When you've seen a classic musical as many times as I have seen Chicago, you really hope for something new and exciting to bring a basically great show to life and this large young, mostly unknown cast (outside of John O’Hurley) really delivers. Now playing through May 15th at Cadillac Palace, theatre fans have the chance to see one of the most popular musicals of our time that spawns from a tale of corruption, greed, and murder that takes place in 1920’s Chicago.

Chicago, now in its twentieth year is not only the number one longest running American musical in Broadway history, it is the winner of six Tony Awards, two Oliver Awards and even a Grammy. This touring cast with Dylis Croman (Roxie Hart), Terra C. MacLeod (Velma Kelly), Paul C. Vogt (Amos Hart), Roz Ryan (Matron “Mama” Morton) and John O’Hurley of Seinfeld and Dancing with the Stars fame along with a slew of other talented actors not only hold their own, they do its residency show on Broadway justice. 

After nightclub dancer Roxie Hart (played splendidly by Dylis Croman) murders her lover on the side after he threatens to leave her, she plays the media and even her cellmate (and later partner) Velma Kelly by employing the slimiest Chicago lawyer she can finds who turns her act of murder into a series of sensational headlines, creating a media circus that distracts from the crime itself. The Jury has no chance. 

Though filled with simple, darkened backdrops reminiscent to the jazz era, the show’s sultry one-liners, big chorus and dance numbers are what makes this production the hit that it has been. Chicago is a crime-based comedy that has all the components of an intriguing and thoroughly entertaining musical. It is filled with cliché’s that embody Chicago during the 1920’s and also points out the fame and glamour given to high profile criminals that can so easily be had the doting public at the time.  

Dylis Croman may steal the show with her brilliant portrayal of Roxie Hart, but the star power brought in to give this production a boost, John O’Hurley, is nothing short of outstanding as the sensationalizing, smooth-talking lawyer Billy Flynn.   

Thanks to flawless performances both dancing and vocally, songs like “I Can’t Do It Alone”, “When You’re Good to Mama”, “My Own Best Friend” and “Funny Honey” will be sure to stick in your head afterwards, yet probably not so much as the show’s most popular tune “All That Jazz”. 

I highly recommend this sharp, streamlined, exciting and yet sumptuous musical for both theatre fans that have and have not seen Chicago in the past. With just the right amount of pizzazz, a soundtrack that is among theatre’s best and some of the most original dance numbers in recent times, Chicago is comprehensively fun stage production not to be missed.  

Chicago is being performed at Cadillac Palace through May 15th. For tickets and/or more show information, visit www.BroadwayInChicago.com.