Two months ago, Minneapolis’ Orpheum Theatre hosted a touring production of the longest-running show in Broadway history, “The Phantom of the Opera,” and it proved an eye-opening surprise. The theatrical warhorse had new life breathed into it by a London staging that leaned upon the 1986 original for inspiration, and the opening-night performance I attended was brilliantly executed, full of passion and energy.
Now, the second-longest-running show in Broadway history has set down stakes at the Orpheum, but, alas, this version of “Chicago” feels far from fresh. Employing the same basic set, direction and choreography as the 1996 revival that’s been running ever since, it’s a remarkably ponderous and perfunctory production that lacks spunk, spirit or sexiness. Despite some fine channeling of the 1920s musical aesthetic from the onstage 10-piece band, it’s a staging that trudges where it would better bounce.
The cast of the North American touring production of “Chicago,” John Kander and Fred Ebb’s musical about women murderers of the 1920s and the way that the press covered their cases. The show runs through Feb. 1, 2026, at the Orpheum Theater in Minneapolis. (Courtesy of Jeremy Daniel)
“Chicago” is rooted in a 1920s play inspired by a couple of murder trials its author covered as a reporter. Five decades on, the composer/librettist team of John Kander and Fred Ebb joined with writer-director-choreographer Bob Fosse to create a “vaudeville” from its story, employing several styles from the early days of jazz to tell the tale of two murderers, Roxie Hart and Velma Kelly. Although both are guilty of their crimes, they and a crafty attorney seek to spin juries and the press in their favor while reveling in their newfound celebrity.
A show like “Chicago” doesn’t survive for a half-century without accruing a devoted fan base, and there seemed to be several enthusiasts in attendance at the Orpheum Tuesday night, judging from the lusty howls of appreciation that greeted such songs as “All That Jazz,” “Cell Block Tango” and “When You’re Good to Mama.” But they did little to jump-start this touring company’s engine on this chilly January night. With rare exceptions, all the tempos seemed way too slow and the onstage energy barely palpable.
Exceptions finally arrived with the emergence of Max Cervantes as slick and cagey defense lawyer Billy Flynn. Exuding a level of charisma yet to be reached by either of the musical’s lead characters, his “All I Care About” proved a fun little Busby Berkeley knockoff that led to a smile-inducing take on the march-like “A Little Bit of Good” from easily manipulated reporter Mary Sunshine, lent lively sparkle by J. Clanton. When the peppy Charleston, “We Both Reached for the Gun,” followed, it seemed that this show was at last kicking into gear.
But no. One potential showstopper after another fell flat, every song undersold and suffering from a paucity of punch. Despite some strong dancing, the cast came off as simply tired of the material, the most egregious of missed opportunities being a version of one of the show’s signature songs — Flynn’s courtroom tutorial, “Razzle Dazzle” — being delivered at a sleepy, ballad-like pace, leeching all the fun from a number that could stand as something of a distillation of the musical’s cynical spirit.
After a slow start, Ellie Roddy proved increasingly engaging as Roxie Hart, but “Chicago” has always been a musical with a problematic anticlimax, and her best efforts couldn’t overcome that. Yet this low-wattage production fizzles out more disappointingly than most.
‘Chicago’
When: 7:30 p.m. Wednesday-Friday, 2 and 7:30 p.m. Saturday, 1 and 6:30 p.m. Sunday
Where: Orpheum Theatre, 910 Hennepin Ave., Minneapolis
Tickets: $328-$40, available at hennepinarts.org
Capsule: A staging that makes “Chicago” seem old, slow and tired.
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