CHICAGO - UK Tour REVIEW ****

Last Night, we were invited to the regional Press Night of ‘Chicago’ at the Hull, New Theatre!

This was our first time visiting this venue, and I would like to thank Rachel and Rachael for their warm welcome to this beautiful theatre! Chicago, the iconic Kander & Ebb musical set in the roaring 20s, remains a firm audience favourite for its Vaudeville style, catchy tunes and thrilling plotline... But how is the musical shaping up 50 years on from the Original Broadway production?

Chicago follows the story of a city that turns criminals into celebrities, a satire of the corruption of criminal justice.Velma Kelly and Roxie Hart are just two of the murderesses that the show puts centre stage as we follow Roxie’s journey from crime to court proceedings.

Kander and Ebb wrote this jazz-infused score which remains popular to this day.The music of Chicago is catchy, exciting and incredibly fit for the piece. Standout numbers for me include All That Jazz, We Both Reached for the Gun and Hot Honey Rag, but there is not a single number in this score that I believe is out of place.

This production was originally directed by Walter Bobbie, recreated by Tania Nardini —This direction makes for some brilliant comedy moments that provide a lovely contrast to the dark themes. Chicago is best known for Bob Fosse’s choreography and rightly so. Gary Chryst recreated the original choreography by Fosse and Ann Reinking. Fosse’s style oozes with passion and intention. Every movement was slick, sexy and mesmerising — the way the cast manipulated their bodies to create the shapes and positions Fosse is most famous for is truly a spectacle to see before your eyes!

John Lee Beatty designs a simplistic set, featuring the band onstage.This aids the vaudevillian style so well and puts a unique spin on the show having barely any set! Costumes, whilst simple, were stunning and each one was different in its own way — William Ivey Long designs these and does a great job!Lighting by Ken Billington is stylised perfectly for the show, making it feel like we are watching a performance with focused spotlights.All of these design aspects give Chicago its own perfect visual identity. You can look at any production shot and you will know immediately, “That’s Chicago!” I think that this is something done so well for the show and is great marketing material too. The show knows exactly what it is and what it is trying to be — many shows do not have this luxury.

Leading this touring production is ‘Strictly Come Dancing’ star Janette Manrara as Roxie Hart. Personally, I am sometimes apprehensive with star casting, but with Manrara I was excited as I knew that her dance training would serve her well in this musical. At the beginning of the show, Manrara’s performance took a little time to settle — her version of Funny Honey didn’t quite capture the feeling for me. That being said, as the show went on, her performance noticeably gained strength and confidence, and by Roxie she had won me over with her excitable character and outstanding dance skills. Once she had relaxed into the role, Janette Manrara’s performance, particularly during the song and dance numbers, was wonderful — she has ounces of style and charisma which is lovely to watch.

Djalenga Scott steals the show as Velma Kelly.From the opening breaths of All That Jazz to the final moments of Hot Honey Rag, Scott is the true star of the stage. Her mannerisms and accent were spot on throughout the performance and she brought Velma to life with her credible acting skills too. Scott’s performance of the number I Can’t Do It Alone was high energy and fun — I don’t know how she wasn’t out of breath during that! Djalenga Scott gave star quality from beginning to end, an all-around phenomenal performance!

Four years after his previous run in the show, stage and screen star Darren Day returns as lawyer ‘Billy Flynn’. Day brings his own suave energy to his performance and gives an undeniable charm to the character. His vocals are smooth as ever and his comedic timing during the number We Both Reached for the Gun was hilarious. This scene in particular was one of my favourites as it is so cleverly done, but his performance was the cherry on top!From the cheers during his bow, it is also very evident that Darren Day is still a heartthrob for the older ladies in the audience!

Fresh from the China tour of Chicago, Linda John Pierre had her opening night in the UK as Matron ‘Mama’ Morton! I was in awe of her performance of this huge character and Linda fits into Mama’s shoes perfectly — this role was made for her! Linda John Pierre’s vocals are a force to be reckoned with and she blew the roof off of the Hull New Theatre with her rendition of When You’re Good to Mama. Check out which venues Linda will be performing at and see her performance if you can.

Joshua Lloyd is fabulous in the role of Amos Hart.Mister Cellophane was a standout for me as his performance was filled with character and emotion — his self-deprecating personality was captured perfectly in Lloyd’s performance and won the sympathy of the audience immediately.

Another wonderful performance came from Jordan Lee Davies as ‘Mary Sunshine’ —Hitting some immensely high notes with ease and adding a great element of comedy at the end of the show (I’ll leave that one as a surprise to you, but if you know… you know!)

The Six Merry Murderesses during Cell Block Tango each gave a brilliant performance, And this song made me notice just how powerful a tiny, controlled movement can be during the choreography. That song is an athletic six-minute workout — at one point running the full length of the stage — I commend them for that!!The whole cast were phenomenal, the ensemble were tight and all moved as one. They were delightful to watch and really gave the production a nice edge!

Overall, Chicago is still holding the same grounds it did 50 years ago (I imagine — I wasn’t there…).The score is catchy, jazzy and exciting, and the book is still making the audiences laugh today. The casting for this UK Tour is strong and every performance makes this show even more worth watching!A standing ovation from the audience shows that Hull loved Chicago, and this UK Touring production is running there until Saturday (5th July) — [Tickets available here].The tour then continues, heading to venues up and down the country — [Head to the tour website by clicking here].

Thanks for reading my review of the UK touring production of Chicago!

If you’ve seen the show, let me know what you thought! Sign up for email notifications whenever I post a review. Subscribe to my YouTube channel and follow me on social media for more stagey content.Thanks again for taking the time to read — I'd love to hear your thoughts and opinions too!

1st July 2025

Robbie Davies | Robbie's Backstage Bants