"Ladies and gentlemen. You are about to see a story of murder, greed corruption, violence, exploitation, adultery and treachery. All the things we hold near and dear to our hearts.", the opening line to Bob Fosse's culminitave work "Chicago&" effectively describes the show.

First performed in 1975, it was dubbed too cynical and found little success, especially since "A Chorus Line" opened the same season and steamrolled over, well, everything that year.

Posthumously, Fosse's Chicago was revived in the capable hands of director Walter Bobbie and Ann Reinking choreographing the show in his very distinct style.

Fostered in a modern environment, Chicago has found prosperity as we now appreciate it’s satirical look at criminals as celebrities.

The music would take center stage on the near bare set, if it weren’t for the marvelous performers on whom the show relies. When the right cast performs the show it's a very brassy, very sexy show.

Heather Parcells as Velma Kelly has an amazing stage presence. She loves what she does. “It’s more than a job”, she says, “I never knew about Fosse until I went to College, but once I got there, I found out all about him and what he was about, and then I really wanted to do this. The choreography is very different. [The show] is very stylized.... almost Brechtian.”

Everyone acknowledges Chicago is not your typical musical. The distinct choreography, decadent theme, and tongue in cheek look at musicals, seduces the theatre-goer. WIth lines like "My exit music please", you're made very aware of the fact that the line between reality and the stage is thin. This is where most of the shows power lays. We know that what we are watching is ab out us. We're the ones glorifying murderers, condemning the innocent and setting the guilty free.

The show had a mere three performances in Vancouver, although the show has an open run in New York and the film is now in wide release, having won best picture, a stong statement to the power that Chicago embodies.

Chicago played a key role in the revival of Bob Fosse’s work. Ann Reinking co-choreographed “Fosse”, a showcase of his work and “Cabaret”, though lacking his choreography, captures the decadence of his style for the new century.
688