CenterStage at the JCC and Hilliard Lyons present the Broadway hit musical Chicago, a titillating story of murder, greed and corruption, September 4-20, in the Linker Auditorium.
Set in the Roaring 20’s, the musical is based on a play of the same name by reporter Maurine Dallas Watkins. The original show features music, lyrics and a book by John Kander and Frank Ebb. It was first performed on Broadway in 1975, with a revival opening in 1996. The revival is the third longest running production in Broadway history and is still being performed today. The revival production has received six Tony Awards, two Olivier Awards for its London performance and a Grammy.
Chicago is the scandalous story of two rival vaudevillian murderesses, Roxie Hart and Velma Kelley, locked up in the Cook County Jail. With the help of prison matron Mama Morton and her slick lawyer, Billy Flynn, Velma attempts to turn her prison sentence into one big glitzy media frenzy.
Roxie manages to steal Velma’s front page headlines and her lawyer. Both women are eventually found innocent, but it’s not long before another woman shoots up the courthouse stealing all the publicity.
The CenterStage production is a mix of both the original and the popular revival and it is CenterStage’s most requested show.
“The show deals with subjects that are still prevalent in society like reality stars, paparazzi and fame,” said Artistic Director John Leffert. The cast is sure to please as much as the racy costumes and dazzling score.
Whitney Trowbridge, former Miss Kentucky and 4th Runner up Miss America, makes her CenterStage debut as Velma Kelley, delivering a seductive performance of “And All That Jazz.” Kate E. Reedy returns to the stage as vixen Roxie Hart, having appeared in CenterSage classics including Rent and Ragtime. Pete Lay “razzle dazzles” the audience as lawyer Billy Flynn.
Chicago is the second of six plays in CenterStage’s 100th anniversary season. CenterStage will also showcase Sweeney Todd, Beauty and the Beast, Once on this Island and Fiddler on the Roof.
Tickets for Chicago cost $20 or $22 at the door and are on sale by calling 502-238-2709 or online at www.CenterStageJCC.org