CATANIA – With the extraordinary direction of Chiara Noschese, the Metropolitan Theater in Catania hosts a phantasmagorical musical: “Chicago”.
It is a 1975 American musical, directed by Bob Fosse, with music by John Kander and lyrics by Fred Ebb.
The themes of intrigue, manipulation, conspiracies, success at all costs, corruption, murders, lies and the total absence of scruples are represented with rapid and capricious vivacity.
In the end, a moment of reflection by the protagonists who, almost enlightened by an unexpected common sense, reveal to themselves the awareness of the lack of values and sensitivity in society, the same unscrupulous society to which they themselves belong.
The themes, unfortunately still relevant today, develop within the roaring setting of the Illinois metropolis of the 1920s, within which the spectator sees himself involved and transported, through the magic of the beautiful music, the extraordinary voices, the vivacity of colors and fantastic choreography.
Although the story is inserted within a social framework dominated by men, “Chicago” is an all-female show, where women take control of situations, prevailing over men, to the point of betrayal and murder and to the annihilation of the figure of a weak and submissive man, almost as if to paint a sort of vindication on the part of the woman herself.
This is what happens to the protagonist Roxy’s husband. It is a male character, who recalls the movements and naive expression of the social outcast, Charlie Chaplin’s character. He acts only as a function of his wife, blinded by the love he feels for her, despite being aware of the betrayal he suffers, and despite the awareness of being manipulated and used as a Machiavellian tool, within a legal context that has no legality. In the end, nothing is acknowledged, no one thanks him and he silently… leaves the scene.
“Chicago”: perfect combination of art, explosions of colours, plays of light and circus jugglers, circus moves and gestures, games of intrigue and “tangles” of choreography within a pleasantly intrusive scenographic frame.
The spectator had fun, he brings with him an aura of reawakened imagination and a bittersweet taste that will probably accompany him on the road back.
The show will be repeated in the city of Palermo on 25 and 26 March 2024 at the Teatro Massimo.
