It is the longest-running show currently playing on Broadway, and this August, Chicago The Musical returns to Adelaide in this razzle-dazzling production. Created by the musical theatre talents of John Kander, Fred Ebb and choreographer Bob Fosse, Chicago The Musical first premiered in 1975. Featuring a scorching hot score and some of the slickest choreography around, it is no wonder this iconic musical has been honoured with six Tony Awards, two Olivier Awards and a Grammy.
Chicago The Musical is based on a 1926 play written by a reporter and is about actual criminals and crimes that they reported on. Set amidst the decadence of the 1920s, CHICAGO is the story of Roxie Hart, a housewife and nightclub dancer who murders her on-the-side lover after he threatens to walk out on her. Desperate to avoid conviction, she dupes the public, the media and her rival cellmate, Velma Kelly, by hiring Chicago’s slickest criminal lawyer Billy Flynn to transform her malicious crime into a barrage of sensational headlines, the likes of which might just as easily be ripped from today’s tabloids.
Appearing as Roxie’s gullible and hapless husband, Amos, is much-loved comedy icon and character actor Peter Rowsthorn. Peter has been a staple of the Australian TV, film and stage community for many years, most notably for his role in Kath & Kim as Kim’s husband, Brett Craig.
Glam Adelaide was fortunate to speak to Peter Rowsthorn about Chicago The Musical and what drew him to forge such a successful career in the arts industry.
“I grew up watching the box. I would watch the morning cartoons and that drew me towards humour, I think. I grew up in a household that was tension filled at times, so I quickly became the tension breaker at home – a little circuit breaker with my crazy comedy antics. When I was at school I started doing some improv as well. There was a bit of an after school drama thing on a Friday and I was quite a good improviser. Then I just decided somewhere along the line, when I was about twelve or thirteen, that I wanted to be on the telly. However, I decided when I was in year ten that I wanted to be a teacher because that would satisfy my parents in terms of having a proper job. I was still secretly harbouring my desire to go into acting as well. I went to teachers college and got my degree. Whilst I was going through teachers college, I started busking with a friend. He used to do impersonations of trains and buses and trams in his spare time in his bedroom. He decided to take that weird little thing and take it to a comedy club in Melbourne. It sounds ridiculous, but people loved it – he actually sounded like different trains and trams around Melbourne.
“I started following him around these clubs – a world I didn’t know existed! I started to give live standup a go at the same clubs around Melbourne and from there it sort of just became a bit of an organic process. I met and became friends with people who were doing the same thing as I was, like the Kath & Kim girls and Glenn Robbins, and the rest is really history.”
In Chicago The Musical, Peter plays Amos Hart, Roxie’s faithful and good-natured husband who is perpetually ignored. We asked Peter if he prefers standup comedy or acting to a script.
“I honestly think I prefer doing acting more than I do comedy. I’ve had a lot of chances to do it at a professional level and I absolutely love it. I feel the most comfortable on stage and I feel like you’re in control of it. I love the rehearsal process, I love character work, I love finding out things about the show or film, and I love working with other people – it really becomes quite magical.”
Peter spoke to us about the rehearsal process for Chicago The Musical and how much flexibility they were given in the rehearsal room.
“We are sort of given a template, but the show has to still look the same as it looked 27 years ago on Broadway. We always bring something different to everything we do, no matter what the script tells you. I’ve really enjoyed what I’m doing with Amos. He’s really the only likeable and lovely person in the show. I reckon I’m on stage for maybe 15 minutes all up, but I walk off at the end and people are just going bananas. He’s just a beautiful, nice, vulnerable person who decides to walk away from all these horrible people in the end.”
The star-studded cast features Anthony Warlow as Billy Flynn, Zoe Ventoura as Velma Kelly, Lucy Maunder as Roxie Hart and Asabi Goodman as Matron ‘Mama’ Morton.
“I come in pretty nervous to these things because I don’t live in this world of musical theatre. When you hear someone like Anthony Warlow sing in a rehearsal space, you do feel like a fish out of water. The whole cast have each brought such a wonderful wealth of experience to this production. It has been a thrill to work with them through the rehearsal process, and then night after night on stage.”
This August, it’s Adelaide’s turn to be razzle-dazzled by this brilliant production.
“The show has that Bob Fosse, jazzy vibe to it. It just looks beautiful as well. The staging is so sleek and sexy and the music is so catchy. The band is on stage with us as part of the set, which gives a great vibe too. It’s based on a true story – which I didn’t know until I read the program notes.”
Chicago The Musical
Adelaide Festival Theatre, Adelaide Festival Centre
From August 4, 2024
https://www.adelaidefestivalcentre.com.au/whats-on/chicago-the-musical
Photo credit: Jeff Busby and Juliet Taylor
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