CENTERblog

Chicago is a Must See
by Kyla Cook - Chugiak High School

On February 23, at 7:30pm, Chicago opened with a bang, quite literally. After “All that Jazz” Roxie Hart (Bianca Marroquin) shoots an “intruder”, and so the drama begins.

The show started out strong with “All That Jazz” and continued the same dark, seductive tone throughout. Some other highlights included “Cell Block Tango”, which mixed humor with clever staging and admirable talent, “When Your Good to Mama” sung by Matron “Mama”Morton (Carol Woods), whose talent sent the audience into an uproar, and “Mister Cellophane” sung by Amos Hart (Tom Riis Farrell). In between songs, the cast wowed the audience with considerable dancing and acting talent, the audience especially enjoyed the part in “We Both Reached For The Gun” where Roxie is flopping around like a marionette at the hands of Billy Flynn (Tom Hewitt) .

One of the best parts of “Chicago” is that it makes the audience laugh and think in turns, and while this performace did spectacularly in the first category, at some points it opted for laughs in parts that could have been more affective if left to allow the audience to think about the serious side of the story. For example, the “Hungarian disappearing act” left the audience laughing hystarically, when in fact it is the point when naïve Roxie Hart is supposed to realize the dark side of the legal system and finally fears for her life more than her fame.

Overall Chicago went off very well, and left the audience satisfied, and wanting more. Through out intermission the audience could be heard calling friends and family members, telling them to come see the show. Apparently, Chicago is a must see.

Chicago will be playing February 23-28th at the Alaska Center for the Performing Arts.

Chicago
Anchorage Concert Association
Tuesday, February 23, 2010 @ 7:30pm
Atwood Concert Hall