"Ten years ago, Londoners thought Chicago was a city in the US," remarked producer Barry Weissler as he stepped to the stage of the Cambridge Theatre on 5 December, following a tenth-anniversary performance of the stage musical that has given Britons a whole new point of identification for Chicago. In this instance, think not of the windy city but of a song and dance extravaganza that for one night only allowed a black-tie charity audience to compare and contrast Velmas and Roxies, Matron Mama Mortons and Billy Flynns with giddy abandon. Was Nigel Planer really that much taller than any of the other Amos Harts on view (there were six in all)? Apparently so, while Annette McLaughlin's Velma seemed capable of kicks as high as the theatre itself. Then again, few Roxie Harts have ever delivered the show's signature showstopper number, "Roxie," with quite the savvy demonstrated by Ruthie Henshall—returning to her original West End role and more suited than ever to a part in which advancing years are entirely appropriate. (Roxie, after all, does let slip that she's "older than I ever intended to be.")
Denise Van Outen & Ruthie
Henshall during the curtain call
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The point of the evening was to celebrate the longevity of that rare London version of a Broadway hit that has shown itself capable of rivaling in popularity its Broadway cousin, the West End
Chicago having grossed over £125 million—or about $260 million—since it first played the Adelphi Theatre. "I guess [the show] has become a household word" in London, said Weissler, joined by his co-producer (and wife) Fran, the show's director Walter Bobbie and choreographer Ann Reinking, who performed the deepest of curtseys in the direction of the evening's mightily hard-working cast.
And what a line-up it was! Watching multiple versions of the same character tackle a single role across the evening was as near as this journalist, at least, has ever got to being a casting director: how often does one get to see the various and varied approaches that a given role can attract? And yet, the bendy, beaming Velma of performance-opener Ute Lemper (who originated the part in this production) was as different from the supremely leggy McLaughlin as either woman was from the punk-haired spitfire, Amra-Faye Wright, who is currently playing the part—and who fielded the bulk of the book scenes while leading those merry murderesses in a particularly corking rendition of the "Cell Block Tango."
Sometimes you had to look quickly to spot the player. Jennifer Ellison—an erstwhile Roxie—made a fleeting appearance right at the very start before barreling off to her ongoing nightly chores at the Comedy Theatre in Boeing-Boeing: the 6:30PM Chicago gala start meant she could fulfill both obligations. So could Fiddler on the Roof star Henry Goodman, who opened the show dressed as Tevye the milkman and said a few words (needing prompts, and who could blame him?) before dashing off to the Savoy Theatre, all memories of having originated Billy Flynn in London presumably subsumed by his continued commitment to small-town Russian life. The occasion allowed for the best sort of double vision: Denise van Outen, on a full night off from her chores in Rent Remixed, joining Aoife Mullholland perched atop either side of the stage for a lustily sung "Funny Honey," or the three Mary Sunshines who came at us drolly warbling in varying degrees of falsetto.
I wasn't the only one spellbound by Bonnie Langford's loose-limbed agility during "We Both Reached For the Gun," while first-act Billys ranged from the smooth-faced—and smooth—appeal of Duncan James to the slightly grander, grittier presence of former Spandau Ballet front man Tony Hadley. (Both Langford and James are about to return to the production, Langford informing Broadway.com at the after-party at the Leicester Square club Sound that she had only got the phone call to that effect that very week.) Henshall, as mentioned, led a near-definitive "Roxie," the singer first glimpsed behind a tabloid headline having three nights earlier been among the parade of UK personalities that paid an 80th birthday tribute to Barbara Cook. With luck, Henshall will be back for somewhat longer than these one-offs, Barry Weissler confirming as much. The actress-singer is in the frame to lead a Weissler-backed London revival of Sweet Charity, confirmed the producer afterwards, if Denise van Outen doesn't beat her to it.
After the interval, we got a few minutes from UK TV personality Fiona Bruce, who was preceded by that clenched dynamo otherwise known as Caroline O'Connor, whose rendition of "When Velma Takes the Stand" typified this Australian performer's gift for stealing everything in sight. (Those who caught her Hildy in the English National Opera staging of On the Town will know that impulse.) Second-act Billys included Yorkshireman Ian Kelsey, who has just been playing the part on the UK tour, while this production's first Amos—Nigel Planer, late of London's Wicked—showed himself to be certainly the tallest of the various men to have played the part on the West End. And one of the few not named Paul. (Paul Rider, currently in the role, proved a most agreeable occupant of the part during the book scenes in which, as is required of the role, he seemed to disappear in front of our eyes.) The prevailing Roxie of the night was onetime Les Miserables Tony-winner Frances Ruffelle though she and fellow alumna Claire Sweeney gallantly let Henshall and Lemper take over on Nowadays, their terpsichorean finesse bringing to a climax a night at which virtually every one of the distaff players seemed capable of cartwheeling. No shyness on that front then. And for those of us who were curious about Kelly Osbourne's Mama but who never managed to catch her, the young celebrity acquitted herself perfectly well on "Class," even if the class act Matron of the night was Sue Kelvin, curls piled high above her head as if in madcap homage to Lucille Ball.
At the party that followed, Weissler said that he certainly expects Chicago to be good in London for another five years and was candid about his pleasure at the talent pool needed to sustain a show that—when this production initially opened—might at first have been thought to be too specialized for West End players. (Fosse, for instance, singularly failed to ignite London.) In the meantime, he's busy planning to bring Neil LaBute's Fat Pig to the West End—the Duke of York's, most likely—in a production directed by the playwright and is sweet on resurrecting Sweet Charity, with either of the ladies named above.
For my part, I don't envy the cast that then had to go perform Chicago the next night, free of the anniversary performance's glitz and glitter. On the other hand, this is a show about razzle dazzle. Come to think of it, I'm sure they were fine.
Choreographer Ann Reinking and director
Walter Bobbie join the company for the bows
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