REVIEW: Chicago, Sheffield Lyceum

I HAVEN'T seen multi-award-winning musical Chicago on stage since 2009 in the West End.

But a decade and a half on the show continues to have the wow factor.

Currently on a UK and Ireland tour, this production stars Coronation Street’s Faye Brookes reprising her role as Roxie Hart, plus West End and TV star Brenda Edwards also back as Matron ‘Mama’ Morton – a character she made her West End debut as in 2006 and makes her own again in this performance.

The pair are joined by Kevin Clifton (Strictly Come Dancing, Everybody’s Talking About Jamie) as slick lawyer Billy Flynn, Djalenga Scott – also returning to a previous role as Roxie's cellmate/rival Velma Kelly – and Joshua Lloyd as Amos, Roxie's befuddled, bumbling husband.

Set amid the razzle-dazzle decadence of the 1920s, Roxie, a housewife and nightclub dancer, murders her on-the-side lover after he threatens to walk out on her.

Desperate to avoid conviction, she hires Chicago’s hottest criminal lawyer to transform her crime into a barrage of sensational headlines.

Brookes brings a scrappy, playful vibe to Roxie while Clifton delivers the devilish charm as Billy.

Created by the musical theatre talents of John Kander, Fred Ebb and legendary choreographer Bob Fosse, the sizzling score opens with All That Jazz and does not let up with one show-stopping song after another.

Special mention must go to the sensational orchestra who are on stage and involved with each scene – as much a part of the energetic ensemble as the cast.

All the hits are here from Cell Block Tango to Razzle Dazzle, but Lloyd's poignant pathos during Mr Cellophane is both pitch perfect and pitched perfectly to elicit the audience's sympathies.

Another harmonious highlight was Scott and Edwards as Velma and Mama crooning 'Class' while lamenting the lack of manners, ethics and good grace across the generations.

In the pre-show publicity Clifton said: “The show is of its time, but also of any time.”

And sure enough there are a few chuckles in the Lyceum audience in 2025 during Roxie and Velma's exchange about “people losing faith in America and what it stands for.”

A timeless classic indeed.