From Broadway to Chapí: 'Chicago' Arrives at Alicante's Principal Theatre with the New York Production

The Principal Theatre of Alicante is set to resonate 'to the rhythm of jazz'. This will commence from this Thursday with the premiere of the 'Chicago' tour in the city, transforming Ruperto Chapí Square into the famed Broadway of New York with its banner waving on the theatre's facade.

This 'Sweet Treat', as one of its songs performed by Roxy suggests, is one of the major highlights of the Principal Theatre's lineup, which will remain on stage with seven performances until next Sunday.

In all of them, the iconic 'Cell Block Tango' will be performed, where the protagonists share the reasons that kept them behind bars. However, this time the bars are marked by the depth and height of the stage, in true 'Chicago' musical style of New York.

Som Produce, the production company, has based its efforts on maintaining the aesthetic of this show on the stage of Alicante's Principal Theatre. "Their team has come to supervise" every detail during the setup of this tour across Spain, narrates its director Víctor Conde. "We are guardians of a legacy," that of Bob Fosse.

'Chicago' has already toured several venues, with many of them sold out, where up to 2,000 people have attended, Conde proudly states. And indeed, the proposal is worthy of such acclaim. "It is a show that relies on the artist and not on elevators or mechanics."

It is the actors and actresses who enliven the scene, with a set very different from any other musical. Behind them emerges the great band of 'Chicago', which performs each of its songs live. "It is the set of the show," a grand podium that impresses both the audience and everyone who dances, sings, and acts on stage.

Among them, Ela Ruiz's return to Alicante stands out after her appearance in 'Ghost' over a year ago. The Cuban actress swaps the long hair -with which she made Oda Mae Brown her own that Whoopi Goldberg brought to the big screen- for an updo with which she speaks through her tone about "the decadence of the modern world."

She shares many scenes with Jaime Zatarain, who also knows the Alicante theatre after donning the platforms of Mitzi Mitosis during his role as Tick in 'Priscilla, Queen of the Desert'. This time, he returns under the lights of 'Chicago' to tell "many small stories."

They are just some of the cogs in the spectacle, which "is created around the cast" consisting of 24 actors and eleven musicians alongside the technical team, as the director points out. And he is satisfied that "there is no 'Chicago' like it," as theatre, he defines, is "a living being that feeds on the actors who arrive," creating, as will happen in Alicante, an unprecedented show.

Its script has been meticulously supervised with the original team to maintain in 'Chicago' "the essence of the perfect musical." Each of its pages and lines has undergone careful "surgery so that each phrase says what it needs to say," as this show has "many layers" that go beyond the vocal story and choreography.

It is in every dance and number where stories "with depth" are told, loaded with a "strong social critique." These narrate life a century ago, in those wonderful 1920s, which just like the world "advances and things polarise," leaving a musical that is "more relevant now than when it premiered" and its lyrics still "have much life ahead."