Greed, lying, cheating, oh my! All of these themes were combined and addressed this past weekend in Longwood’s production of ‘Chicago” the musical.
‘Chicago’, which is the longest running American musical in Broadway history, is all about criminals and their rise to fame as they try to get out of being convicted of murder. The director, Lacy Klinger, spoke about the theme of the show.
She said, “The show has a clear point of view about how far people will go for fame, however fleeting. I think that resonates today across our American culture- even into the political arena.”
Klinger said the best part about working on Chicago was working with the students and seeing them grow and embody their characters. The show included multiple seasoned actors at Longwood, as well as new up-and-coming freshmen in their first performance.
The Longwood Theatre Department had five showings of the musical, which ran from Feb. 20 to Feb. 23 with three 7 p.m. performances and two 2 p.m. matinees.
Auditions for the show were in late November, and the students got cast the same week. They then had a read through of the script and the music before they went away for winter break. Once back, the cast rehearsed every Tuesday through Thursday from 6:00-9:30 p.m. and Saturday afternoons until opening night on Feb. 20.
Students were put into various roles from being in the cast to working on sets to costumes to lighting. Klinger also brought in guest choreographer Marisa Kirby to choreograph all of the dance numbers for the show last month.
Ensemble member Matthew Carley said that the experience was well worth all of the work. He said, “It was amazing, tiring and rewarding. The final product was a big success in my opinion.” When asked if he would do it again, Carley replied, “Absolutely!”
Both Klinger and Carley are proud of the performances and are appreciative of all the time and effort that went into the production. Klinger said that everything that went into making this show come alive was so wonderful, and Carley agreed.
Missed out on seeing Chicago? Don’t worry, the Longwood Theatre Department will be putting on another show, Ken Ludwig’s Baskerville, A Sherlock Holmes Mystery,from April 15-19 at the CSTAC Main Stage Theatre. Tickets are available now through the Longwood Theatre Box Office or online at longwoodtickets.universitytickets.com.
The Chicago musical glorifies crime and mystery for a spectacular show.
