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Review: Chicago at The Wolverhampton Grand

Posted on Tue 24 Jun

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Review: Chicago at The Wolverhampton Grand

Chicago shimmies into the Wolverhampton Grand Theatre this week, featuring Strictly’s Janette Manrara as Roxie Hart, Djalenga Scott as Velma Kelly, and Darren Day as the silver-tongued lawyer, Billy Flynn. 

The production is set in the part-glamourous, part-grimy underbelly of the Windy City, in the Roaring 20’s - with the set, lighting and costumes hinting at both cabaret clubs and the county jail - and features phenomenal movement from the company, an iconic soundtrack, and a spectacularly immersive live band. 

Djalenga Scott, flanked by lingerie and leather-coated dancers, begins the show, singing All That Jazz like an animal about to pounce. Janette Manrara’s Roxie murders her lover Fred Casely (Josh Crowther) in cold blood, landing her in jail - where incarcerated women clamour for notoriety, in the hopes that it will bring them a ticket to fame, or save them from the gallows. 

The production features Bob Fosse’s iconic choreography, which is worth the cost of a ticket alone. From the outset, the ‘triple-threat’ company fills the stage with tantalisingly understated, highly-sprung movement. They might not quite ‘shimmy ‘till their garters break’, but they’re not far off. The cast’s movement is sexy, enticing, quirky and strange - with primal gyrations and jazz hands butting up against each other.

While the stage design is minimalist, matte black - matching the cast’s form-fitting costumes - the production oozes glamour and seedy cabaret-chic. There isn’t much in the way of elaborate physical decoration, so the company dresses the stage instead - whether through the ever-present Jazz orchestra, or with dancers draped on chairs, half-hidden in the wings.

Janette Manrara and Djalenga Scott embody their famous roles with poise and skill. Scott’s Velma has a ferocious undercurrent that bubbles to the surface on occasion. Manrara’s movement is (unsurprisingly, given her day job) toe-tappingly perfect - whether she is being puppeted by Billy Flynn in We Both Reached for the Gun, or re-enacting the murder, pantomime-style in the trial scene.

Darren Day’s Billy Flynn was appropriately smooth-talking, and Joshua Lloyd drew plenty of sympathy as Roxie’s beleaguered husband Amos. Victoria Anderson and Jordan Lee Davies both offered belting (and wildly different) solos as Mama Morton and Mary Sunshine, respectively. 

In all, Chicago is a real treat. The band, under the charismatic presence and enthusiastic baton of Musical Director Neil Macdonall, are informal hosts of the evening’s macabre entertainment, introducing glitzy solo numbers by known murderers, and bringing a taste of 1920’s Chicago to the Grand's stage. If you want to be given the Ol’ Razzle Dazzle, head to Wolverhampton without delay.

Five Stars

Chicago was reviewed by Jessica Clixby at Wolverhampton Grand Theatre on Monday 23 June, where it shows until Saturday 28 June. 

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