Chicago the Musical Appreciation Thread- Page 144

[TotallyEffed]

Posted: 10/21/25 at 2:05pm

I’m excited for a redheaded Roxie!

[ACL2006]

Posted: 10/21/25 at 2:24pm

Tokyo Banana said: "I’m happy for Kate Baldwin, she’s been doing a lot of little regional theater/community theater shows out in Jersey. She was outstanding in The Bridges of Madison county, and excellent in What the Constitution means to me.

it’s funny, I was hoping either her or Betsy Wolfe would replace in Ragtime. Guess not


"

Baldwin could still replace Levy in Ragtime.

[ACL2006]

Posted: 11/2/25 at 8:25pm

Angela Grovey is leaving two weeks early. She was out most of last week. Nakiya Peterkin will rejoin the show for two weeks before Newell joins the show on Nov. 17.

[EDSOSLO858]

Posted: 11/10/25 at 1:22pm

Anyone here catching Kate Baldwin’s Roxie debut this evening?

[ACL2006]

Posted: 11/10/25 at 3:13pm

EDSOSLO858 said: "Anyone here catching Kate Baldwin’sRoxie debut this evening?"

i'll wait until Alex joins and hear reviews about both of them.

[Patti LuPone FANatic]

Posted: 11/10/25 at 10:24pm

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DQ5pBuAjYxg/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ==

[Observation]

Posted: 11/10/25 at 10:34pm

Patti LuPone FANatic said: "https://www.instagram.com/reel/DQ5pBuAjYxg/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ=="

 

She looks fantastic! 

[Patti LuPone FANatic]

Posted: 11/11/25 at 9:04am

A few years ago, the Chicago cast presented me with this video greeting on my birthday (11 11 61).   Today's my 64th.  https://youtu.be/H6U8CGv7n_E?si=KfXVvLup-jYze_UL

[Patti LuPone FANatic]

Posted: 11/14/25 at 7:52am

Has anyone seen Kate Baldwin as Roxie?   Details please.

[ACL2006]

Posted: 11/17/25 at 10:52am

Lots of seats available tonight for Alex's Mama debut.

[EDSOSLO858]

Posted: 11/17/25 at 5:27pm

Anyone going to see Alex tonight?

[quizking101]

Posted: 11/17/25 at 6:29pm

What’s the over/under on Alex’s understudy going on at least once this week?

[ACL2006]

Posted: 11/17/25 at 8:00pm

quizking101 said: "What’s the over/under on Alex’s understudy going on at least once this week?"

I'd bet on it once Alex has a few weeks under their belt. Newell will get bored with the role shortly.

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 11/17/25 at 10:01pm

After saying the show was in horrible shape last month, they seem to have been rejuvenated by this new cast. Kate is WONDERFUL. Alex is maybe the best Mama I’ve seen in many many years and Tam is a perfect Billy. Even Sophie is giving a sharper performance (and i love her Velma). I went tonight since it’s probably the only show you can guarantee Alex being in and I’m very glad i did. The audience was half asleep and pretty sparse but I had a much better time than i expected to have. 

[Melissa25]

Posted: 11/17/25 at 11:28pm

I was there tonight too. I went to see Kate and agree that she is phenomenal.  Is there anything that she cannot do? Sophie is a terrific Velma and reminded me of Chita.  I had a wonderful time. This show still stands up. The song Class took on even more meaning for me today. 

[Patti LuPone FANatic]

Posted: 11/18/25 at 6:12am

Jordan Catalano said: "After saying the show was in horrible shape last month, they seem to have been rejuvenated by this new cast. Kate is WONDERFUL. Alex is maybe the best Mama I’ve seen in many many years and Tam is a perfect Billy. Even Sophie is giving a sharper performance (and i love her Velma). I went tonight since it’s probably the only show you can guarantee Alex being in and I’m very glad i did. The audience was half asleep and pretty sparse but I had a much better time than i expected to have."

Jordan, would you describe Kate's singing and dancing in some detail?

[ACL2006]

Posted: 11/18/25 at 7:31am

Jordan Catalano said: "After saying the show was in horrible shape last month, they seem to have been rejuvenated by this new cast. Kate is WONDERFUL. Alex is maybe the best Mama I’ve seen in many many years and Tam is a perfect Billy. Even Sophie is giving a sharper performance (and i love her Velma). I went tonight since it’s probably the only show you can guarantee Alex being in and I’m very glad i did. The audience was half asleep and pretty sparse but I had a much better time than i expected to have."

I'm also curious about Baldwin's dancing. In her interviews leading up to it, she said she was taking some vocals "up" as most of Roxie's singing is lower than what she usually sings.

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 11/18/25 at 9:51am

I mean, she’s not Ann Reinking but she looked great! Maybe I’m just judging against what Sorvino did but she really looked great up there. And they both did the cartwheels, for anyone wondering.
 

[ACL2006]

Posted: 11/18/25 at 10:02am

Considering last night was also their 29th Anniversary and Newell's debut was a surprise that they weren't even close to being soldout.

[Patti LuPone FANatic]

Posted: 11/24/25 at 11:33am

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DRa7fDtjz35/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ==   Chita as Roxie

[Patti LuPone FANatic]

Posted: 11/24/25 at 11:51am

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DRckd9GEWgh/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ==   Barney Martin as Amos (original Broadway production)  In this IG article, there's a story about the real life inspiration for the  character of Amos Hart: 

Did you know, “Mr. Cellophane” in Bob Fosse’s Chicago was based performances by Bert Williams? Williams was the first modern Black entertainment star: the first Black recording artist, one of the earliest Black leading men on film, and the first Black performer to star in a major Broadway production (Ziegfeld Follies) with white actors. His signature song, “Nobody,” a hauntingly comic lament about being unseen, directly inspired the creation and tone of “Mr. Cellophane.” Fosse and Kander & Ebb drew on Williams’s bittersweet blend of humor and pathos — the ability to make audiences laugh while revealing something painful underneath.

Williams’s career was full of contradictions. He achieved tremendous success while navigating a segregated industry that forced him into blackface even as he tried to subvert it. Unlike many other blackface performers, Williams did not play for laughs at the expense of other African Americans or black culture. Instead, he based his humor on universal situations in which any members of his audience might find themselves. In the style of vaudeville, Williams performed in blackface makeup like his white counterparts. Blackface worked like a double mask for him. It emphasized the difference between Williams, his fellow vaudevillians, and his white audiences.

Updated On: 11/24/25 at 11:51 AM

[ACL2006]

Posted: 11/24/25 at 12:12pm

Longtime veteran swing, Jennifer Dunne, is back in the show as Chelsea James's last day was yesterday.

[everythingtaboo]

Posted: 11/24/25 at 2:06pm

ACL2006 said: "Considering last night was also their 29th Anniversary and Newell's debut was a surprise thatthey weren't even close to being soldout."

Did they do a lot to even promote it? (FWIW technically, their opening night was November 14, 1996.) I'm sure next year will be a much bigger deal. 

[Patti LuPone FANatic]

Posted: 11/24/25 at 2:42pm

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DRadA1fkeLE/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ==   The vaudevillian inspiration for Me and My Baby (Eddie Cantor).

[Patti LuPone FANatic]

Posted: 11/24/25 at 3:00pm

Lenora Nemetz on her mid show debut as Roxie in the 1975 production.  https://www.instagram.com/p/DRXgDDgDukc/