I watched the famous musical “Chicago” at the Ambassador Theatre, New York, on February 24. “Chicago” is an American musical recomposed from a book about Jazz-age Chicago by Ebb and Bob Fosse, depicting actual criminals and crimes from 1926. The story is a satire on corruption in the administration of criminal justice and the concept of the “celebrity criminal.” It is said to be one of the oldest musicals on Broadway. The original production ran from 1975 to 1977, and the present version was choreographed by Fosse and brought to the stage in 1979.
The performance, both by the band and actors/actresses, was impressive and unforgettable. There was a square area in the center of the stage where the band played the music. Around the band was the acting area, but sometimes the actors also interacted with the band and audiences. The costumes for the band and actors/actresses created a strong contrast: the band was dressed in suits, while the others were in black flimsy tops which were see-through. Seeing the costumes at the very beginning, one could sense that the musical would be a story of desire, sex, and city. The theme tone could be identified by the makeup and dancing as well: red lipsticks and a combination of jazz and Burlesque dancing maximized the dramatic and comedy expression that appealed to the emotions and intrigued the intellect. The Overture: All That Jazz and Cell Block Tango are probably the most popular two pieces from this musical, which was composed in the late nineteenth century.
All that Jazz:
Of course, Jazz is the main theme. Jazz is a performance style that developed among black musicians around 1910. The music usually consists of popular songs, blues, or abstract chord series called “changes,” but also “a special, highly charged way of performing that music.” The overture begins by the trumpet playing, coloring the scene with a lazy tone that is the primary key. It is like improvisation: the musicians freely elaborate around a song, as our textbook says. Then, the ensemble begins with a fast tempo and powerful beat as the secondary key begins, as if the stage has been set and audiences were to be brought back to the scenes where the story happened through a time tunnel. Usually the secondary key engages in a special rhythmic style involving highly developed syncopation, emphasizing the off-beat. This is called a “backbeat” in jazz parlance. It left me with a bright but sarcastic impression – not for the story only, but probably also to reveal the ironic social atmosphere in 19th century Chicago. I can imagine the story taking place in a luxurious and dissipating city where neon lights shine until midnight. The rhythm then slows down and the story begins – a soft, sexy female voice invites audiences get prepared and watch the story with her.
Cell Block Tango
This song summarizes six women’s lives. Specifically, it tells the stories that brought these women in the cell, behind the bars. It begins (and also ends) with six keywords for each woman such as “pop” and “ah ah,” followed with lyrics “he had it coming,” the structural motive that appears several times in both the melody and the story line. The prelude fades in and becomes faster and faster with every appearance of the motive. The actual stories were presented in a talkative way: actress introduced very powerfully and firmly their past, one by one, feeling wronged to be put in the jail – they did nothing wrong!
The work was written to present the irony of the society: an innocent woman was executed because she did not have a good lawyer; the murderers, however, managed to be released and finally became celebrities in Chicago. The strong drum beats were like their strong emotions: endless desire, hatred, and the up-and-down dramatic life. The main theme, “he had it coming… he only had himself to be blamed… if you were been there, if you’ve seen it, I bet you would have done the same,” reappeared with the familiar melody in the whole song. It is the core motive, and it is also the central idea of this section. The drums also implied their determination to commit the crimes.
Overall, this was a wonderful experience in New York watching a fantastic Broadway show!