Chicago At The Ambassador Theater, Saturday, August 11th, 2018, Reviewed
Who the hell needs another review of a Broadway musical that’s been running forever, “The Longest Running American Musical In Broadway History”? There are hundreds if not thousands of reviews of this show and with good reason- everyone has an opinion.
So why are you reading this? Do you care what one more person thinks? Will this sway your vacation plans? Will you pause, think “hmmm that Hel may have a point” or are you just chugging down a latte and skimming this?
Whichever.
Chicago is a long running musical for good reason- it has a fun story, its quirky, the music is toe tapping and the lyrics are singable and its- its a play the whole family can go see chock full of innuendos for Mom and cheek feather dancing and PopPopPop gun fire for the kiddies. What a hoot!
Here are some Hel observations you wont get in other reviews
1- the stage is tiny. like super tiny.. like wtf open it up tiny.
2 the costumes for women are great! seriously god bless the gym for the ladies
3 the costumes for the men are atrocious- zero sex appeal and I’d doubt the killed male ever slept with a woman- ever. So much black fishnet I expected Al Pacino and the cast of Cruising to jump out of the wings either that or Charlie Tuna.
4- the band kicked ass. Seriously the upright bass player.. kudos bro’ you plucked that thing like a willing chicken
5- the guy “Peterman” from Seinfeld is in it, John O’Hurley and his voice is pretty distinct
Jazz club hussies, gunfire, prison, infidelity, madame’s, contracts, boozin’, thugs, cops.. and lots of black mesh…lots. But the songs leave with you- the dancing is contagious and of course it tells a great story- how the hell else could it last over 20 years. The show has toured and has featured everyone from Christie Brinkley to Rumer Willis and it has zero end in site.
You can score tickets on Goldstar and see it inexpensively or you can full out go VIP (which it moronic- seriously, why? But I suppose I’ll cover the idiocy of up charge VIP tickets in another post-cuz its just so pathetic) Heres what your sorry soul will receive for $400 bucks
Seats in Row 4-6 Orchestra, an on stage meet and greet where a bored and most likely hungry performer will shake your hand and ask how you liked the show then throw an arm around you (maybe) and fake smile while your cousin Ben takes an iphone shot and some staffer clicks a real pic you’ll get in 7-10 days, A commemorative VIP bag with souvenirs which would most likely be a tote bag a poster a water bottle and some pins cuz its never cool like a t shirt cuz they dont know if your a fatty or not, a complimentary drink and heres the hoot…. a Broadway Plus concierge for all your theater and travel needs. What the hell is that nwill they book your flight back to Peoria?
But hey- its your $400. so have at it. Live it up.
The show is wonderful and I left the theater in the pouring rain literally happy to have finally seen it after all these years. The soundtrack now- on repeat.I get that whole Razzle Dazzle thing now.
