REVIEW: Chicago at Stratford Festival
You may think you know Kander and Ebb’s Chicago — and you almost certainly know at least one or two of its tunes. The show has had admirable staying power since its premiere in 1975. Its themes of media sliminess are topical as ever; this week, the show’s borderline-fetishization of the notion of pregnancy is painfully on-the-nose. Chicago’s a storied favourite for a reason — its music is endlessly catchy and dance-able, its story equal parts resonant and fun. It’s a smart move on the Stratford Festival’s part to position this particular mega-musical as a mainstage draw this season, the first of its kind at Stratford since before the pandemic — give them jazz and the people will come.
It helps, of course, when Chicago is directed and choreographed with total poise and creativity — as has been done at Stratford by Donna Feore.
Feore helms Stratford’s Chicago with confidence, bringing to life the glitz and grime of 1920s Chicago’s nightlife, evoking but never copying the work of Bob Fosse himself. Chicago tells a simple story, framed as a vaudeville performance: two women, wannabe chorus girl Roxie, and washed-up solo performer Velma, are in jail, and with the help of sleazy lawyer Billy Flynn, they’re determined to get out. Against a backdrop of total tabloid media frenzy, the women circle each other in their attempts at freedom, as Roxie’s case plays out in the public eye through newspapers and in the courtroom. The two are archetypal foils of one another, similar but not the same.
Feore’s Chicago is so indulgent it’s camp, and that’s not a bad thing — clearly no expense has been spared on the production, and the evident cost has paid off. Michael Walton’s lighting, enhanced by Michael Gianfrancesco’s multi-level set, feels like a fever dream, as if the events of Chicago unfurl inside a luminous marquee; Dana Osborne’s costumes equally astound, breathing new life into the art of sequinning. Stratford’s Chicago is an aesthetic triumph, and feels right at home in Stratford’s Festival Theatre — Feore navigates the round, thrust stage well, and the production feels surprisingly intimate despite its Herculean scope.
A Chicago is only going to be as strong as its Roxie and Velma, whose deceased lovers, uh, “had it coming.” Chelsea Preston’s Roxie and Jennifer Rider-Shaw’s Velma are a formidable duo, both with strong dance chops and lovely singing voices. Rider-Shaw took a killer moment at the Sunday matinee I attended to glare at a Stratford patron whose phone had beeped, and the audience simply roared; from her first breath to her final “all that jazz,” Rider-Shaw expertly commands the theatre as the sultry Velma, complementing beautifully Preston’s (slightly) more demure Roxie. Dan Chameroy’s Billy Flynn is a perfect slimeball lawyer — shades of Breaking Bad’s smarmy solicitor Saul Goodman shine through effortlessly. Ensemble member Amanda de Freitas stepped in as Matron Mama Morton at the performance I attended, and she soared in the role, funny and tuneful.
Steve Ross as the peculiar and endlessly downtrodden Amos Hart is a showstopper. Ross plays the character for all it’s worth, unabashedly milking the self-deprecation and blind, unrequited devotion to his wife Roxie. Ross’ “Mr. Cellophane” is a hoot, as is the rest of his second act; it’s a world-class performance in one of Kander and Ebb’s stranger character roles, and it’s sublime.
Where this Chicago occasionally faltered for me was in its ensemble, which at the Sunday matinee was uneven in dance ability and energy. Kicks were not uniformly high, turns not uniformly sharp. Feore’s choreography is difficult, precise, dotted with quintuple pirouettes and highly synchronized group numbers; on Sunday it was clear for whom it came more naturally than others, which dulls slightly this Chicago’s sparkle.
This ultimately small quibble aside, Feore’s Chicago is a strong one, sure to delight musical theatre fans from across the province and Stratford patrons looking for a break from Shakespeare. Visually, it’s a downright feast, and some of the performances are as strong as these characters are likely to get: Stratford’s return to musical theatre is a triumphant one, and well worth seeing before the end of the season.
Chicago runs at the Stratford Festival through October 30. Tickets are available here.
Aisling Murphy
Aisling is Intermission's former senior editor and the theatre reporter for the Globe and Mail. She likes British playwright Sarah Kane, most songs by Taylor Swift, and her cats, Fig and June. She was a 2024 fellow at the National Critics Institute in Waterford, CT.
LEARN MORE
iPhoto caption: The cast of Flex. Photo by Elana Emer.
REVIEW: Flex delivers a stirring portrait of ambition, girlhood, and loyalty
The train is only as strong as its weakest link — and in Flex, every player on and offstage pulls with heart, grit, wit, and charm.
iPhoto caption: Pictured (L to R): Jake Epstein as Frank, Isabella Esler as Alice. Photo by Michael Cooper.
REVIEW: Britta Johnson’s Life After shimmers in large-scale Mirvish transfer
The show’s tender excavation of grief’s ambiguities hasn’t lost any power in its journey to a bigger house; in fact, it’s clearer than ever.
iPhoto caption: Photo by Jae Yang.
REVIEW: Tarragon’s wonderful Benevolence reflects on diaspora, community, and place
Playwright-performer Kevin Matthew Wong’s script is heartfelt, conversational, and at times poetic, moving effortlessly between heavier moments of grief and lighter moments of joy and humour.
iPhoto caption: Photo by David Cooper.
REVIEW: Why Not Theatre’s Mahabharata is a glorious theatrical banquet
This extraordinary ensemble of artists has made something truly harmonious, truly epic: a story that speaks to a mythical past, honouring a range of South Asian artistic traditions while also drawing a direct line to where — and who — we are now.
iPhoto caption: Photo by Jae Yang.
REVIEW: Guillermo Verdecchia’s Feast is a fascinating text, but Tarragon’s new production feels hazy
I found the play really resonant and rich and layered. It’s about globalization, privilege, travel, displacement, and inequity, and it brought up many associations and past experiences for me. But I don’t feel that Soheil Parsa’s production fully comes together.
iPhoto caption: Karen Hines as Pochsy. Photos by Gary Mulcahey.
REVIEW: VideoCabaret’s Pochsy IV is bizarre, vicious, and hilarious
I can confidently say that you don’t have to have a 30-year-plus background with Karen Hines’ clown character Pochsy to quickly understand her mix of oddball conviction, sly wordplay, and bland narcissism.
iPhoto caption: Photo by Aisling Murphy.
In the darkest months of Yukon winter, it’s all about the Sun Room
I’m here for a week in January as a guest of Nakai Theatre, a hub for theatrical experimentation and outside-the-box programming in Canada’s westernmost territory.
Armchairs, tattoos, and an online theatre magazine
When I started at Intermission, my world was limited to the confines of an armchair. Arts journalism was a high it felt dangerously fruitless to chase. The life stretched ahead of me was amorphous and frightening, a chasm filled with hand sanitizer and immigration concerns. It was worth crying over a spilled kombucha and scrubbing at the stain.
iPhoto caption: Liz Appel headshot courtesy of Liz Appel.
Five questions with Wights playwright Liz Appel
Intermission spoke with Appel over email for a brief Q&A about Wights, now playing at Crow’s Theatre until February 9.
Call for applications: Publishing and editorial assistant
Intermission Magazine is seeking a dynamic and collaborative individual to join our team.
iPhoto caption: What Writing Can Do: The 2025 Musical Theatre Critics Lab
Announcing What Writing Can Do: The 2025 Musical Theatre Critics Lab
What Writing Can Do is timed to coincide with the Grand and Theatre Aquarius’ co-production of Waitress, which will serve as a jumping-off point for discussions throughout the Lab.
iPhoto caption: A Christmas Story production still by Dahlia Katz.
REVIEW: A Christmas Story feels fresh at Theatre Aquarius
If you want to catch A Christmas Story before it closes, good luck — the show is close to sold out, and with the talent on that stage, it’s not hard to see why.
Comments