Theatre Breaks in London - Chicago November 26, 2007
Posted by admin in : Musicals, cambridge, chicago , trackbackMusicals make great theatre breaks in London and December marks the 10th Birthday of one of the best of them.
Facts and Figures
Chicago is the longest running Broadway musical on the West End. In London it has played to an audience of over 4.5 million people and more than 4,000 performances. The musical transferred from the Adelphi Theatre to the Cambridge Theatre in April last year. Based on a play by Maurine Dallas Watkins with a book by Fred Ebb and Bob Fosse. The musicis by John Kander and the lyrics by Fred Ebb. The West End production is staged by the original Broadway creative team. The show is booking until 27 July 2008.
After it opened, almost 10 years ago, the show won the 1998 Laurence Olivier Award for ‘Outstanding Musical Production’ and the 1998 Critics Circle Drama Award for ‘Best Musical’.
Cast Changes
One of the ways they keep the musical fresh is by bringing in interesting new cast members. This time a few people are revisiting familiar roles.
Frances Ruffelle plays the female lead, Roxy. Frances is a familiar face on the London musical stage. She was in Starlight Express and went on to star as Eponine. Though then unknown outside of the West End, she and Colm Wilkinson were invited took the show to its Broadway launch. She won multiple awards (including the Tony) for her role. We’ll quickly gloss over her 1994 Eurovision offering! She’s played Roxy before and it will be interesting to see how she tackles it this time.
Terence Maynard makes a welcome return as Billy Flynn. It’s a far cry from his role in EastEnders!
Sue Kelvin also returns as Mama Morton, the prison matron, the part taken by Queen Latifa in the film version. She’s played this role on stage before and is unlikely to suffer the sort of nerves that dogged Kelly Osbourne. On the other hand she’s unlikely to fit into Kelly’s glam costumes either! Kelly suffered from terrible stage fright and recently admitted that she was so scared on the first night she was almost sick on stage. She certainly looked trim and gorgeous in the publicity shots but some people have suggested these might have been airbrushed (shock horror!). Still I’ve long suspected that appearing nightly in a musical might be the ultimate weight loss regime so who knows!
How to get there
The Cambridge Theatre is on Earlham Street, London, WC2 9HU It is in the area near Covent Garden now known as Seven Dials. The best route is to walk from Tottenham Court Rd, if you have to use the tube, or Charing Cross station if you can get a train. Alternatively try to make sure you get a hotel within easy walking distance of the Covent Garden area. Actually that’s good advice anyway as the area is great 
There are lots of shops to browse, cafes and restaurants to eat in, it’s one of my favourite areas of London and deserves a section of theatre breaks in London all to itself!
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