Stage to screen to stage
Fans can expect a pared-down version of the Oscar-winning Chicago film
Jen Zoratti

Adultery, murder and plenty of fishnets — what’s not to like about Chicago?

With sharp dialogue and songs you actually want to hear over again — no matter how badly they’ve been massacred by drunken karaoke stars — the striking Tony Award-winning vaudeville show is one of Broadway’s darlings.

However, the story of fame-seeking murderesses Roxie Hart and Velma Kelly and the iconic images of the booze-filled jazz dives of 1920s Chicago are probably more linked to the screen than the stage, thanks to Rob Marshall’s Oscar-winning movie adaptation.

But Kevin Carolan, who plays the lovable loser Amos Hart in the production that hits Winnipeg this summer, says having a successful film to back the show has come in handy on a tour that has included stops in Taiwan and Dubai.

“The movie did a lot of the work for us, because a lot more people seem to know the movie over the musical, especially overseas,” says Carolan. “But when we were in Dubai, for instance, my character didn’t really resonate with the Arab culture. I mean, he’s this cuckold husband, and that’s a foreign concept for them. And in Japan, some of the jokier parts wouldn’t translate. So it’s been different every time.”

The simplicity of the Hart character can sometimes also be lost in translation and may even go unnoticed alongside such over-the-top characters as vampy chanteuse Kelly or charmer-of-a-lawyer Billy Flynn. But Hart has a Charlie Brown appeal that makes him identifiable with just about everyone. The puppy-dog-faithful husband of the not-so-faithful Roxie Hart, Amos is one of those simple yet sweet guys for whom you can’t help but feel sorry. But Carolan says that his rendition of Mr. Cellophane is owed to great script writing.

“There’s room for interpretation, but the universal thing about him is the fact that everyone has felt that they could be standing in one place and no one would see them,” Carolan says. “And the script does a lot of work for me. It’s a really great script in the way that Billy Flynn never gets his name right, for example.

“And every night is different. Even if I do something just a little bit differently — say a word a different way, make my posture more slouched, turn my feet out just a bit more — there are so many variables to create your performance.”

Those only familiar with the film version of Chicago can expect to see a more stark, pared-down version of the musical, complete with drastically different staging and a few more songs. But Carolan says the best thing about the stage rendition is what most people love about live theatre — you’re actually there.

“It may be different, but the nice thing about that is that it’s a surprise for people who have only seen the movie,” says Carolan. “The outfits are all in black and white. The orchestra’s onstage. It’s more like a vaudeville musical. Plus, the response is so much more fun because the audience is really part of the script.”

What really puts the razzle dazzle in Chicago is the songs — and Carolan will be the pipes behind the show-stopper Mr. Cellophane, a tune he’s especially fond of.

“It’s a killer number. Actually, I used to use it as an audition song,” Carolan laughs. “I never thought I’d be singing it eight times a week.”