Former Chicago Tribune reporter Maurine Dallas Watkins wrote the play Chicago is based on in 1926. When the choreographer Bob Fosse approached her about making it into a musical some years later, she turned him down, having come to feel that her drama about two women accused of murdering their husbands over-glamorised violence.
Fosse, with composer John Kander and lyricist Fred Ebb, saw things differently. They understood the capacity of the American musical to entertain audiences while taking a hefty side-swipe at the society they belong to (clearly apparent in a subsequent Kander and Ebb musical, The Scottsboro Boys, currently running at London's Young Vic and shortlisted for no fewer than four WhatsOnStage awards). After Watkins's death in 1969, Fosse gained the rights and the musical opened in 1975. What happens on the stage is indeed glamorous, but its showbiz razzle-dazzle casts a lurid light on some dark realities.
As Paul Kerryson's glorious production at the Curve sharply shows, it targets not only the flawed judicial system of 1920s Chicago but also all audiences' insatiable hunger for sensationalist media reporting. Kerryson's genius is to deliver the razzmatazz without schmaltzing the satire.
He is aided and abetted by a flesh-shiveringly gifted team. Al Parkinson's minimalist design intermittently reveals the band (under Ben Atkinson's cool-to-the-max musical direction) at the back of a (mostly) bare stage, sliced into shapes and coloured into atmosphere by Philip Gladwell's lighting. Equally minimalist, but shinier, costumes by takis are edgy and witty. Drew McOnie's unassumingly intelligent choreography is as radiant and precise as the neon displays around Times Square. A brittle, jazz-age energy jabs into the auditorium.
The ensemble is snazzy, the principals well matched. Verity Rushworth's Velma is as honed as a gleaming stiletto; Gemma Sutton's Roxie, a dense bundle of egotistical energy. Matthew Barrow brings depth to the sap role of Roxie's husband. The vocal powers of Sandra Marvin's warden rock her jailhouse. David Leonard's shyster lawyer is soul-damningly villainous. All slip assuredly between vaudeville-style show and emotional conviction. If this were straight drama it could be described as brilliantly Brechtian; since it's a musical, let's settle for brilliant.
This month marks Curve's 5th anniversary. In that time, Kerryson, as artistic director, has delivered a string of stunning musicals, including Gypsy, 42nd Street and Hello, Dolly!, as well as fine dramas, such as Buried Child. Under his leadership, the company collaborates with outside artists and involves thousands of members of the local communities in workshops and other activities. Leicester may have been disappointed in its recent bid to become City of Culture 2017, but it has every reason to rejoice in the cultural gem that is Curve.
