Did anyone see Ruthie in Chicago. — Page 2

Ok I watched the show last night and the theatre is 90% full which is good on a Thursday night I guess!
I went to watch of course because of Ruthie and I was abit worried she's abit past-her-time to be played Roxie again. But wow is all I can say. She did well with 'Funny Honey' but got really really comfortable after that and totally SHONE in the show! Her 'Roxie' monologue are one of the funniest yet. You can really feel the desperation and sadness behind her Roxie which is heartbreaking! But she also has that cute/cartoony part as well. Yes, she does NOT move as well as she did 10 years ago, but hey, who does?! (apart from Ann Reinking & Chita Rivera!) but I'm sooooo glad she's still attempting the leaps in 'Me & My Baby' which I really really really really miss! She is definitely one of my fav. & ultimate Roxies! And I would really DIE to see her Roxie 10 yrs ago but I ain't complaining now! LOL

Terra C McLeod is another star! Her singing is great and her protrayal is so sassy and bitchy and reminded me alot of Ute which made me wonder if that was why they had her over! Her dancing ... wow! It felt like she was an athlete! She paced it through! But I have to admit she got overshadowed by Ruthie alot such as 'My Own Best Friend' or 'Nowadays'

Jasna Ivir as Mama... what a voice! Her protrayal was abit... Hungarian or Russian? Like very big fetish kind of woman... I'm not sure. I like her and her singing was great, but she's not my favourite.

Ian Kelsey as Billy = I did NOT care for him AT ALL! During his scenes I either looked at Ruthie/Terra or the ensemble. I did not really realise he was there to be honest. And his singing was super mediocre and totally fake American accent. Not really sure why he's still in the show when the standard of performances are so high at the moment!

Matthew Malthouse understudy as Amos. Wayyy toooooo young as Amos, might have worked with Jen Ellison or Ashlee Simpson's Roxie but not Ruthie's! It looked wrong. But he was FANTASTIC! His acting and singing.... I can totally see abit of shyness from his Edward Scissorhands.

A. Ellis made those high notes of Mary Sunshine's sound sooooo effortless!

Joshua Lacey as Fred Casey = HOT

The ensemble = HOT! and super young too! The male ensemble seemed to be ever-changing whereas the female.... how long has Alexia Owen Hobbs and Lisa Norman been in the show?!?!?! Not complaining cuz they're doing a great job still!

It was so funny that most of the cast looked like drag queens onstage, those heavy makeup and horrible wigs... oh and I saw some mice running around during interval. And one of the fat fat old usher stood next to me the whole show trying to find someone doing sth illegal and was totally breathing onto me... COMPLETELY distracting for me!

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I think her only scheduled time off is 30 Jan. Check out Seetickets, they have her end date on there

I got to see Chicago tonight, the theatre was 1/2 full and they closed the Balcony to save money.

I am not a fan of Chicago, never understood what all the appeal is about, but hey the producers must be rubbing there hands, with a show that has been running both sides of the Atlantic for many years and even has spawned a hit film, not bad for a musical that you could put a full scale production in the local village hall. Think it would be fair to say this is a show like Phantom/Les Mis/Lion King and become a tourist attraction and I guess this could run for years to come as the weekly nut is low, same as Finan's Rainbow, which should of held out and found its market on Broadway, even if it did mean going to a smaller theatre.

I am not a fan of Jazz/vaudeville style shows and this story you could write on a cigarette packet, but for all my misgivings I thought the Choreography is fantastic, so was the gorgeous Ruthie Henshall, now she is free, perhaps I should of left my number at the stage door, she had me mesmerised for over 2 hours, she was worth the admission alone. I did not see Terry C Macleod (Velma), she was replaced by the delightful Vivien Carter. I also thought Ian Kelsey and David Ganley were good.

My problem was with her voice. Maybe she was sick but is her voice getting huskier year after year ? When I saw Marguerite in 2008 her voice was very different from the CD. You can barely hear herself in either her belt or lyrical range.

I'm guessing she was ill - I saw the show a week before you and her voice was fine, in fact I was struck by how similar she sounded to her performance on the 1998 CD. No trouble hearing her at all. Agreed about her acting and dancing (great and not-so, respectively), but I really enjoyed her performance overall.

[The ensemble] sing well, dance well and act well but I do not feel like they are getting what this whole thing is really about.

Interesting point - it didn't particularly occur to me when I saw it, but thinking about it now you're right. That can often happen with long-running shows. Sort of like Chinese Whispers - ten or fifteen cast changes and resident directors down the line, the original intention of a bit of blocking or choreography has long been forgotten. See Les Mis for more information!

I think she's prob ill then. When I saw her, her voice was in great shape and covered up Terra's voice alot! And yes, she sounded ALOT like she was in the CD, which is really great! Her dancing wasn't as good and light but I still admire her for trying and it's still good! I'm surprised how some of the Roxies before like Josefina Gabrielle or Bonnie Langford who are great dancers did not do the original Me & My Baby choreography with the leaps! But Josefina's Me & My Baby at the 10th Anniversary had some different choreography I haven't seen before and it was AWESOME!

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