth and natural-looking—despite the extensive choreography. Everything he does is perfectly cool, just like the jazz-age Chicago setting of the show.
The sexy show is not without its more serious moments. Todd Buonopane’s Amos Hart is the pathetic guy all the girls ignored in high school, but all grown-up in his dowdy cardigan and slightly too big pants. His “Mr. Cellophane” would cause those same girls’ hearts to ache, as he plaintively sings of his invisibility.
And there is no other time the audience is as silent as when Hunyak, played by Naomi Kakuk, bravely ascends the ladder on the side of the stage. The moment is all the more beautiful in contrast with the high-energy, outrageous sex appeal of the rest of the show.
That outrageous sex appeal is what the audience leaves remembering, though. “Chicago” gives that sexy, Roaring ’20s feeling that you might be missing after this summer’s obsession with “The Great Gatsby.” The show has its rough spots, like Carol Woods’ too-old-and-made-up "Mama" Morton, but the sensual movement of the dancers and the jazzy music will put you right into a gin-filled speakeasy, even as you walk down State Street after the show.
“Chicago” is playing at the Overture Center through Oct. 6. Tickets start at $25 for students.
