Death and Deception in the Windy City
I went to see the W. Kessler Ltd. production of Chicago at Thalia Mara Hall last night, and I had a BLAST! The cast is dynamite for this show, with some cast members coming direct from Broadway. Michelle Dejean was wonderful as the incorrigible Roxie Hart; she played all of her scenes for everything they were worth. She also had a fabulous singing voice, and her moves weren't too bad, either. I LOVED her in "Roxie," "We Both Reached for the Gun," and "Nowadays." Brenda Braxton was also very convincing as Velma Kelly; she shined particularly bright in "Cell Block Tango," "I Can't Do It Alone," and "Class."
Carol Woods was very entertaining as Matron "Mama" Morton. She had such great stage presence. Even though she didn't do much dancing, she projected great energy and had total command of the audience during "When You're Good to Mama" and "Class." You gotta love a good Mama.
Tom Wopat played Billy Flynn, and I was surprised to hear that he has a beautiful singing voice. I also thought he did an admirable job in his scenes with the other actors. His delivery was very polished. (Except for one scene, the courtroom scene. He got a little tickled on stage, and the whole audience cracked up for a minute. It was a great moment.) I was hoping that Billy Flynn would do a little more dancing (who would object to seeing Tom Wopat shaking his tail feathers?), but, alas, that was not to be.
I thought it was a very strong production, especially considering that these poor professionals are touring, which takes alot of energy out of the performers and technicians. Bravo!
The next Kessler show at Thalia Mara Hall will be Rodgers & Hammerstein's Oklahoma! on Nov. 29 and 30.
Carol Woods was very entertaining as Matron "Mama" Morton. She had such great stage presence. Even though she didn't do much dancing, she projected great energy and had total command of the audience during "When You're Good to Mama" and "Class." You gotta love a good Mama.
Tom Wopat played Billy Flynn, and I was surprised to hear that he has a beautiful singing voice. I also thought he did an admirable job in his scenes with the other actors. His delivery was very polished. (Except for one scene, the courtroom scene. He got a little tickled on stage, and the whole audience cracked up for a minute. It was a great moment.) I was hoping that Billy Flynn would do a little more dancing (who would object to seeing Tom Wopat shaking his tail feathers?), but, alas, that was not to be.
I thought it was a very strong production, especially considering that these poor professionals are touring, which takes alot of energy out of the performers and technicians. Bravo!
The next Kessler show at Thalia Mara Hall will be Rodgers & Hammerstein's Oklahoma! on Nov. 29 and 30.
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