COME ENJOY A JAZZY "CHICAGO” IN IVORYTON

                                                        Lyn Philistine as ROXIE HART

The Ivoryton Playhouse is offering a jail cell full of greed, corruption, adultery, treachery, murder and all that jazz 

for your definite entertainment pleasure until Sunday, July 24 as “Chicago” roars into town.  This Tony Award winning musical penned by Fred Ebb, John Kander and Bob Fosse struts its stuff in sensational splendor and you need to bear witness.

The Cook County Jail in the late 1920’s has no vacancies.  The star inmates, both accused of murder, one Velma Kelly, a striking Stacey Harris, and Roxie Hart, a sparkling Lyn Philistine,  are the headliners of this institution.  Velma is not happy to have competition for top billing in the Murderess of the Month Club, currying the favors of the omnipotent attorney Billy Flynn, a charismatic Christopher Sutton, and the reciprocity driven cooperation of Matron “Mama” Morton a pay-me-to-be-helpful accommodating Sheniqua Denise Trotman.

Both Velma and Roxie want their fifteen minutes of fame, their photos on the front page of every newspaper and their anticipated acquittals to parlay them into a show business career.

Great music abounds inside and outside the jail bars, like the musical chairs in “Cell Block Tango,” Billy’s winning the case techniques in “Razzle Dazzle,”  Mama Matron’s special system of favors in “When You’re Good to Mama,” Roxie’s husband Amos (Ian Greer Shain) bemoaning his invisible state in “Mister Cellophane” and the ever present reporter Mary Sunshine (Z. Spiegel) trumpeting “There’s A Little Bit of Good” in every criminal.

Todd L. Underwood directs and choreographs this intriguing tale of females who turn the hobby of murder into a sporting arena of entertainment, with scanty costumes by Elizabeth Cipollina, on a versatile set designed by Martin Scott Marchitto.

For tickets ($50, seniors $45, students $22, children $17), call the Ivoryton Playhouse, 103 Main Street, Ivoryton at 860-767-7318 or online at www.ivorytonplayhouse.org.  Performances are Wednesday at 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m., Thursday at 7:30 p.m.,  Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m.

Don black silk stockings and rouge your knees as you Charleston your way in front of a jury of your peers, with jazz hands and legs swinging freely as part of your defense.