By BARBARA L. FREDRICKSEN
Published January 1, 2004
On Friday, the Show Palace Dinner Theatre launches its version of Chicago, the Broadway musical that last year became an Oscar-winning movie.
The cast is headed by Palace veterans Meredith Inglesby (Eliza in My Fair Lady) as Roxie, Katie Kerwin, above, (Annie in Annie Get Your Gun) as Velma and Broadway dancer Ken Alan (Fosse, Grease, Chicago) as director/choreographer.
Already, ticket sales are nearing the record set by Hello, Dolly! in 2001, spurring the addition of four shows.
Set in the 1920s, John Kander and Fred Ebb's fast-paced show tells the now-familiar story of killer showgirls Roxie and Velma and smooth-talking lawyer Billy Flynn (Robert St. Germain, A Chorus Line). M. McGee (La Cage aux Folles) plays reporter Mary Sunshine.
Director Alan's mentor is Ann Reinking, who played Roxie on Broadway in the 1970s and choreographed the 1995 revival. Alan danced in the first national tour of the revival.
The Show Palace version is the original, Alan said, including a song omitted from the movie, the hilariously bawdy Class, where Velma and the prison's Matron (Patrician Getty) decry, among other things, that people nowadays are so uncouth, they don't say "oops" when they pass gas.
Candler Budd (Some Like It Hot) returns after stints at Tokyo Disney and in Law and Order: Criminal Intent to play Roxie's hapless husband, Amos, and sing the sad-sack lament, Mr. Cellophane.
Chicago runs Friday through Feb. 22 at Show Palace Dinner Theatre, 16128 U.S. 19, Hudson. Shows are at 8 p.m. Fridays, Saturdays and Feb. 5, 12 and 19; 1:30 p.m. Wednesdays, Thursdays and Jan. 24; and 3 p.m. Sundays. Doors open two hours before each show for buffet and full cash bar. Dinner and show, $38.50; show only, $27.45; ages 12 and younger, $20.95 and $15.95, all plus tax and tip. Call (727) 863-7949 in west Pasco; toll-free elsewhere 1-888-655-7469.
Quartet will conclude festival
The Winter Sun Music Festival winds up with a concert by the DaPonte String Quartet that continues the theme of the two St. Petersburgs. In 2003, the Russian city celebrated its 300th anniversary while Florida's marked its centennial. The quartet - standing left to right, Stephane Tran Ngoc, violin; Ferdinand Liva, violin; Mark Preston, viola; and, seated, Myles Jordan, cello - will play works of Borodin, Prokofiev and Shostakovich. The performance is at 3 p.m today at Dendy-McNair Auditorium, Eckerd College. Admission is $10, $5 for students. 727 864-8471 or www.eckerd.edu/wintersunfestival
