Rachel Howells discovers the Razzle Dazzle of Chicago at Wales Millennium Centre.
It was with some excitement that my daughter and I went to the Wales Millennium Centre on Monday night to watch Chicago. Although we had never seen the show before we already knew a lot of the famous songs featured so we knew the cast would have a challenge to recreate them live on stage.
The show opened with Sophie Carmen-Jones (Velma Kelly) and the ensemble performing All That Jazz, sung beautifully the performance had the right sort of panache to set the whole tone for the evening. Excellent performances were also given by Hayley Tamaddon as Roxy Hart and Kerry Spark as Billy Flynn, filling in for the unavailable John Partridge.
Gina Murray as Matron Mama Morton held the show together helping the story flow from scene to scene, playing her part with a strong character but a gentle heart. Neil Ditt as Amos Hart provided some great comedy moments as the idiot husband who believes all the lies his wife tells him.
The highlight of the show for me was getting to see the orchestra take centre stage, while their opening to the second act really demonstrated how much enjoyment they were having performing every night. Congratulations to Ben Atkinson and the team for a great show.
You can catch Chicago at the Wales Millennium Centre every until Saturday July 30.