Walking into the auditorium last week, I didn’t know what to expect. I went in there after only twenty minutes of research, learning the plot of Chicago and truly hoping that anything I didn’t know could be inferred through the performance. And it did more than that. It blew all the people and me in my section away, with one parent saying, “That was a damn good show.”
Chatham’s theatre program ran Chicago for three nights in mid-April, where it attracted its usual crowd of parents and grandparents, but what shocked me the most was the influx of students there, more than I’ve seen at any show in the past. Maybe it was the show in Chicago that pulled people there, or their friends being in the show, but in my opinion, the talent on stage is what brought people to the show.
Diego Cobo, a senior, played Billy Flynn, the lawyer at the center of the story. The role required an actor with a knack for charm, who can break the 4th wall subtly and is able to embody a sleazy lawyer at the same time. He had the audience laughing in scenes that could’ve fallen flat, but the most impressive part about him was his voice.
Dani Leon, also a senior, played Roxie Hart. Roxie is a character who was portrayed as a woman trying to work an angle and take advantage of an opportunity presented to her, but also be kind of ridiculous in her logic. For people like me, who were not aware of Chicago’s plot fully, Dani’s acting made it incredibly easy to follow and put the pieces together on what this play was about.
The actors weren’t the only great ones, either; The ensemble and stage crew deserve their credit as well. For the stage crew that was entirely student-run, there was not a single moment in the show where I felt that it was evident that it was done by a group of kids – the sound, lighting, switching of the scenes, and mics were all done extremely well. And for the ensemble, which was a mix of band students and professionals, the same can be said.
So, as someone who is trying to get himself back into the world of theatre, both in Chatham and out – this play was one of the best ways in doing so.
