"Velma and Roxie Would Be Influencers; Everything in 'Chicago' is Relevant Today"

Ela Ruiz (Havana, Cuba) and Teresa Abarca (Zaragoza) are ready to take the stage. With microphones hidden beneath their wigs, and moments before stepping onto the stage accompanied by the powerful 'All that jazz' with a band rhythm, they don stylish black robes that cover the costumes of Velma Kelly and Roxie Hart, the protagonists of 'Chicago'.

Both actresses are prepared for another stop on their tour at the Teatro Principal in Alicante. Just before the theatre fills with spectators and applause, they sit in two of its seats to chat with TodoAlicante. It's one of the few times they get to view the minimalist stage with the pyramid that houses the band.

"I've never seen myself performing 'All that jazz'," confesses Ela Ruiz. It's the iconic song that opens each performance of 'Chicago', where the power of her voice surpasses the band's notes, blending with every dance step offered by the entire cast of this musical.

Her face is the first to appear on stage with this opening number, where "I feel very good" although "it's striking to reach the pyramid". It's when she opens her eyes that "sometimes you see nothing", despite thousands of spectators being in front of her. Yet, this doesn't overwhelm the actress, who at times "has been on the verge of suffocation", in later moments like the number 'I Can't Do It Alone'.

"My job is to make mathematics spontaneous," she jokes, listing all the disciplines she performs in just a few minutes: singing, dancing, and acting. "It's a physical challenge." Also vocally, as her colleague Teresa Abarca expresses. Both share their passion for 'Chicago', an opportunity in their careers for which they feel grateful.

The actress portraying Roxie emphasizes the complexity of the characters. "It's hard to weave all their layers," but it's not an impossible task. It was during the first encounter with this musical when, during one of the American team's visits, they were forbidden from watching videos of other 'Chicago' performances. "They wanted each of us to bring out our essence. We were selected for the soul we have."

Ruiz and Abarca treat their Roxie and Velma with care and attention, despite their dark stories. "We talk about two characters who are pioneers of female empowerment in this story," which was written a century ago. "They are independent women committed to themselves to move their lives forward, get out of jail, and profit professionally," explains the former.

If these characters lived in the 2020s, "they would be influencers and have Instagram," Abarca suggests, as everything that happens on stage "is relevant today". Ruiz elaborates on just a small part of the musical. "It talks about the human vices that define us and will continue to define us. It talks about people who use those around them only to discard them," as well as alleged murderers, betrayal, adultery, and corruption, along with the power of the press to "raise you up and let you fall in a second". All of this is "very current".

These fierce stories have nothing to do with the actresses. Ruiz and Abarca have their own fears and are not ashamed to admit them. The performer has some dreams where "I don't go on stage"; while the Cuban states she has "many" and all overcome, partly thanks to her role as Velma who "has a lot of cortisol", she jokes.

They are not afraid of the stage to deliver an iconic musical that is "a gift for all of us who do this", highlights Teresa Abarca, due to the simplicity of its set design, where the artist is the protagonist in an atmosphere that transports the audience to the 1920s, showing "a decadence in quotes", the essence of 'Chicago'.