BWW Preview: CHICAGO at Mac-Haydn Theatre

Mac-Haydn Theatre is almost ready to razzle dazzle audiences with their upcoming production of the longest running American musical, Chicago. The show runs July 7 through July 24 in Chatham, New York. Stepping into the iconic roles of Roxy and Velma are Caitlin Wilayto and Bridget Elise Yingling, respectfully, who were kind enough to speak with us via phone last week.

Both women grew up as dancers before joining the world of musical theatre. Wilayto graduated from The Hartt School in Connecticut in 2013 with a degree in musical theatre. In fact, one of her side jobs in college was working at the merchandise booth at the Broadway production of Chicago. She recalls watching the show each night and falling in love with its story and choreography more and more.

Upon graduation, Wilayto's first job was actually at the Mac Haydn theatre. She loved the experience she gained during that summer and was so excited to return now for Chicago. "I learned so much here about theatre, how to put eight musicals in one summer. It's really disciplined here and it taught me a lot about the business and I'm really glad that I had my first job here."

Yingling, on the other hand, is fresh out of NYU's Tisch School of the Arts. Chicago has always held a special place in her heart being the first Broadway show she ever saw. "This is the first time I've worked with [choreographer] James Kinney and he is an absolute joy. He is just such a wonderful choreographer and director. And John Saunders is amazing as well. There is no who knows this space as well as him. Our costume designer, [Helen Hayes award winner] Jimm Halliday, is just one of the best."

Yingling is no stranger to the Mac-Haydn, having appearing in productions there for the past three summers. "This is actually my third season at the Mac Haydn so I am quite familiar with the round," she explains. "The most challenging part of it is learning the choreography head on in the mirror and then changing all of those angles to fit the round while maintaining the choreography. It's challenging to learn something one way and then changing it so that it looks good from all angles."

Chicago opened on Broadway in 1975 and ran for just over 900 performers. The 1996 revival production, which is still playing at the Ambassador Theatre, recently celebrated its 20 year anniversary. Being the iconic show it has become, Wilayto explains that it was quite stressful to have to step into such big shoes. "It definitely was intimidating coming into it, especially with our choreographer. He's work with Chita Rivera and Gwen Verdon, so just knowing that he's worked with this amazing women was a little intimidating. But what I love is that so many different women have played her but you can make the role your own. Roxie has such a great arch from the beginning of the show. By the end of the show, she's completely changed."

And although the musical is far from new and is being produced at a few other theatres this summer, Yingling believes that this production stands out amongst the rest. "[Our production shows] that it's still here and relevant in both choreography and story. Knowing that this choreography that Bob Fosse created was so ahead of its time and is still so relevant nowadays and is still going strong."

Wilayto adds, "I think ours is a very unique production because we are taking a lot of the original choreography and changing it to be in the round. A lot of other places are doing Chicago now, but I think ours is really interesting because you can see a different show from each side of the theatre."

For more information, visit www.machaydntheatre.org.

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