[jellyfish4014]

Hello! My high school acquired the rights to Chicago early Feb. and I am looking for some tips for the show. We are in full swing rehearsals for choreography for a mid April opening. This is the perfect show to fit our talent this year. We didn't think that we would get the rights to the show. They told us that only 5% of ameuter groups get the rights. So... and tips, stories, etc?

Thanks!

[Elphaba22]

My camp got the rights for an amateur production of it this past summer too, actually. It's a wonderful show, and I was so glad to be in it. I was Katalin Hunyak. One of the main tips I can give is to keep up the energy. In the beggining, the entire cast was PHSYCHED to be in Chicago, but the excitement wore off, and although the show turned out incredible, sometimes the energy was lacking.
Although you probably can't do anything about this, if you can, the girls' costumes should be sexy, it changes the feel of the show if they're not. They toned down the sexy a lot in my production, though they'll probably have to for yours too depending on what kind of school you go to.
I can give you more tips if you answer some questions..
Who are you in it? What's your set like? How are the leads? How's the choreography? Are you guys cutting anything important? What are you doing for Hunyak's hanging scene?

[jellyfish4014]

Thanks for responding. We too are toning down the outfits. Our principal said we could not do it without toning it down some. We cut the song "Class". Other than just changing a few of the lyrics, the language, and other things like that, most everything is still intact. We are all pretty excited about doing the show. Right now we are having to learn choreography so fast, because our choreographer is pregnant. So, that is fun.

Who are you in it?
-I am not in it. I am the Stage Manager.

What's your set like?
- We are putting the band on the stage on three different levels. We will have a big door underneath them. We are building our pit out to extend the stage and then building a runway aroundd the edge of the pit.

How are the leads?
- Our leads are all pretty good. Our Roxie's acting is a little weak, so hopefully she will pull through.

How's the choreography?
-The choreography is toned down, but it is very engaging and fun. It is all original.

Are you guys cutting anything important?
-I have already answered that.

What are you doing for Hunyak's hanging scene?
I am not quite sure how we are doing it. How did you do it?

[Elphaba22]

Your set sounds awesome! I love the whole three levels pit onstage thing.
For Hunyaks hanging, we did it really simple, no tech at all, I just walked up to this high platform thing and stand on my tip toes and then just drop to standing flat and make it look like a got hanged, which put a lot of it on me as an actress to make it look right. I think it's better if you can do something cool with it, technically speaking. If you have a trap door, or a high platform/wall, you can put a rope around the neck of the actress from above (make sure there's TONS of slack, it would suck if they actually were hanged...) and put crash mats in/under the platform or trap door, and have them step off and when she reaches the bottom just pull on the rope to make it go tight. We also had all the other dancers crouching (is that how you spell it? =D) around on the stage and watching me die, and then they applauded and cheered when I got hanged. It was really creepy.
If that makes any sense...i'm sure that sounds really convoluted. They did that in a production of Urinetown I saw for Bobby being pushed off the building.

[Rich]

You can't cut "Class". You can't cut anything. The rights for performance dictate that you have to perform the entire show, "as is" without cuts or changes, sorry.

[Kev]

Then why the hell is your school doing CHICAGO, if you're cutting "Class," toning down language and costumes, and essentially altering the feel of the entire show, the way it was meant to be? Surely there are better choices out there for your school to execute, instead of an unseasoned version of CHICAGO.

[Elphaba22]

yea...when i was in it, they did that stuff too, including cutting "Class" which everyone was really bummed about.

[kiwitechgirl]

[Elphaba22]

Harnesses? It's like a 5 foot fall with crash mats...I do aerial circus, like 15-25 feet in the air, and we don't even use harnesses.
For the rope, you could just have the actress hold the loop so it looks like its under their neck, but it isnt' actually, and then have them step off.