Splendid leads make Maltz’s ‘Chicago’ unmissable
Somewhere deep inside the Cook County Jail, circa 1920s, lies the intersection of blind justice and show biz.
It is a cynical spot to be sure, but also extremely entertaining, thanks to composer John Kander and lyricist Fred Ebb, director-choreographer Denis Jones and a skilled Maltz Jupiter Theatre company of performers and designers.
The show is Chicago, based on a 1926 play and a 1942 movie, and yet it felt ahead of its time when the musical adaptation first arrived on Broadway in 1975. Fast forward to 1996, when a concert-style revival opened and the musical’s cult of celebrity crime theme coincided with the O.J. Simpson murder trial. Twenty-four years and many metaphors later, the show is still playing in New York, the longest-running American musical in Broadway history.
