![]() ![]() Concerns for actor safety meant that hydraulic platforms, which added levels (and presumably some oomph), to the staging were not used. This was exacerbated by technical difficulties on the night this reviewer attended. Kmiec) leaves his performers ample room to move but does little to set the mood. Jones’ minimalist set dressing (set design by Jeffrey D. “Hello, Dolly!” seems to demand a proscenium - preferably a proscenium stuffed with big fancy sets. ![]() The immediacy and dynamism that comes with the setup is lost on a show that’s so stodgy and old-fashioned. One element working against the show is its staging, which tries to make the best of Marriott’s in-the-round space with disappointing results. What to do then when there is no such personality to be had? What is Dolly when she’s just more of a down-to-earth (if still thoroughly fabulous) human being? From Carol Channing and Barbra Streisand to Bette Midler and Bernadette Peters, Dolly has worked best when housing an outsized personality. What a wonderful “problem” to have.īut for anyone mounting a production of “Hello Dolly!”, the Dolly problem is a bit more real: Do you have someone who can pull off the part? (Cue “Funny Girl” klaxons.) It’s a role that, from the beginning, has been designed for larger-than-life divas. When she sets her sights on marrying grumpy old Vandergelder (albeit with the stated intent of taking his half-a-millionaire fortune and spreading it around), it takes him nearly two and a half hours, a dozen or so songs and enough hijinks to fill a stuffed whale to realize just how lucky he is. She’s a schemer, a chaotician, a socialite and a BS artist par excellence, an ardent redistributionist, a frankly miraculous dance instructor, and - by her own gleeful admission - a world-class meddler. Tickets for the performance of Chicago can be purchased in person at the Stanley Theatre box office, over the phone by dialing 31, or online at you’re half-a-millionaire Horace Vandergelder of Yonkers, New York, the answer is: You don’t. “Everybody better get ready, because it is sexy and it is dark and it is fun and it does not let up one bit, it’s in your face, it tells a wonderful, wonderful, fun story and it does it in a way that you’re going to be on the edge of your seat the entire time,” Brooks said. Brooks noted that audiences can expect to be razzle dazzled once again. The musical has previously toured in Utica back in 2018. Tonight’s performance will mark the return on Chicago at the Stanley Theatre. “The direction, Walter Bobbie’s original direction and Bob Fosse’s original choreography, you’re never going to find anything of its ilk in anything else, it’s so unique and it stands the test of time and it helps these shows age even more and more and more and even better like a fine wine,” Brooks added. “It’s been redone and remade to a point where it’s more current now and it plays to even younger audiences and the themes have stayed strong throughout.” “Chicago is one of those musicals that has been a mainstay on Broadway long enough now that it’s something that we think of when we think of Broadway, we think of Chicago,” Brooks said. Jeff Brooks, who plays Billy Flynn in the national tour of Chicago, recently joined the tour and will be making his debut performance as Billy Flynn during the tour’s stop in Utica. The musical has also had productions staged around the world and a film adaptation in 2002, which went on to win numerous accolades including the Academy Award for best picture. The musical is commemorating the 25th anniversary of its presence on Broadway and its status of being the longest running American musical. As they navigate through an impressionable criminal justice system and the easily influenced media, the two women enlist the help of lawyer Billy Flynn and prison matron Mama Morton to help prove their “innocence.” The musical brings showstopping numbers like “All That Jazz,” “Call Block Tango” and “Razzle Dazzle” to help tell the story of fame and corruption during the era of vaudeville and jazz in Chicago almost 100 years ago. ![]() The story of Chicago follows Roxie Hart and Velma Kelly, two women accused of murdering their loved ones. for just one night only tonight at 7:30 p.m. The tour will be stopping at the Stanley Theatre, 259 Genesee St. UTICA - The Broadway Theatre League of Utica is ready to razzle dazzle audiences with the national tour of the Broadway musical Chicago. ![]()
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