Ann Reinking helps 'Chicago' shine

TAMPA - It was an Ann Reinking weekend at the Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center.

Saturday brought a revue showcasing students from the Broadway Theatre Project, a program the Broadway luminary founded in Tampa in 1991.

It was a generally rousing show, but on Sunday audiences were treated to something really special: The first performance in the latest national tour of Chicago, the Kander/Ebb/Fosse musical highlighted by Reinking's beautifully brazen choreography.

Aside from being a ton o' fun, Chicago embodies the past, present and future of the American musical, a significant art form that seemed comatose for a while.

Like all the best American musicals, and unlike the overblown European operas that dominated musical theater in the 1980s and early 1990s, Chicago bristles with unbridled joy, infectious songs you hum while you drive home, vibrant dancing that makes your heart feel younger and freer than it is, and tasteful stagecraft that doesn't overpower the performance.

Set in the 1920s and populated by vaudevillians, Chicago revels in the song-and-dance tradition that helped create musical theater. Reinking's choreography and stark staging by director Walter Bobbie show that there's still ample opportunity for innovation in the genre.

All the best aspects of the show come across especially well in this production, packed with winning performances from a cast of Broadway veterans.

The happiest surprise is former TV pretty boy Gregory Harrison as celebrity lawyer Billy Flynn. It's wise to be wary when TV personalities star in these road shows, as they're often there solely for commercial appeal. But Harrison has considerable stage appeal and a really wonderful singing voice, holding a note for an impossibly long time without a trace of vibrato.

His co-stars are equally appealing. Bianca Marroquin, as Roxie Hart, the murderous chorus girl who parlays her crime into fame, summons the spirit of young Shirley MacLaine. Brenda Braxton, as her jail mate Velma Kelly, wields a powerful, brassy voice. The clear audience favorite was Ray Bokhour as Amos Hart, Roxie's gray and pudgy husband, who almost steals the show with his rendition of Mr. Cellophane.

But the entire cast, including every member of the charismatic chorus, does fine work, as does a really fun, onstage 14-piece orchestra.

A note for trivia buffs: Harrison isn't the only TV star in this show. The drummer in the orchestra is Cubby O'Brien, from the original Mickey Mouse Club.

REVIEW: Chicago runs through Saturday at the Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center's Carol Morsani Hall, 1010 North W.C. MacInnes Place, Tampa. Curtain is at 7:30 p.m. today, Wednesday and Thursday, 8 p.m. Friday, and 2 and 8 p.m. Saturday. $20-$66.50, plus service charge. Call 813 229-7827 or go to www.tbpac.org

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