Chicago The Musical
Book Fred Ebb & Bob Fosse
Music John Kander
Lyrics Fred Ebb
Based on the play ‘Chicago’ by Maurine Dallas Watkins
A Ben McDonald Production
Bruce Mason Theatre, Takapuna until 15 August
Then Isaac Theatre Royal, Christchurch, from 17 August
Regent Theatre, Dunedin from 25 August
Director Michael Hurst
Choreography Shona McCullagh
Musical Director Paul Barrett
Lighting Simeon Hoggan
Sound Peter van Gent
Costumes Nic Smillie
Set Chris Reddington
With
Nomi Cohen, Lily Bourne, Jackie Clarke, Joel Tobeck, Andrew Grainger, Rebekkah Schoonbeck Berridge, Hannah Tasker Poland, Sophie Jackson, Hannah Kee, Taane Mete, Amèlia Rojas, Finley Hughes, Ellyce Bisson, Vincent Farane, Geoff Gilson, Joel Hewlett and Vida Gibson
Review by Malcolm Calder
31 August 2025
Musical theatre is a strange beast. To some it is simply a chance to hear and see some wonderful voices and dancing on a stage set, to others it’s primarily about glitz, glam and fantabulous costumes, while some of the more cynical may even view it as a pale imitation of a classic form packaged in a simpler, more modern and easily accessed way.
Broadway did that pretty well, establishing, delivering and contributing significantly to the Great American Songbook. Y’know : boy-meets-girl, let’s-all-have-a- rousing-time and aren’t-things-wonderful-in-America. The focus was on music, singing and dancing with the plot or storyline merely a vehicle.
Towards the end of the 1960s however, and perhaps partly because of a growing social awareness at the time, a new element started creeping in – social commentary. Two of the earlier exponents or explorers of this were John Kander and Fred Ebb. They expanded the tradition – perhaps most notably with Cabaret (1966) followed by Chicago a few years later and music theatre found itself with a new dimension to explore.
But there was no sudden leap to this new level. It was a gradual process, perhaps slowed somewhat in Kander and Ebb’s case, through a series of projects jointly mounted by others. The choreography of Bob Fosse in particular saw early productions of both their Cabaret and Chicago pretty sanitised by today’s standards – sort of a middle-class version of sleaze. And the movie versions too. Nearly 50 years on and Rebecca Frecknall’s 2021 production of Cabaret now seems a far cry from Fosse’s rather dated movie starring Liza Minelli. Chicago has followed suit. I mean …Richard Gere as Billy Flynn?
Rather thankfully, Michael Hurst has now delivered a Chicago as it should be done. His sweeping satirical brushstrokes might include a certain obeisance to Broadway tradition, but his production is rough and raw and pushes Kander and Ebbs’s work quite clearly into the world of burlesque. I think they would be very happy about that.
This Chicago is far more than a rear-view mirror of underworld life in Illinois a hunded years or so back. It might be phrased that way – and some might still be perfectly happy to do so – but it is also a bitingly allegorical take on contemporary American society. I was puzzling on this right through to the final scene when a rather bedraggled stripes (minus the stars) flew rather forlornly in. Then it all clicked neatly into place for me.
Hurst has created a truly outstanding piece of highly theatrical burlesque finger-pointing at … well pretty much everything in today’s American and how it got there.
Let’s look at some of themes. This Chicago is based on the media’s obsessively intense version of real life events; there are allusions to self-indulgent lifestyles and lip service to broken or non-existent loyalties; it contains larger than life figures who earn squillions from graft, corruption and from manipulating others; fake news quickly becomes truth, the cheapness to life is highlighted; a longing for long-term goals with no hope of achieving them underpins life for many; truth is very very easily re-written to serve venal goals; even the American underbelly of religion gets a whack as a growing seediness envelopes everything.
Does this make it a ‘downer’ of a show ? Not on your Nellie. Chicago is funny, heartfelt, energetic … and we know pretty much all of the songs is a bonus.
Hurst’s version is not glamourised and it’s not not about stars. Yes, there are principal characters but no stars as such – it’s just not that sort of a show. This is a seedy burlesque so ALL think they are stars of their own little piece of the world. Yet he has also managed to acknowledge Broadway’s tradition, giving exquisite and delightful framing for each of the non-stars to do their big number without extraneous interference. This is a throughly professional cast and it shines.
Nomi Cohen (Roxie Hart) and Lily Bourne (Velma Kelly) are a well-matched pair and Jackie Clarke does Mama Morton as only Jackie can – torn fishnets and all.
Joel Tobeck subtly reveals a tad of humanity under the normally one-dimensional façade of Billy Flynn, and Andy Grainger (Amos Hart) steals the audience … he really CAN sing you know. But then again ‘Mr Cellophane’ was probably written with someone like him in mind.
Of particular note is Shona McCullagh’s choreography which provides a whirl of activity that manages to highlight and clearly delineate individual ensemble characters while focussing on the emotional outcomes for individuals where appropriate. Good to see some great circus skills highlighted where appropriate too.
Paul Barrett’s orchestra remains hidden in full sight – reinforcing that this is very much a live performance where the band exists to reinforce the vocals – while his sympathetic arrangement avoids lapsing inappropriately into the regularly cliched brassiness so commonly associated with Chicago.
Having first seeing it in 1976, then the movie in 2002 and several stage productions since, it seems that Chicago has gradually inched towards becoming rawer, rougher and edgier. And definitely truer.
This Chicago sits where it should and remains theatrically burlesque to the end.
God Bless America – well Illinois anyway.
New Zealand Arts Review 