Review: Chicago at the Lyceum, Sheffield
Hello suckers.
Welcome to Chicago, 1926 – where the gin is cold, the piano’s hot, and we’re about to see a story of murder, greed, corruption, violence, exploitation, adultery, and treachery… all those things we hold near and dear to our hearts.
And, as a single spotlight illuminates a solitary chair, it’s clear we’re in for a slicky stylish treat.
So step into the sultry, seedy, seductive world of the Jazz Age, where the air is thick with scandal, where murder is just another part of the nightlife, and where Roxie Hart, embittered chorus girl turned cold-blooded fame-hungry killer, is desperately seeking the best lawyer money can buy.
Chicago, at the Lyceum until Saturday, still sparkles with all the razzle-dazzle that made it Broadway’s longest-running musical, and this is the same glittering production, with largely the same stellar cast, which last visited Sheffield in 2022 for a 25th anniversary international touring revival.
Faye Brookes, best known as Kate Connor in Corrie, is back as Roxie, girlishly conniving with perfect comedic timing, never better than when sparring with the incredible Djalenga Scott, stealing the show once more as vaudeville killer Velma Kelly.
Loose Women’s Brenda Edwards is back as Mama Morton (the role in which she made her West End debut in 2006) – though two years ago her part had to be played in Sheffield by an understudy after she broke her fibula the previous weekend.
And, this time, instead of Lee Mead, Strictly Come Dancing professional Kevin Clifton takes on the part of mercenary lawyer Billy Flynn.
Clifton is right at home on the pared-back starkly monochrome tiered stage, its sparse set creating the unexpected intimacy of a smoky jazz club.
The entire show, after all, is like one enormous, stylised, all-ensemble Strictly opening number, choreographed to perfection with the props and moves that made original director Bob Fosse a legend – bowler hats, gloves, canes, and chairs; slick red lips and sinuous shoulder rolls, finger-clicks and jazz hands.
It may be 99 years since the original play was written, and 50 years since Fosse obtained the rights to turn the play into a musical, but the show still feels finger-snappingly fresh.
Sharp satire, witty lyrics and the jazz-infused score keep it timeless, while the themes – fast fame, celebrity culture, tabloid obsession with the femme fatale – still ring true today.
Poor immigrant Hunyak, whose only words of English are ‘not guilty’, becomes the first woman in Cook County to be hanged, though it’s clear she’s the only innocent ‘murderess’ on the stage.
All-American Roxie and Velma, meanwhile, sexy and cynical enough to work the system, walk free.
The favourite showtunes – All That Jazz, Razzle Dazzle, the Cell Block Tango (He Had It Comin’) and When You’re Good to Mama – come one after another, bang bang bang as fast as the bullets from Roxie’s gun.
But it’s the less familiar numbers, especially the duets between Djalenga Scott and her co-stars, that really stand out. Her performance of the deliciously ironic Class with Mama Morton, and My Own Best Friend with Roxie, are theatrical perfection.
Throw in a supporting ensemble of fiercely talented dancers, delivering high-kicks and splits to make your eyes water, and it would be criminal to miss out on tickets to this sensational show.