BWW Reviews: Cumberland County Playhouse's CHICAGO Heats up Summer

Make no mistake about it: The leading men (aka Britt Hancock and Daniel W. Black) in Cumberland County Playhouse's production of the Kander and Ebb musical Chicago very nearly steal the show right out from under their leading ladies. In fact, it is safe to say that Hancock and Black deliver two of the best portrayals of their characters (Hancock is Billy Flynn, Black is Amos Hart) in the history of theater - or the world, for that matter.

Perhaps we exaggerate (as we are sometimes wont to do), but since the show first premiered in New York in 1975, the leading ladies of Chicago usually have been the ones to garner most of the applause, the better notices and the roomiest dressing rooms (or at least that's what we like to think). And while CCP's dressing rooms aren't all that much to write home about, regardless of one's star status, Hancock and Black are fairly fantastic as the razzle-dazzle 'em lawyer and the long-suffering husband most people just look right past.

That doesn't mean that their co-stars - JoAnn Coleman as Velma Kelly and Ali Gritz as Roxie Hart - are, by comparison, like so much chopped liver. Rather, it means Coleman and Gritz are presented with the challenge of their onstage lives in this largely successful, but sometimes unfocused, rendering of the never-say-die musical that challenges the public's unyielding appetite for and fascination with fame and infamy and people who are celebrities simply because they are, well, celebrities.

And what fictional characters fit that description better than the aforementioned Velma and Roxie? Think about it, they're both amoral, vapid and self-absorbed, yet there is something about the two women - written with such alacrity and charm by John Kander, Fred Ebb and Bob Fosse, based on characters who first appeared onstage in the 1920s in Maurine Dallas Watkins' original play - that is simply irresistible, charming and accessible.

Set in the Windy City during Prohibition, Chicago is a jazz-age delight: filled with memorable, imminently hummable tunes and deliciously shady characters with nefarious aims, replete with sexy situations and naughty innuendo. The script's been scrubbed a bit to make it more palatable for audiences at "Tennessee's Family Theatre" and while that doesn't make Chicago any less appealing to more discerning devotees of the musical, neither does it really make that much sense. The changes are uneven and, at times, they send a troubling, confusing message. Case in point: Apparently it is perfectly okay to refer to a tailor as a "fruit," but Roxie Hart never seems able to finish the phrase "son of a..." with "bitch." What message does that send? It's okay to use an anti-gay slur, but you can't call the guy a son of a bitch at the same time? The lesson here is that theater companies should respect their audiences' ability to see past the colorful language, and to accept it as part of the time period and situations represented onstage.

That being said, the cast of Chicago deliver an entertaining production, with plenty of theatrical fireworks that create a nice visual aesthetic for the musical (unfortunately, though, that doesn't include the dancers spotlighted behind screens that just looks like something straight from the late '60s and which lacks the air of sensuality and sophistication I can only assume was the intent). Director John Fionte's scenic design is flashy and colorful, featuring multiple staircases that enable the cast to perform on a multi-level set that effectively works for the musical's varied settings.

E. Tonry Lathroum's lighting design is well-conceived and executed, and Rebel Mickelson's costume design is quite effective, if somewhat inconsistent: What's with those ugly grey prison uniforms that do nothing for the women clad in them? And that sheriff's shirt that Mama Morton has to wear is just ugly. Those choices are particularly glaring since the women onstage are, for the most part, gorgeously dressed in sexy (but not too sexy!) get-ups that give the appearance of being far more revealing than they really are (and, while on that subject, what's with Roxie's undergarments?), and why are the men dressed in 1920s styles, while the women appear in contemporary clothes (Velma and Roxie wear little black dresses that are to die for throughout)?

Coleman opens the show in her typical fashion, full of vocal flourishes, wailing the hell (is it okay for me to say "hell"?) out of "All That Jazz," backed up by the production's crackerjack ensemble. She sets the perfect tone for the show, putting the audience on notIce That they are going to be impressed by the musical program, even if the acting might sometimes seem uneven. Coleman creates a Velma who is appealingly sexy and who presents a more conniving and venomous counterpoint to Gritz's babe-in-the-woods' Roxie. Gritz proves herself equal to Coleman's vocal challenge, although she seems a bit young for the role, although in actuality she's probably age-appropriate for Roxie (we're just used to seeing more mature actresses take on the role).

Hancock is at his matinee-idol, singing and dancing, best as Billy Flynn, the disreputable lawyer who dances from one notorious client to the next with aplomb and over-the-top showmanship that is pitch-perfect. Thanks to Hancock's terrific stage presence and his total command of musical theater, the show's musical highlight is "We Both Reached for the Gun" that shows off Leila Nelson's choreography at its shiny best. The consummate song-and-dance man, Hancock delivers the goods while maintaining a credible sense of a character who, like Lord Byron, is "mad, bad and dangerous to know."

As Roxie's garage mechanic husband Amos, Black once again shows off his prowess in character roles that are full of appeal - and even if Amos considers himself to be "Mr. Cellophane," Black makes him tremendously appealing and so entertaining that you actually look forward to him coming onstage and stealing virtually every scene. Black and Hancock together ensure that scenes between the two men are well-paced, the delivery of their lines refreshing and noteworthy.

Cast as Mama Morton, Lauren Marshall gives a wonderful performance as the keeper of the keys to the Cook County Jail, alternately snarky and lovable, while confidently playing the role to the hilt with just the slightest hint of over-the-top, stagey artifice. She walks the fine line that actresses so often are forced to do in musical theater, succeeding admirably. Her performance with Coleman, of "Class," is richly shaded and very effective.

Marshall is backed up a stunning pack of "merry murderesses," including such Playhouse stars as the inimitable Weslie Webster, the gorgeous Nicole Begue Hackmann and the amazingly versatile Lindy Pendzick, along with relative new faces (to me, at least) Caitlin Schaub, Jensen Crain and Regina Villaruz.

Among the men's ensemble, Greg Pendzick (as the DA) and Michael Ruff (as Roxie's murdered lover Fred Caseley) are stand-outs, with able performances delivered by Keith McCoy and Derek Wagner, while Chaz Sanders and Austin Price again prove themselves the standouts among the male dancers.

The intriguingly named "K'ieu Quillar," (the nom-de-plume, if you will, for the thespian taking on the role of sob sister Mary Sunshine) gives a nice reading of that role, performing a perfectly lovely rendition of "A Little Bit of Good."

Ron Murphy's music direction is lively and his musicians play the John Kander score with an almost indefinable air of Jazz Age joie de vivre. Nelson's choreography, which recalls the original by Bob Fossee without being slavish to it, is for the most part laudable and impressive.

Chicago. Book by Fred Ebb and Bob Fossee. Music by John Kander. Lyrics by Fred Ebb. Based on the play Chicago by Maurine Dallas Watklins. Directed by John Fionte. Music direction by Ron Murphy. Choreography by Leila Nelson. Presented by Cumberland County Playhouse, Crossville. Through October 7. For reservations, call (9310 484-5000. For further details, visit the company website at www.ccplayhouse.com.

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