‘Chicago’: A Spectacle Well Done
Chicago is a legendary Broadway show. It’s the second-longest-running show in history behind The Phantom of the Opera. It was a great choice for Ja’Duke Theater, and a good showcase for two talented women, Sam Myburgh and Ruthie Cogswell. Newcomer Briggs Doxzen (whose day job is a bank officer) stood out as Billy Flynn, the star attorney of Chicago who knew it was all rigged but played for the win.
He had a look like Leonardo DiCaprio, and sang that all he cared about was love. Oh, right. It’s 1920s Chicago, and we’re watching a Vaudeville show that mocks the corruption of City Hall and politicians who get off scot free. With the right lawyer, anything can happen, we see.
A lot of what I like about the show is that it’s over the top, brash, and bold, like when they do the number ‘The Cell Block Tango.’ The famous chairs, emblematic of the show, are used with dramatic spotlights, with the macabre lyrics and spirited dancing. And each woman singing on stage explains her great reasons to stab/murder/shoot or otherwise mess up some man who has done her wrong.
Father and daughter Nick Waynelovich and Kimberly Williams, along with their big theater family, were at it again. This was a show they produced 21 years ago, and now it was back, but this time in their own theater. This time, Ja’Duke offered us their 2025 version of the classic dark comedy/musical, ‘Chicago’, with familiar stars who showed their superior talents with first-rate singing and elaborate dance numbers.
But first, like most of the shows I’ve enjoyed at this theater, there is dancing, and an eleven-part troupe, the ensemble that often begins the shows gets off to a start with a vigorous dance number, “All That Jazz.” There wasn’t a lot of set, since the director wanted to focus on the cast, he explained, so it was a simple set of black boxes, nothing except the Chicago sign.
The show’s running time of two hours and 15 minutes was longer than I expected. I’m not sure we needed songs that were so long. I think some of the verses could have been trimmed down to speed the pace.
One element I found particularly noteworthy was the spotlight on the scenes with Billy. It was a sort of sepia filter, making it soft and thus harder to see the actors’ faces when they were talking. I wasn’t sure what this low light signified; it contrasted with the bright spotlights used for other scenes.
The ultimate scene was the trial, where the two singers, Velma Kelly and Roxie Hart, accused of murder, would face a judge and a hilarious one-man jury. I love a character who slyly steals the scene, and that’s just what juror (Christian Fadel) did as he played the part of nine jurors in one. Emoting wildly from the jury box, pantomiming the words of star attorney Billy Flynn (Briggs Doxzen) he cracked me up and added to the jocular fun of the evening. The pack of dancers morphing into a mob of inquisitive journalists holding notebooks was a clever, fun touch; the exuberance of the trial scene made it come alive.
Another character that the audience loved was the beleaguered husband, car mechanic Amos Hart (William LaPlante), of the blond accused star Roxie. The poor guy can’t get a break; he’s so invisible that Billy keeps calling him Andy. When he finally gets the guy’s name right, he’s pleasantly surprised. Poor Amos is a clutz in bed, as explained by Roxie, who explains their dependent relationship in “Funny Honey” at the show’s beginning.
She’s thrilled to see her name on the front page of the newspaper, regardless of how it got there, and she’s hoping to ride the fame into a Vaudeville career. Amos wants someone to pay attention to him, to notice him, so he took the fall and borrowed the money to pay the expensive lawyer, Billy Flynn. His “Mister Cellophane” rendition was poignant and funny as we watch him get duped by the slicksters around him.
Velma and Roxie perform singing numbers while clinging to tall ladders at the ends of the stage. This impressed me because they never stopped singing, despite being way up there. Quite acrobatic! This show is made for dancers, the original in 1975 featured dance innovator Bob Fosse, who modeled the show after a 1920s Vaudeville review, with two acts and 17 song and dance numbers.
This show was fun from the opening number, kept up its good pace and brought out the best in its stars and large ensemble cast.
Chicago at Ja’Duke Theater, Industrial Way, Turners Falls. Directed by Nick Waynelovich, July 18, 19 and 20, 2025
tickets here