And All That Jazz

The last musical of the 2009-2010 Broadway season in Orlando was Chicago, a musical that I rather enjoy. I wanted to see it when I was in Vegas lo those many years ago, but the person I was with didn’t want to see it, so I had to skip it. So when I heard that it was coming to Orlando, I eagerly snatched up a ticket.

When we were walking up to the Bob Carr Performing Arts Center, there was an older woman there that was telling us about the musical and how she knew the actor playing the prosecutor. And we asked her if she thought the musical was better than the movie (which is usually the case), but she told us that the movie was better. I thought, she must be wrong. I mean, the movie was great and all, but how could it be better than the real thing?

And as I was watching the musical, I had to agree. The actors, though wonderful singers, felt like they were bored with their characters. There was no life in them. They did all the moves, but it’s like watching Brittany Spears in the 2007 MTV music awards. It just didn’t feel quite right.

And oh my goodness, were there slow bits. There’s one scene where Roxie Hart is touching herself. One of the youngish girls (they could have been teenagers or college freshmen), one of them asked, “What is she doing?” The other one said, “I don’t know.” I was going to lean over and tell her that she’s pretending to be turned on, but I couldn’t stop giggling. I had actually zoned out and was thinking about the lunch I had. (A very good sandwich called Momma Ling Ling’s Thanksgiving at Pom Pom Teahouse and sandwicheria.)

And the final dance number was lackluster. I couldn’t wait for them to finish. At least the movie knew to pull out some tommy guns and play off their notoriety as murderesses. But no, there was nothing in the musical remotely close to that.

I’d totally skip this musical and rent the movie. It’s totally not worth going to see.

Crossposted to Samantha Ling, Dreamwidth and Livejournal