(Katy Moore, Jessica Sole & Charon
Williams Ros. Pic by Val Adamson)
Durban’s
astonishing multi awarding winning production house, KickstArt, starts the year
with some high-kicking razzle-dazzle, with Kander and Ebb’s phenomenal musical,
Chicago, which comes to the UKZN
campus’ Elizabeth Sneddon Theatre from April 7 to 30.
Oozing
gritty sex appeal, Chicago follows KickstArt’s previous cutting edge
contemporary musicals: Sweeney Todd, Into
the Woods and Cabaret.
Chicago
features music by John Kander, lyrics by Fred Ebb, and book by Ebb and Bob
Fosse. The Durban staging will be directed by Steven Stead, designed by Greg
King, musical direction by Evan Roberts, and lighting design by Tina le Roux.
Chicago explores the themes of celebrity, scandal
and corruption in prohibition-era, jazz- infused Chicago. The satirical
musical-noir is based on a 1926 play by reporter Maurine Dallas Watkins about
real life Chicago criminals in true cases.
The
story centres on vaudevillian showgirl, Velma Kelly (Katy Moore) and housewife,
Roxie Hart (Jessica Sole) two murderesses who find themselves in jail awaiting
trial – fighting for the fame that will keep them from the gallows.
Also in
the cast are Billy (Jason Ralph); Mama Morton (Charon Williams Ros); Mary
Sunshine (Anne Marie Clulow) and Amos (Bryan Hiles). The production also
features an onstage live nine-piece band under the direction of Evan Roberts.
The
musical was made into a movie in 2002 starring Catherine Zeta Jones, Renee
Zellweger and Richard Gere.
Chicago features a slew of fabulous show stopping
numbers: All that Jazz; When You’re Good
to Mama; Cell Block Tango; Mister Cellophane and Razzle Dazzle.
Chicago runs at the Elizabeth Sneddon Theatre from April
7 to 30. Booking through Computicket: www.computicket.co.za / 0861 915 8000 / Shoprite
Checkers Money Market Counters.
For
enquiries for block bookings of 50 or more people / entire performances, contact
Ailsa Windsor of Going Places: editor.goingplacessa@gmail.com, or 083 250 2690.
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