Chicago The Musical At The Mayflower Theatre, Southampton Review

Reviewed by Freya Knudsen

If you don’t already know let me introduce to you Chicago the Musical, a story of 1920s jazz age glamour and prohibition-era criminality. The narrative centres around the women of ‘murderess row’ in the Cook County Jail and their crimes as well as the lengths they’ll go to get off. We quickly meet Roxie Hart, who murders her lover in a rage after he threatens to leave her and needs to hire a slick criminal lawyer to help her avoid conviction, she becomes one of the central characters.

Particularly interesting and was evident in the shows programme is that the productions origin comes from the true story of pretty girls get free of murder in 1920s Chicago, due in by and large to newspaper coverage turning these women’s’ stories into entertainment and the transgressors into stars.

The ensemble cast were absolutely in sync from the beginning and choreography was slick and exciting from moment to moment, entirely capturing the sultry mood. Chicago is a well-known play and has a long history on Broadway, it’s no surprise therefore they’ve honed every detail from start to finish and therefore the theatre production also draws some recognisable names. These include Faye Brookes from Coronation Street as Roxie Hart, Darren Day a personality known on both stage and screen alike as Billy Flynn, Sinitta Malone who made 15 international hit records and became Simon Cowells go to for advice on The X Factor (so you know she’s got an enviable voice), and Divina De Campo as Mary Sunshine known for her vocal range and appearances on Ru Paul’s Drag Race UK and The Voice. Joel Montague as Amos Hart had a poignant moment during ‘Mr Cellophane’ and encouraged the audience to participate with the crowd cheering and clapping him at times. Despite the film version also being popular, each person brought something different to the characters and brought a high level of energy that was maintained throughout.

For me, Velma Kelly played by Djalenga Scott was a standout performance, she’s entirely charismatic in the role and opens the production with the ‘All That Jazz’ song, setting the tone and wowing the audience with incredible vocals.

The show is meant to be gritty, dark and a bit seedy, with the story illustrating the underhand dealings and the fragility of the criminal justice system, entirely open to corruption by a pretty face and a good story. This is perfectly backed up by the racy costumes featuring plenty of lingerie, short camisole dresses, sparkle, tight trousers, open shirts and mesh. As you can imagine the set for the most part was very dark, being set in courtrooms, and the jail – consisting of dark chairs, some ladders for the most part and a few bigger set pieces.

The orchestra were also on stage in staggered seating and the conductor regularly interacts with the cast. A lovely touch was that after the interlude the musicians come back and have their moment. Their positioning on stage was a stroke of artistic genius and combined with the moody lighting gave the impression of a jazz club of the time. Always the professionals, they continued to play as people were leaving to much applause, many people stayed to see the music through to the end.

In summary, I was truly razzle dazzled with brilliantly executed dance moves and some of the best vocals I’ve heard on stage. At its core, Chicago is a musical but even if you aren’t into musicals the dances and whole spectacle is worth a watch. Everything combined was slick and breathtakingly stunning – cast, music, costumes, voices, dance moves. I implore you to go get your tickets now!

Rating: I give this a 5/5 and would give higher if I could. Absolute perfection!

Chicago The Musical is on at The Mayflower from 15th – 20th November.

Tickets cost from £27.50 and can be purchased from – https://www.mayflower.org.uk/whats-on/chicago-2021/

*Booking fees may apply

22-26 Commercial Rd, Southampton SO15 1GE