THEATRE REVIEW: Chicago at Rotherham Civic Theatre

IT'S a first for the Civic and our critic as Chicago makes its Rotherham debut.

THE roaring and raunchy 1920s arrived in Rotherham this week as Chicago opened at the Civic — a first for me and for the theatre.

It is a show I’ve always noticed from afar but never seen — if I’d known it was a production brimming with fabulous femmes fatales I would have been quicker to the party.

The female-dominated cast gave stunning vocal performances throughout on opening night and even some jaw-dropping operatics from Charlotte Kenny as journalist Mary Sunshine.

The Charleston-heavy choreography by Gary Jackman is right up my street, and the on-stage band led by musical director Steve Trotter provide a mix of jazz, tap, Vegas showgirl feathers and high kicks — never a dull moment!

The story might be set decades ago but the plot, based around women who kill, still feels current and had my interest from the off.

Murderesses Velma Kelly (Liana Underwood) and Roxie Hart (Georgia Green) are battling for centre stage in the courtroom and the West End as their high-profile murder trials are gripping 1920s Chicago.

Their cold-hearted fight for the spotlight and one-upwomanship is highly entertaining, with both vaude-villains giving a finely-tuned professional performance.

One of two stand-out scenes was the Cell Block Tango with Velma and her incredible Merry Murderesses who stalk the red-lit stage, each telling their own dreadful tale of murder with chilling delight.

The second comes from Roxie and her lawyer Billy Flynn, confidently and maturely played by Adam Wigglesworth (who does very well to hold what may be one of the longest notes ever delivered at the Civic) as they perform We Both Reached for the Gun, a very clever send-up of the role of a spin doctor in the middle of media circus.

The script is rude and raunchy in parts and as the young dancers’ outfits became more and more unnecessarily skimpy, I wondered if some families in the audience might be getting a bit hot under the collar?

One audience member I bumped into was my former colleague Charlie Graves, who was full of praise for the polished production and also admitted he had never seen Chicago before.

So, if you’ve binged watched all of Killing Eve and are in need of another Villanelle-style fix, head to the Civic to see killer queens Underwood and Green slay.

Chicago is at the Civic until Saturday.