Chicago the Musical Appreciation Thread- Page 95

[Patti LuPone FANatic]

Posted: 1/16/22 at 7:01pm

Approximately....roughly....how is "Chicago" doing in the grosses dept.  (i.e weekly grosses & % of seats) ?

 

[Patti LuPone FANatic]

Posted: 1/18/22 at 10:39pm

The story behind "Chicago"...and then some.  https://youtu.be/t8HpPpxrq90

[JBradshaw]

Posted: 1/24/22 at 7:20pm

Patti LuPone FANatic said: "The story behind "Chicago"...and then some.https://youtu.be/t8HpPpxrq90"

Did you not know the stories behind “Chicago”?

not that anyone cares but 24 years ago today (1/24/98) was my first Roxie/Velma understudy show (Nancy Hess was Roxie and Mamie was Velma @ the matinee .. the eve was Hess as Velma, Marilu thankfully was back)

[ACL2006]

Posted: 1/24/22 at 7:24pm

JBradshaw said: "Patti LuPone FANatic said: "The story behind "Chicago"...and then some.https://youtu.be/t8HpPpxrq90"

Did you not know the stories behind “Chicago”?

not that anyone cares but 24 years ago today (1/24/98) was my first Roxie/Velma understudy show (Nancy Hess was Roxie and Mamie was Velma @ the matinee .. the eve was Hess as Velma, Marilu thankfully was back)"

How unfortunate that you got to witness Nancy Hess' Velma AND Roxie.

[Patti LuPone FANatic]

Posted: 1/24/22 at 8:11pm

JBradshaw said: "Patti LuPone FANatic said: "The story behind "Chicago"...and then some.https://youtu.be/t8HpPpxrq90"

Did you not know the stories behind “Chicago”?

not that anyone cares but 24 years ago today (1/24/98) was my first Roxie/Velma understudy show (Nancy Hess was Roxie and Mamie was Velma @ the matinee .. the eve was Hess as Velma, Marilu thankfully was back)"   Yes.  

 

[JBradshaw]

Posted: 1/24/22 at 8:47pm

ACL2006 said: "JBradshaw said: "Patti LuPone FANatic said: "The story behind "Chicago"...and then some.https://youtu.be/t8HpPpxrq90"

Did you not know the stories behind “Chicago”?


How unfortunate that you got to witness Nancy Hess' Velma AND Roxie."

no it’s cool - Nancy’s Roxie wigs always amused me - she had a Bob a bun and then a on the 24th looked like Annie

 

[everythingtaboo]

Posted: 1/25/22 at 10:03am

Patti LuPone FANatic said: "The story behind "Chicago"...and then some.https://youtu.be/t8HpPpxrq90"

I wish I could watch those Ms Mojo videos, but they never, ever stop talking.

[jonartdesigns]

Posted: 1/25/22 at 11:36am

Can we please have Carly Hughes back as Velma? She seemed spectacular from the press rehearsal footage with Jennifer Nettles, but only played the role for three months. Frankly there is not a shortage of talented triple threats in NYC there's no reason that the producers can't find a new choice for the role. Amber Ardolino comes to mind.

[DottieD'Luscia]

Posted: 1/25/22 at 11:59am

Nancy Hess was on the one and only time I saw this production in 1997.  She's the main reason I didn't like it.

[everythingtaboo]

Posted: 1/25/22 at 1:51pm

jonartdesigns said: "Can we please have Carly Hughes back as Velma? She seemed spectacular from the press rehearsal footage with Jennifer Nettles, but only played the role for three months. Frankly there is not a shortage of talented triple threats in NYC there's no reason that the producers can't find a new choice for the role. Amber Ardolino comes to mind."

I got to see Carly with Jennifer, and both were phenomenal. I was really hoping that Carly would stick around because she was definitely one of my top favorite Velmas in the dozens of times I've seen the show. 

[Patti LuPone FANatic]

Posted: 2/1/22 at 7:31pm

Surprise!!! And tonight I play Roxie! Went to bed as Velma and woke up as Roxie. Only in @chicagomusical That’s showbiz kid! Thrilled to play opposite the gorgeous @amrafaye as Velma!  (from Bianca Marroquin's Facebook page).  I'm surprised that one of the Velma understudies don't get a chance to play the role.  Interesting.

[ACL2006]

Posted: 2/1/22 at 7:33pm

Guessing Charlotte has COVID? Otherwise, why not just have the Roxie u/s go on? Chicago be doing bizarre things.

[BCfitasafiddle]

Posted: 2/1/22 at 7:33pm

That's crazy. Also, I've heard from almost everyone I know who's seen Bianca in both roles and everyone has said she's an even greater Velma.

[ACL2006]

Posted: 2/1/22 at 7:44pm

I guess AFW is the unofficial Velma standby?

[Nolan LuPone]

Posted: 2/1/22 at 7:49pm

It seems so...

[blaxx]

Posted: 2/1/22 at 8:15pm

BCfitasafiddle said: "That's crazy. Also, I've heard from almost everyone I know who's seen Bianca in both roles and everyone has said she's an even greater Velma."

That's insane, anything she can't do?

[Azúcar!]

Posted: 2/2/22 at 2:23am

blaxx said: "BCfitasafiddle said: "That's crazy. Also, I've heard from almost everyone I know who's seen Bianca in both roles and everyone has said she's an even greater Velma."

That's insane, anything she can't do?"

A new show.

[Azúcar!]

Posted: 2/2/22 at 2:23am

blaxx said: "BCfitasafiddle said: "That's crazy. Also, I've heard from almost everyone I know who's seen Bianca in both roles and everyone has said she's an even greater Velma."

That's insane, anything she can't do?"

A new show.

[TuqueroIMKJernalyn]

Posted: 2/2/22 at 7:17am

Velma returns to introduce the opening act, resentful of Roxie's manipulation of the system ("I Know a Girl" and ability to seduce a doctor into saying Roxie is pregnant; as Roxie emerges, she sings gleefully of the future of her unborn (nonexistent) child ("Me and My Baby". Amos proudly claims paternity, but still, nobody notices him, and Billy exposes holes in Roxie's story by noting that she and Amos had not had sex in four months, meaning if she were pregnant, the child was not Amos's, in hopes that Amos will divorce her and look like a villain, which Amos almost does ("Mr. Cellophane". Velma tries to show Billy all the tricks she has planned for her trial ("When Velma Takes The Stand", which Roxie treats skeptically. Roxie, upset with being treated like a "common criminal" and considering herself a celebrity, has a heated argument with Billy and fires him; Billy warns her that her kind of and that she would be just as famous hanging from a noose. At that moment, Roxie witnesses one of her fellow inmates, a Hungarian woman who insisted on her innocence but could not speak English and whose public lawyer refused to defend her, become the first woman to be executed in Chicago ("Hungarian Rope Trick".

[Nolan LuPone]

Posted: 2/2/22 at 9:46am

How is this helpful?

[ACL2006]

Posted: 2/2/22 at 9:56am

Apparently last night had every swing on which caused Bianca to play Roxie and AFW to come back (again) as Velma. Rachel was Mama, J. London was Mary Sunshine, their Amos was out. Sounds like Charlotte will be out the rest of the week at least. Let's see if this happens again on Thursday.

[everythingtaboo]

Posted: 2/2/22 at 9:56am

BCfitasafiddle said: "That's crazy. Also, I've heard from almost everyone I know who's seen Bianca in both roles and everyone has said she's an even greater Velma."

I've seen Bianca dozens of times as Roxie and she was always one of my favorites, somehow always fresh doing the same thing so long. And I think her natural ability, plus knowing the show backwards and forwards, made for an incredible Velma when I saw her a couple of months ago. I really think she's just a remarkable triple threat, and it's great she's been able to do both roles so impeccably. 

[pattilupony]

Posted: 2/2/22 at 11:12am

Bianca is playing Roxie through Friday at least, according to her instagram. 

[KMKJ]

Posted: 2/2/22 at 11:21am

BCfitasafiddle said: "That's crazy. Also, I've heard from almost everyone I know who's seen Bianca in both roles and everyone has said she's an even greater Velma."

I had the opposite reaction. Seeing Marroquin's "Velma" reaffirmed that this triple threat is a HUGE, supreme talent. But, she didn't convince me in the role. There was no grit, no top-dog attitude, no caustic sarcasm. Big on goofiness and sensitivity...not so much on being a hardened force of the Cook County Jail. Actually, most of the women on the cell block were lacking edge & distinction; besides the foolproof laughs, "CBT" fell flat with the current crop.

For me, Marroquin is an even greater "Roxie."

[jonartdesigns]

Posted: 2/2/22 at 12:51pm

After this, I feel like Amra’s Velma dress should be framed and hung in the lobby.