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 Musical theatre powerhouse CAROLINE O’CONNOR tells SEANNA VAN HELTEN about her long history with CHICAGO: THE MUSICAL, ahead of its return to Brisbane’s Lyric Theatre.
"I’ve had a long-standing affair with Chicago," says Caroline O’Connor. The musical theatre performer does not overstate the Broadway show’s place in her acclaimed career, having first performed in the debut Australian company production of Chicago: The Musical in 1998, earning a Green Room Award and a Mo Award for her performance as Velma Kelly.
The vaudeville-inspired show centres on two murderesses and rival wannabe celebrities, Velma Kelly (O’Connor) and Roxie Hart (Sharon Millerchip). Both women have been sent to the Cook County Jail, run via an intricate system of mutual aid by the industrious Matron "Mama" Morton (Kath & Kim’s Gina O’Reilly). Shady lawyer Billy Flynn (Craig McLachlan) takes on both women’s cases, which result in showy trials that reveal that criminal notoriety is as carefully choreographed as show business.
"What’s interesting is that Velma’s popularity is going down as Roxie’s is rising," says O’Connor, who admits it is not often that a musical foregoes a romantic plot in favour of a rivalry between two strong female leads. "Velma starts at the top and then is desperately trying to cling on to any stardom that she had ... It’s like anything to do with publicity or the press; it can only be so long before somebody else comes along with a better story."
The original production first opened in 1975, based on a play by Chicago reporter Maurine Dallas Watkins, with the book and choreography by Bob Fosse, and music and lyrics by John Kander and Fred Ebb .
"Bob Fosse was a genius to be able to come up with the concept," praises O’Connor. "The competitiveness between the two characters trying to outdo each other … and to do it with such style and finesse!"
In spite of the talent in the show’s creative team, the original Chicago was not a smash-hit success. O’Connor reasons that audiences were "not ready" for Chicago in 1975, but for contemporary audiences the musical provides a sharp, witty parallel to the rise of celebrity culture. "They love the cynicism of this show where they can just sit back and think, "Oh my god, I’m living this now. They can put it in this period or this style, but I know exactly what these people are talking about,’" O’Connor says.
The revived production of Chicago opened on Broadway in 1996. In 2002, O’Connor joined the New York cast in her Broadway debut, the same year that the Oscar-winning feature film version, starring Catherine Zeta-Jones, Renee Zellweger, and Richard Gere was released. "It didn’t do anything to harm the box office at all. In fact, if anything, it probably inflated after that."
O’Connor says she loves performing in the stylised production, heavily influenced by Fosse’s original choreography and the work of the restaged production’s choreographer, Ann Reinking. "Just walking in this show is interesting," she muses. Fosse’s style can make "walking or stopping or turning so striking, you can’t take your eyes off it."
The performer’s enthusiasm for the touring Australian production is palpable: "I’ve done this show before – it means nothing," O’Connor says. "I can’t compare it to any other feeling that I get. Before the performance, I sneak out and have a little look round the audience. I love to see them sitting there looking at their programs and the thought that they’ve gotten in the car, all dressed up, gone to dinner and then come to the show, it’s all very exciting. Whatever happens that night, that’s what they see. No one else will ever see that performance."
CHICAGO opens at the refurbished Lyric Theatre, QPAC, on March 19. Tickets are available through Qtix 136 246 or www.qtix.com.au.
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