Chicago

One of the great benefits of making friends in different majors all over campus - free stuff. For example, last night I got to go to the final dress rehearsal of Chicago for free because it's "friends and family night." Totally cool. Totally the right price. However, after seeing it, I'd pay the $10 for a ticket. It was colorful. It was sparkly. It was sexy.

Sherri Dienstfrey, the director, took a great interpretive step with her crescendo-ing theme of circus. As the show progressed make-up was added, costumes got more colorful and the spectacle became more grand as the trial of Roxy became more involved and more ridiculous. It accentuated the message that the perception or sense of justice held by an audience (or country) can be manipulated by our want for the fantastic and gruesome. In a way, the things we're fascinated by reflect our nature: The yearning to find a bit of good in a criminal, our want to believe that people are innocent, our want for violence and drama, our tendency to look for the next bit of grotesque and curiosity that will keep our interest piqued.

That's why Chicago is a great musical. It's themes extend beyond the time it was written (1975) and the era it was set in (1920's). We see the same sensationalism capture audiences with reality TV today. Honestly, Snooki? Tila Tequila? Kim Kardashian? Paris Hilton? These characters (or more appropriately caricatures) are the parallel entertainment equivalent as the characters in Chicago. Why do we keep coming back to watch them? What about them is so enthralling that they have their own television shows and near-cult followings? It's like real life soap operas... or at least people that have turned their lives into such. I guess it's the drama, the sexuality, the brash and aggressive natures that we don't dare share of ourselves... Are we allowing them to live out situations we only entertain through imagination?

Anyway, what I'm getting at is that it was a fun show. It's not appropriate for all audience members. There is swearing, innuendo, slinky costumes and insinuation of violence. I'd rate it PG-13. There is also a lot of great energy coming from those performers. There is outstanding stage chemistry between Zeke Robinson and Bridget Close. Megan Griggs, Kyle Anderson and Kim Mumford are vocal stand outs. Debbie Bray out did herself with the glitzy and glamorous costumes. The choreography was clever. All in all, It was a night of music, humor and debauchery.

Photo courtesy of A Day To Adore Photography