Just arrived back from the mid-afternoon dress rehearsal of the CHICAGO tenth anniversary performance at Broadway's Ambassador Theatre. The official performance is tonight. But since that is being used as a benefit for Safe Horizons - we were told it raised $1.2 million - the press attended today's dress, in addition to a collection of working Broadway actors who will be busy with their own shows tonight like Christine Ebersole and John Lloyd Young.
The concert for the performance loosely mirrors that of the tenth anniversary performance of A CHORUS LINE, in which the entire show is performed, but with numerous actors from multiple versions of the cast, and from multiple stagings of the show throughout the world. Though CHICAGO did not stress the international angle as much as A CHORUS LINE did, which included many songs performed in non-English languages, we did get a huge dose of celebrity cameos from actors who previously played roles like Roxie, Velma, Billy and Amos.
The performance began nicely with an entrance by composer John Kander, who spoke the show's textual introduction himself, as penned by his late collaborator, lyricist and writer Fred Ebb ("Ladies and Gentlemen, this is a story of murder....all the things we hold near and dear to our hearts.")
The overture begins well enough. Rob Fisher, the original conductor and music director, is at the helm. The ensemble of the current Broadway cast is going through the motions of the opening choreography. We wonder: who will sing "All That Jazz". And the answer is....
Chita! And wow - she is incredible! She's even wearing the same style headress she used in the show. Her dancing is impeccable, as is her acting. Her performance of that one song was more worthy and incredible than all of "Chita Rivera: The Dancer's Life" put together.
Here are some other highlights/spoilers, a lot of which were predictable.
Brent Barrett and Brooke Shields - "The Gun Song"
Bebe Neuwirth and Ann Reiking - "Nowaday"
Karen Ziemba - "My Own Best Friend"
Christopher McDonald - most of the Billy Flynn dialogue
Ashlee Simpson - Roxie's dialogue of fallen tragedy after she is acquitted of murder (who was quite good in the role. lots of stage presence. Accent too thick, could be toned down. Looks like she'll be back on that stage soon enough...)
Joel Grey, joined by a chorus line of Amoses - "Mr. Sullophane"
Rita Wilson - "Funny Hunny"
Charlotte d'Amboise - "Me and My Baby"
Melanie Griffith - "Roxie"
Wayne Brady - joined "Razzle Dazzle" by the end of it
James Naughton - "All I Care About is Love"
Huey Lewis - random Billy moments
Ernie Sabella - Amos opening scene
Kevin Chamberlin - bulk of Amos dialogue
Tom Wopat - Billy dialogue prior to trial
John O'Hurley - Billy during during trial