‘Chicago’: Killing it on Broadway, heading to Manila

What does it take to make it big time – to land a role to die for and to have your face and name in the papers and on the billboards? 

For the fictional characters of Roxie Hart and Velma Kelly, it was murder, lies, and manipulation. For real life actors Bianca Marroquin and Terra MacLeod playing their parts, it thankfully involved none of that, only enormous talent, megawatt star power, and luck.

Their path to Broadway began in Matamoros, Mexico, and Montreal, Canada, by way of Chicago, the musical. And now Marroquin, as Roxie, and  MacLeod, as Velma, are performing in Manila. 

Chicago will run December 3 to 21 at The Theatre at Solaire Resort and Casino with the entire Broadway cast headlined by Bianca Marroquin and Terra MacLeod in the roles of  Roxie Hart and Velma Kelly, respectively.

The real story 

Most people know of Chicago through the Oscar award-winning 2002 movie adaptation starring Catherine Zeta-Jones, Renée Zellweger, Richard Gere, Queen Latifah, Christine Baranski, Taye Diggs, and Lucy Liu.

 

Set in the Jazz Age of the 1920s, Chicago’s sordid tale of trial by publicity and fame through infamy resonates with today’s generation.

What most people don’t know is that Chicago’s story is based on real life characters and events. In the 1920s, a string sensational acquittals of women charged with the homicide of their lovers and spouses in Chicago led to observations that beautiful dames could literally get away with murder – this at a time when trial juries were comprised mostly of men. 

The musical that people know today as Chicago with music by John Kander, book by Fred Ebb and Bob Fosse, and choreography by Fosse, is based upon a different play by the same name written by Chicago Tribune journalist Maurine Dallas Watkins. It premiered on Broadway in 1926, ran for 172 performances, and was adapted to a silent film by Cecil B. DeMille in 1927. 

Watkins based her characters on real life murderesses. There was Beulah Annan – a married woman who shot her lover in the back at her husband’s bedroom and whose testimony in court changed time after time, the final version of which was that she and the victim “both reached for the gun.”

And then there was Belva Gaertner—another married woman who shot her lover, this time in her car, but who claimed in court that she had no recollection of what happened despite the bloodied gun found in her possession. At the time, murder was punishable by hanging. Both women were acquitted.

Certain details of these real life crimes made their way even in the current musicale, most especially in the song “We Both Reached for the Gun.” More importantly, the ploy of these women—how they both courted the press to win public sympathy – has become central to the narrative of the musical. 

By turning Watkins’ play into a musical, Kander, Ebb, and Fosse not only parodied sensationalist news media but also how it has become indistinguishable from entertainment. The music and the dance of the era lent itself well to the musicale. It also didn’t hurt that they made it risqué and titillating, much like the burlesque shows that were so popular during the jazz age.

Kander, Ebb, and Fosse’s Chicago, the longest-running American musical in Broadway history, wasn’t the phenomenal hit it is today when it first opened in 1975. A post modern satire that had actors purposely shattering the suspension of disbelief by directly talking to the audiences and braking down the “theater stage’s “fourth wall,” Chicago unnerved conservative theater patrons of the day and was ahead of its time. The first run ended in 1977.

But when Chicago was revived in 1996, it was the right musicale at the right time and has continued performing ever since. The 2002 movie only further increased interest in the musicale. Such is Chicago’s unmitigated Broadway success that it is set to perform halfway round the world in Manila this year. 

Stars are born

Now on its 18th year, Chicago has witnessed young fans grow up, become cast members, and make the show part of their lives. Co-stars Marroquin and MacLeod reveal how, once, they were but audience members. 

Marroquin recalls, “When I was 22, I sat on that stage and saw Ute Lemper doing Velma and I said, ‘I hope that they bring this show to Mexico.’ Never did I say, never did I hope I could be on that stage.” 

After garnering impressive roles in Mexican productions of Rent and The Phantom of the Opera, Marroquin was cast in the role of Roxie in the local production of Chicago.

On the other hand, MacLeod landed the role of Velma Kelly in the French production of Chicago at Montreal and Paris while doing stints in several movies.

MacLeod recalls how insistence paid off: “In 1999, I went to New York for a Christmas trip and I saw Chicago. I still have the tickets stub and the original playbill. And at that time, I was just was so blown away and I thought; What do I have to do to do that? Cause I just love the genius of it.

When they auditioned in Canada for the French Company. I couldn’t make the audition because I was filming something.  I said to my agent, ‘Just send the tape.’ And they said, ‘We don’t do tape.’ So I said, ‘Just send the tape.’ And they sent the tape and I didn’t hear anything. And then a month later I got a phone call. ‘Hey they wanna see you.’ To make a long story short, I got it. And I tell the young kids sometimes when they say, ‘Can I ever get to Broadway?’ and I’d say ‘I’m a living proof.’” 

To die for 

Playing the parts of Roxie and Velma are particularly challenging, confess the actors. Marroquin notes, “The script is genius. If you trust the script you know. My character is very tricky because the first minute that you see her, you see her murder somebody, and then after that, you have the audience in your pocket.

They just saw you murder somebody, then opened up in the monologue when the fourth wall is down, and you tell them your dreams, and you tell them why do you wanted to be a Broadway dancer so bad, and why did you end up with Amos, you know all these things that the more truthful you are, they will understand you, they’ll relate and they’ll root for you till the end even if you murdered somebody.” 

After winning over audiences, critics, and producers with their stellar performances, both Marroquin and MacLeod were invited to join the touring Broadway production of Chicago, Marroquin in 2002 and MacLeod in 2008.

Actors with legs 

Playing the roles Roxie Hart and Velma Kelly in Broadway are dream roles in more ways than one. Besides the stardom, playing a role in the longest-running American musical in Broadway history guarantees an actor a long career. 

MacLeod confesses that the moment she got the part, she already new chapter in her life had begun, recalling, “I cried because I knew my life would change. I knew it. You know not every show can do it and I knew I got it. My life was about to change and it did. I just knew I was on this amazing journey. So it started in 1999, and now its 2014, and I still pinch myself, you just never know. You can dream it.”

Marroquin reveals how she has grown as an actor, noting, “We’ve been doing the show for 13 years and counting in Mexico and then I crossed over to Broadway. I’ve grown up with Roxie…And every time I leave the show to go to another show and then I come back, I always have something new to offer Roxie, because I myself in my life have matured. 

I’ve grown up. things that happened to me in my personal life. We go through loss and you know, changes. The only constant thing in life is change. And the only constant thing is my life is Roxie. I get a divorce. My mother passes. The only one who’s waiting for me with open arms is Roxie. And the only familiar place in my life is that dressing room, which is a beautiful thing for me.”

Partners in crime, Bianca Marroquin and Terra MacLeod are set to steal hearts in Manila with songs and dances to die for. Welcome Chicago, and with it, all that jazz. – Rappler.com

Writer, graphic designer, and business owner Rome Jorge is passionate about the arts. Formerly the Editor-in-Chief of asianTraveler Magazine, Lifestyle Editor of The Manila Times, and cover story writer for MEGA and Lifestyle Asia Magazines, Rome Jorge has also covered terror attacks, military mutinies, mass demonstrations as well as Reproductive Health, gender equality, climate change, HIV/AIDS and other important issues. He is also the proprietor of Strawberry Jams Music Studio.