Jv theatre 6th
31 October 2014
Chicago Play Critique The show takes place in Chicago, Illinois in the 1920s. It starts with Roxie Hart's cold-blooded murder of Fred Casely. Roxie convinces her husband Amos that the man was a burglar, but then the police inform him that she knew the man and Amos gives her up to the cops. She is sent to the Cook County Jail where she meets Velma Kelly, Mama, and other murders. Mama gets her talking to the best lawyer in town, Billy Flinn, and with help from Amos she is able to afford him and become the talk of the town. This upsets Velma greatly as she becomes old news. Roxie has several press conferences which make her famous, at least in Chicago that is, and Velma is desperate to get back on top. She asks Roxie if she will play her sister's old part in her show and Roxie's declines wanting no one but herself on stage. Then, a woman with a wealthy father kills her cheating husband and as she is about to become Chicago's new headliner, Roxie tells the press that she's pregnant and she's back on the front page. As Roxie's court date approaches, she gets tips from Billy but it was the ideas she stole from Velma that really helped get her get acquitted. Right after she is found not guilty, the press immediately flocks to another story and Roxie is left sad her short lived fame is over. The show ends with her teaming up with Velma in her sisters old spot. From an acting stand point, I had no idea what I watched after seeing this show I just know that it wasn't theatre and it wasn't acting. I felt as if a bunch of adults were running around stage playing dress up and make believe because they failed to portray the characters. The actress Velma Kelly was not as bad as some of the others but she lacked dept and multiple dimensions. The lead Roxie Hart acted like a little bratty school girl which came across as if she had done no character work and got the part of Roxie that day. She had this obviously fake accent that