"Chicago" is an All-American musical.It’s full of
"murder, greed, corruption, violence, exploitation, adultery, and treachery – all
those things we all hold near and dear to our hearts."At least that’s what the
celebrity murderess Velma Kelly (Elizabeth Brickey) tells the audience at the
beginning.The vaudeville entertainment that unfolds on stage presents the case for the
veracity of that statement."Chicago," directed by Michael Ellison, presents
its case this weekend, opening tonight, in the Donnell Theatre in the Wolfe Center on
the Bowling Green State University campus. All shows are sold out, so if you don’t have
a ticket this review probably is as close as you’ll come to experiencing the
show.That’s too bad because the cast of University students does the show and their new
theatrical home justice with a bawdy, brawling satire on our obsession with celebrity,
at any cost.The cast is never overshadowed by their fancy new digs. Not with Brickey’s
haughty Velma playing the diva among the lady’s killing circle in the Chicago prison.
She abetted by the prison’s queen bee the matron "Mama" Morton (Kirsten
Crockett), who cares for her charges to exactly the extent they take care of her.
Crockett brings Mama to life with a robust and vivid voice, and the right mix of
venality and just a shade of compassion.But their cozy little world is disrupted by the
arrival of the vulgar, star-struck Roxie Hart (Kara Bergman), who blows away her lover
early in the play. Naive at first she’s a quick study in the wiles of feminine
criminality. She cops whatever knowledge she can to figure out how to beat the murder
rap.That involves hiring Billy Flynn (Franklin Brewer), the lawyer for the homicidal
stars. Brewer commands the stage as soon as he emerges through a bevy of chorus girls.
His suit shimmers, and his voice is rich and full on unctuous self-regard. He assures us
in "All I Care About Is Love" that his motives are pure even as he revels in
the material loot he accumulates through his practice.

Amidst all this glitter
and conniving we have Amos (Casey Toney), Roxie’s woebegone husband. Everyone takes
advantage of him when they notice him at all. He’s one sad clown, with a loud plaid suit
and floppy oversized shoes. Toney troops about with a hangdog look, when he’s not
exploding as he realizes he’s being taken advantage off, but then he just slumps off.
Toney keeps his number, the bluesy "Mister Cellophane" just as despondent as
it needs to be.Beneath all the "Razzle Dazzle" that Brewer’s Flynn so
enthusiastically celebrates, there’s the bite of satire. The one woman executed, first
woman hung in 47 years we’re told, is the innocent Hungarian (Kendra Beitzel) whose only
English is "not guilty."Ellison highlights this by having her remain silent
during stretches of "Cell Block Tango" when her fellow inmates – Brickey,
Kendra Jo Brook, Krysta Bartman, Mariah Burks and Lauren Cornwell – recount their
crimes, all assuring the audience that "he had it coming."The production
never lets the musical’s dark side get lost in the glare. Having JD Caudill play the
newspaper columnist Mary Sunshine in drag is just one of the creepy elements.Another is
the male chorus (Brett Mutter, De’Andre Peterson, Mike Dandron, Chad Campbell, Tim
Barker and Antonio Deberry) cavorting around the "pregnant" Roxie in shiny
silver baby bonnets and diapers.This helps "Chicago" transcend mere razzle
dazzle, and that’s good.It’s great that folks attracted to the show by the novelty of
the new venue will discover the high quality of talent and skill that the Theatre
Department has nurtured over the years in the less auspicious space across campus.