Chicago the Musical Playhouse Theatre Edinburgh 4th February 2025 Review
Chicago the Musical is at the Playhouse theatre for one week only (Tue 04 to Sat 08 February) and the speed that tickets for this show are selling at prove that this show is as popular as ever.
Since its world premiere as a Broadway tryout in 1975, this show has literally become an iconic legend that has set the style and format for so many other shows that followed it. This is hardly surprising when you look at the team behind the original show – music and lyrics by John Kander and Fred Ebb and book by choreographer and director Bob Fosse. This does at times though also give this show the feeling of being a “Cabaret” part 2.
Chicago the musical was based on the 1926 play of the same name by Maurine Dallas Watkins who had made her name as a journalist who covered sensational stories of the day. The original play and the musical are based on real women (names changed) who stood trial for murder, but were acquitted with the help of a star lawyer and a legal system that favoured pretty girls' testimony over any real evidence.
The role of Roxie Hart, the manipulative, headline seeking murderous show-girl has become one of the most iconic ones in stage musical history, and in this production Faye Brookes gets the opportunity to give the audience a Roxie to remember. Roxie Hart has everything that any stage musical performer could want – great songs, classic choreography and some razor sharp dialogue, but it still needs someone who can excel at everything to bring this role to life. Fay Brookes is hitting all the right notes, making all the right moves and giving her Roxie the outer vulnerability that she uses to exploit everyone around her for her own needs, but for some reason, this Roxie is not always the centre of everything when she is on stage.
Part of the reason for the above may be that this show has two strong and equally manipulative characters and there are times when Djalenga Scott as Velma Kelly simply steals the scene with her performance. Who do you remember most from this show, Roxie or Velma? That is always the big question from Chicago.
With his background as a highly successful dancer, Kevin Clifton as celebrity lawyer Billy Flynn was always going to make the most of his song and dance routines and he does whilst making it all look effortless. It is always good to see Billy Flynn’s song “Razzle Dazzle” being performed in its original context as all too often it has become a generic song and dance routine.
Chicago the musical has underneath its classic song and dance numbers a story that allows for some very good secondary role characters and each of them gets musical production space to let us know more about them as people. Some good performances here from Brenda Edwards (Matron ‘Mama’ Morton), Jordan Lee Davies (Mary Sunshine) and Joshua Lloyd (Amos Hart), who also gets the spotlight with the always sad “Mister Cellophane” song and dance routine.
This Chicago is a recreation of the original direction, choreography and sound design by Tania Nardini, Gary Chryst and Matt Grounds respectively and they all do a good job here to capture the essence of the original show.
For many reasons, Chicago is always a bit of an odd show though. The starkness of the set design focuses mainly on the live band, and unless you watch and listen closely there are few clues to the fact that the scenes are often changing. Even the switch to so much of this story happening when Roxie is in prison is a very subtle one with the main cast for the most part always being in their cabaret show costumes, even when taking on the roles of different people.
Chicago as a play and a stage musical is also a scathing attack on a judicial system where celebrity status, money, and who you know are far more important than facts and justice, and sadly this show now has as much to say about contemporary America and its court system as it did when it was originally written in the Al Capone gangster years.
This cabaret is sharp, but it is not razor sharp, but the audience tonight were obviously very happy with this production.
Review by Tom King © 2025
www.artsreviewsedinburgh.com
Since its world premiere as a Broadway tryout in 1975, this show has literally become an iconic legend that has set the style and format for so many other shows that followed it. This is hardly surprising when you look at the team behind the original show – music and lyrics by John Kander and Fred Ebb and book by choreographer and director Bob Fosse. This does at times though also give this show the feeling of being a “Cabaret” part 2.
Chicago the musical was based on the 1926 play of the same name by Maurine Dallas Watkins who had made her name as a journalist who covered sensational stories of the day. The original play and the musical are based on real women (names changed) who stood trial for murder, but were acquitted with the help of a star lawyer and a legal system that favoured pretty girls' testimony over any real evidence.
The role of Roxie Hart, the manipulative, headline seeking murderous show-girl has become one of the most iconic ones in stage musical history, and in this production Faye Brookes gets the opportunity to give the audience a Roxie to remember. Roxie Hart has everything that any stage musical performer could want – great songs, classic choreography and some razor sharp dialogue, but it still needs someone who can excel at everything to bring this role to life. Fay Brookes is hitting all the right notes, making all the right moves and giving her Roxie the outer vulnerability that she uses to exploit everyone around her for her own needs, but for some reason, this Roxie is not always the centre of everything when she is on stage.
Part of the reason for the above may be that this show has two strong and equally manipulative characters and there are times when Djalenga Scott as Velma Kelly simply steals the scene with her performance. Who do you remember most from this show, Roxie or Velma? That is always the big question from Chicago.
With his background as a highly successful dancer, Kevin Clifton as celebrity lawyer Billy Flynn was always going to make the most of his song and dance routines and he does whilst making it all look effortless. It is always good to see Billy Flynn’s song “Razzle Dazzle” being performed in its original context as all too often it has become a generic song and dance routine.
Chicago the musical has underneath its classic song and dance numbers a story that allows for some very good secondary role characters and each of them gets musical production space to let us know more about them as people. Some good performances here from Brenda Edwards (Matron ‘Mama’ Morton), Jordan Lee Davies (Mary Sunshine) and Joshua Lloyd (Amos Hart), who also gets the spotlight with the always sad “Mister Cellophane” song and dance routine.
This Chicago is a recreation of the original direction, choreography and sound design by Tania Nardini, Gary Chryst and Matt Grounds respectively and they all do a good job here to capture the essence of the original show.
For many reasons, Chicago is always a bit of an odd show though. The starkness of the set design focuses mainly on the live band, and unless you watch and listen closely there are few clues to the fact that the scenes are often changing. Even the switch to so much of this story happening when Roxie is in prison is a very subtle one with the main cast for the most part always being in their cabaret show costumes, even when taking on the roles of different people.
Chicago as a play and a stage musical is also a scathing attack on a judicial system where celebrity status, money, and who you know are far more important than facts and justice, and sadly this show now has as much to say about contemporary America and its court system as it did when it was originally written in the Al Capone gangster years.
This cabaret is sharp, but it is not razor sharp, but the audience tonight were obviously very happy with this production.
Review by Tom King © 2025
www.artsreviewsedinburgh.com