Rumer Willis in Chicago

Went back to Chicago tonight to check out Rumer Willis' performance and was pleasantly surprised by her vocal and dancing abilities. Her voice is strong and she has a lovely vibrato. I was most impressed with her phrasing, which must have been largely intuitive as she doesn't appear to have much theater on her resume.
This is also the most difficult choreography I've seen a Roxie attempt in years. This was no Christie Brinkley stand and step touch deal. More importantly she seemed like she was having a lot of fun with the dances, especially Me and My Baby. Her line delivery had a few weak moments and bits of the Roxie monologue felt rushed/didn't land, but she displayed good timing during the courtroom sequence. All in all I thought her performance was a success and I'd be happy to see her on stage again.

The biggest shock was when the curtain went up and there was a different conductor than the usual woman who's been doing it for YEARS. I wonder if she's just on vacation or she finally left the show. Honestly, it just wasn't the same without her, though the orchestra still sounded great.

The weak link was Ryan Silverman who was a little too cold and stand-offish as Billy. He looks the part, but needs to tap into Flynn's playful side.

Chicago is easily my favorite of the long-running shows to return to; I never tire of hearing K&E's brilliant score and the book isn't too shabby either!

Friend of mine wanted to see her in the show and dragged me along. This was the first time I saw the show in what felt like forever, however, I love the show as in the book and music. However, this production, not so much. I just feel that the ensemble was simply sleep walking their way through the show and gave off the impression that they had been there since the dawn of time. Not a good thing. I feel that there should a mass overhaul for the ensemble and bring in some new blood. Other than that, Rumer was very good. Far better than I thought she would be going in. But, she won me over very quickly.

Silverman is a surprise. He's a charming, charismatic performer. On the other hand, it doesn't necessarily seem a perfect fit. I don't believe every traditional leading man makes a good Billy, though others disagree.

What happened to your name, Whizzer?!

I was soooo confused. I thought maybe I was having an acid flashback. This site is so weird.

Wtf. Did they give any eplanation for the name chopping?

Yes she was out most of the week.

Finally got to see Chicago after waiting for Rumer to return to the show after being out last weekend. Unfortunately, I thought this production of Chicago was not up to par to my expectations. I felt not having a set (only using the band as a set) was a bad choice and felt that I couldn't get into the show. It was difficult seeing the other actors sitting on their chairs on the side of the stage waiting for their turn. I felt that most of the actors were simply going through the motions and didn't give a great performance. The only person who I felt cared about the show and their performance was Rumer. Maybe since the role is new for her she had a bit more life? I would not recommend spending money on seeing this. Instead go and see the movie.

Yes! 20 years later and using the Encores staging for the Chicago revival still irks some.

I think it's pretty normal for a long runnin show to produces robotic performances especially from ensemble members who have stayed there for god knows how long lol.

Personally I wouldn't spend money to watch Chicago on broadway. It's just something that isn't Thhhhhhat special compared to other shows.

I saw it for the first time in a while a few weeks ago and I was surprised at how bad it was. I really don't understand how people can sit through it multiple times.

I see Chicago fairly frequently and usually from the first couple rows of the orchestra. I am always ready to to catch some of this long-runitis but I never do. Only thing I can think of is perhaps some of the posters here misinterpret the cool, detached vibe of some of the ensemble as tired and dull. I think a big part of it too is that many of us go into such an old show expecting to see stale performances and convince ourselves that we did

CATSNYrevival said: "That same philosophy works in reverse too."

So Chicago is the Broadway equivalent of tofu, it takes on the flavor of whatever is comes into contact with?