Thursday night, Apr. 18 through Apr. 20, Theater on the Hill (TOTH) presented their spring musical, “Chicago.”
“Chicago” was originally a 1975 Broadway production set in Chicago’s jazz age. It tells the riveting story of Roxie Hart, who is on trial for the murder of Fred Casely, and Velma Kelly, who killed her husband and sister. The two women develop an intense rivalry when their cases are both taken up by the same lawyer, Billy Flynn. Refusing one to have more media coverage than the other, Roxie and Velma fight for publicity and fame.
With the memorable musical numbers “All That Jazz” and “Razzle Dazzle,” the show holds the record as the second longest running musical in Broadway history. Director Carli Wilkerson wanted to do “Chicago” because she wanted to run something different from the heartfelt musicals they have done in the past.
“Last year we did ‘Into the Woods,’ and the year before we did ‘Fiddler on the Roof.’ They’re both very emotional [and] touching stories, and I wanted something [with] a completely different sound and vibe than those, and ‘Chicago’ was that,” Wilkerson said. “It was jazzy and about really crazy women.”
With incredible singing from the cast, dancing came with it as well. From the sheer black tights and tassel skirts to the jazz hands, Wilkerson and her cast incorporated some of the original costume elements and choreography choices made by the musical’s original director, Bob Fosse.
“ ‘Chicago’ is a Bob Fosse musical who was this very famous choreographer and director from the 60s and 70s, so I wanted to make sure that we honored him in all of the choreography,” Wilkerson said. “We worked together to honor Bob Fosse, but also put our own little spin on it too.”
Senior Rea Eide was casted as the lead role, Roxie Hart, in “Chicago.” Eide believes that the dynamic between the cast members of Chicago really helped make the Theater on the Hill’s version of Chicago really special and unique.
“A lot of our cast were underclassmen [and] all of them were super close, so it felt young and fresh. Even though [Chicago] is a rough story it didn’t feel like that when we were doing it, it felt fun and it felt like a good time.” Eide said
Although the musical covers heavy and sensitive topics, TOTH found a way to keep the story enjoyable for all ages and audiences while also adding a different perspective to audience members.
“I know that I said that it was about psycho women, which it is, but it was also kinda about empowering women to be who they really want to be, and getting them out of their boxes,” Wilkerson said. “It’s just a musical that’s about living your truth granted, [that] some of these people’s truths [are] not great.”
