Nina Metz

In last year's Oscar-winning film version of "Chicago," Renee Zellweger may have cut a dazzling celluloid figure as a damsel-in-da-press, but despite what some have said--including director Rob Marshall--she really wasn't much of a singer. And as for her dancing, well, to put it nicely, the lady had no line. So hand it to Marshall, a choreographer himself, who rather ingeniously adapted the stage show, which is really just a showcase for slinky moves and husky grooves, into something larger and far more literal for the silver screen, treating the dance sequences as if viewed from a speeding car. Of course, even in those brief snippets, Marshall abandoned Bob Fosse's iconic bowler hat, shoulder roll milieu. But the musical--with its fabulous music and words by Kander and Ebb--is perfectly suited to just this type of hyper-stylization, so much so that the opening number might as well be called "All That Fosse." And that is probably reason enough to see the national tour of "Chicago," currently decamped at the Shubert Theatre, an appropriately grungy environment for a story about murdering broads obsessed with infamy. And Bianca Marroquin's Roxie Hart is a real dynamo, bringing to mind a young Shirley MacLaine--all legs, red shag hairdo and a black blazer.

"Chicago" plays at the Shubert Theatre, 22 West Monroe, (312)902-1400, through September 28.

(2003-09-10)

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