Word: hellers
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...couple of these letter express chagrin at Pachter's accusations of director Beth Heller's "racist casting." This kind of response to this kind of statement is understandable, even laudable. But Pachter never makes this accusation. He instead writes that the two Black, non-chorus players were given "degrading roles for Black actors to play." Actress Lenore Jones was given the role of Mama, whom Pachter calls "sick and lecherous," and actor Tym Tombar was given the role of Amos, whom Pachter calls "simple, subservient, and constantly humiliated by his white, adulterous wife...
That said, Heller does nothing to aid her own cause. Although Chicago boasts skillful choreography and exuberant performances, this show is saddled by clumsy direction, offensive racial stereotypes and a chorus whose constant vocal presence ensures that we will rarely hear the lead in any song. In Chicago clutter replaces cohesion, and although this cast tries to provide some razzle-dazzle, the poor script and staging result in only fitful success...
...Heller cannot be blamed for the script's shortcomings, but her staging decisions accentuate the play's negative qualities. Producing Chicago in the Leverett House Old Library is a serious mistake. Although Heller and choreographer Allison McDonnel cleverly incorporate Leverett's stairwells into the action, the choice of venue leaves almost no room for the 18 actors. Chairs for the audience and the four-piece band swallow the majority of the available stage space; the side aisles should have been opened to provide the dancers with an outlet for movement. As is, the concentration of bodies results in our hearing...
Although several of the actors bump into each other in the course of Chicago, McDonnel deserves credit for keeping the on-stage mayhem to a minimum. She shouldn't have to work this hard, but Heller insists on the hackneyed technique of inserting the chorus into virtually every song and ending most numbers with the entire company surrounding the lead singer. These techniques should have been used more sparingly...
Chicago, though textually problematic, might have succeeded in a larger venue and with more inventive staging. But Heller's decision to present this production as a cramped series of chorus numbers undermines the onstage enthusiasm. In "Razzle Dazzle," the song which might serve as a parable of the entire production, the cast sings, "As long as you keep 'em way off balance/How can they tell you've got no talent." In this badly managed production of Chicago, we are kept so off-balance that we cannot tell who has talent and who does...