GEORGE F. LEE / GLEE@ STARBULLETIN.COM
From left, Jamie Vander is Mama Morton, Tricia Marciel is Roxy Hart and Katie Leiva is accused murderess Velma Kelly in the Diamond Head Theatre production of "Chicago."
Diamond Head Theatre's imaginative production of "Chicago" is dark, funny, and provides the vehicle for a dramatic ascent to star status for Katie Leiva! Dazzling Leiva puts
the gal in illegal
"Chicago": Continues at Diamond Head Theatre, 8 p.m. Fridays to Saturdays, and 4 p.m. Sundays through Oct. 20; plus 8 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 10 and 17.
Tickets $10 to $40 with some discounts available. Call 733-0274.Review by John Berger
jberger@starbulletin.comDirector/choreographer Andrew Sakaguchi goes with tradition in maintaining the inherent darkness and cynicism of Fosse, Kander & Ebb's ever-popular tale of sex, crime and the manipulation of the American criminal justice system, but adds his own perspectives on where some of the characters are coming from. That is what makes this DHT encore production fresh and intriguing.
Sakaguchi's "Chicago" is still a sardonic indictment of a society in which killers are treated as celebrities, and the question of guilt or innocence is secondary to an amoral attorney's skill at bamboozling the media and the public. The cast is excellent. Leiva and Tricia Marciel are beautifully matched as the leads.
Leiva, who received a Po'okela Award (Featured Female in a Musical) this summer for her work in Manoa Valley Theatre's production of "Song of Singapore," steps forward to establish herself as a triple-threat headliner as Velma Kelly.
Sakaguchi deftly ensures that our sympathies drift to Velma despite the fact that she is on trial for killing her husband and sister; apparently she "snapped" after finding them in bed together. Is it possible that her husband had abused her trust even on their wedding night? It wouldn't work in a court of law, but as theater, that theory puts Velma's crime in a different light.
Not that she's an angel. Velma has been making the most of the celebrity status accorded by the Chicago press, and finds life as a celebrity in the cell block better than life as a nobody on the street.
Then Roxie Hart (Marciel) is arrested for shooting Fred Casley. Roxie almost got away with it by persuading her cuckolded husband, Amos, to take the blame for killing the "burglar," but Amos recanted his confession after he realizes that Casley was his wife's boyfriend.
Velma soon finds herself outmaneuvered by the cold-blooded cell-block newcomer. Where Velma is tough on the outside but vulnerable, perhaps even sweet, Roxie appears soft and vulnerable at first glance but is clearly cold and calculating. She emerges as a predator with no redeeming qualities and the more we see her less we like her. It's a tribute to Marciel's talent that we come to loathe what Roxie represents by the time show is over.
Leiva and Marciel make the most of each of Kander & Ebb's showcase songs. Leiva makes a dazzling entrance with "All that Jazz" and never falls short thereafter; her crisp expansive performances on "I Can't Do It Alone" and "When Velma Takes the Stand" are glorious highlights in a show full of great dance numbers. Marciel, who starred as Linda Low in Army Community Theatre's most recent production of "Flower Drum Song," displays her star power once again here. She establishes herself with "Funny Honey" and goes from success to success with each song.
DOUGLAS S. SCHEER, a Po'okela-winner this year for his work in DHT's spring production of "Titanic," stands out as cynical Billy Flynn, the attorney who has never lost a case defending a woman charged with murder -- as long as she was able to come up with his $5,000 fee. Scheer hits hard and strong with his first big number, the disingenuously titled "All I Care About," and follows that with a great performance as the prime-mover in "We Both Reached for the Gun," and then tops both with "Razzle Dazzle" and the climactic Act II courtroom scene.
Larry Bialock returns to the local stage as Roxie's hapless husband. Bialock illuminates every facet of Amos' big number, "Mister Cellophane." He exits with such finesse he got the loudest ovation of the evening.
More talent is found in J. Caldarone (Mary Sunshine), who makes an impressive debut on the DHT stage as the gullible journalist who buys into the notion that every criminal deserves another chance. She has a voice that must be heard to be believed.
Other murderesses -- Shea Reiner, Sherry Chock Wong, Ka'ohi Yojo, Lisa Young and Erin J. Kim -- are slinky, seductive and smoothly choreographed in "Cell Block Tango." Arlette St. Romain (Go-To-Hell Kitty) makes a brief, memorable appearance as the murderess who tops Roxie and Velma by using a submachine gun to kill her boyfriend and two women when she catches them in bed.
Sakaguchi's male ensemble does a good job supporting the major players. Twan Matthews presides as the topless Master of Ceremonies. Jimi Wheeler (Fred Casley) gives a solid comic performance in the courtroom scene in which Roxie and her attorney "prove" Casley is to blame for his own murder.
Reigning over the cell block is "Mama" Morton (Jamie Bender), a big woman who wears a red jumpsuit, bouffant wig that's more '60s than '20s, and walks around with a cigar in her mouth. Bender does a fine job with her numbers, "When You're Good to Mama" and "Class."
And, there's nothing to fault or question in the work of musical director Mary Chesnut Hicks and her small but tight vaudeville-style band. Hicks and her musicians add the perfect musical ambience to "Chicago."
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