CHICAGO Is a Winner!

Can Fiorella pick'm, or can Fiorella pick'em?  Three hits in a row--Anything Goes, Spamalot, and now, Chicago!  And yes, your Fio chose them all!

Husband and Fio hosted Brother Bill and his lovely wife at the Georgetown Palace's production of Chicago over the weekend, and it was STRONG.  The cast was small, just twenty-three actors listed on the playbill, so everyone but the leads did at least triple duty. The songs kept coming, the dances kept coming, and the play moved along like sixty.

Chicago is cynical, a noir snapshot of an era--sort of the seamy underside of Anything Goes.  The corrupt characters come out on top, and the only two decent characters in the show end up, respectively, (1) hanged and (2) played for a fool.  Shades of Three-penny Opera.

The plot is hitched together like train cars hurtling toward hell.  Both acts are performed against a semi-dark background, with a descending staircase stationed center stage and choir stalls on either side of it housing band members.  Spotlights follow the action.

Emily Niswonger (Velma) knocked Fio over with her rock-hard voice, as did Jennifer Tucker (Mary Sunshine) with her sweet voice.  Kirk Kelso (Billy Flynn) owned the stage. BJ Ortwein (Matron Mama Morton) was fabulous, and Craig McKerley (Amos Hart) stole Fio's heart,

'Nuff said.  Go buy your tickets.  The show's been so successful that the Palace is running matinees.