Why ‘Chicago’ is Broadway’s ‘Orange Is the New Black’
And why fans of the Netflix series should be thrilled that the musical is coming to Manila in December
LAST month, while sitting inside the historic Saenger Theatre in New Orleans, enjoying the opening night of “Chicago’s” 16th US tour, it hit me: “Chicago” is Broadway’s “Orange Is the New Black.”
The setting (Chicago, 1920s vs. New York, present day) and format (musical theater vs. TV) may be different, but my favorite musical has a lot in common with my favorite Netflix series.
“Chicago” has been around much longer—it debuted on Broadway in 1975 and the revival opened in 1996 and hasn’t stopped since, becoming the longest-running American musical on Broadway. “Orange Is the New Black” first came out in 2013 and has had two successful seasons, with a third one currently being shot.
But both can be summed up in three words: women in prison. And both were inspired by real-life crimes.
The musical “Chicago” was based on a 1926 play written by Maurine Dallas Watkins, a journalist for the Chicago Tribune, after she covered the 1924 trials of Beulah Annan and Belva Gaertner.
Belva, who was a cabaret singer accused of killing her lover Walter Law, inspired the character Velma Kelly, while Roxie Hart was patterned after Beulah, who was suspected of killing Harry Kalstedt, a man she was having an affair with. Both Beulah and Belva were acquitted of their crimes.
“Orange Is the New Black” is the fictionalized adaptation of the 2010 memoir “Orange Is the New Black: My Year in a Women’s Prison,” written by Piper Kerman, who once helped an ex-girlfriend smuggle drug money. Her past caught up with her, and she was indicted for criminal conspiracy and money laundering and was given a 15month sentence.
On the show, Piper’s alter ego was given the name Piper Chap- man, and the fictionalized stint in prison has gripped viewers.
Frenemies
Both shows depict the fascinating relationship between two women. In “Chicago,” that’s Velma and Roxie, vaudeville-loving jailbirds competing for the limelight and for media attention. (They were frenemies before the word “frenemy” was invented.)
In “Orange Is the New Black,” Piper (Taylor Schilling) and Alex Vause (Laura Prepon) are ex-girlfriends, former partnersin-crime and fellow inmates.
If Roxie has her hapless husband Amos Hart, Piper has Larry Bloom (played by Jason Big- gs).
Sadly, Larry on Netflix is a lot less cool than his real-life inspiration: Piper Kerman’s husband Larry Smith, author and publisher of Smith Magazine and the man behind the book series “Six-Word Memoirs.”
I like Amos a lot more than I like Netflix Larry; Jacob Keith Watson’s portrayal of the role is fantastic, he is so endearing that you couldn’t help but love him. (You’ll see what I mean soon—Jacob will be playing Amos in the Manila run of “Chicago.”)
Both shows have a prison mama. “Chicago” has the corrupt prison matron Mama Morton (who will be played by the fan- tastic Roz Ryan in Manila—we never knew the song “When You’re Good To Mama” could be so sexy until we saw her perform it).
“Orange Is the New Black” has Galina “Red” Reznikov, one of Litchfield’s Penitentiary’s most powerful inmates, who is feared and respected by the other prisoners, some of whom call her Mama.
These award-winning comedy-dramas have less-than-savory characters who will have you rooting for them. Broadway veteran Terra MacLeod, who will be playing Velma in Manila, said, “They’re not cookie-cutter characters. They are layered, there’s a depth to each and ev- ery one of them.”
Broadway star Bianca Marroquin’s sensitive take on Roxie reveals her character’s vulnerability. I’ve never been reduced to tears by Roxie Hart until I watched Bianca perform the song “Nowadays.”
She said, “I’ve learned to really be more honest and not be afraid of going to an ugly place of Roxie... It took me years to be brave enough, to not be afraid of going there because the audience might not like me if I show them that ugly side of Roxie.”
Dangerously delicious
One of the most dangerously delicious things about “Chicago” is also one of the reasons we have gotten hooked on “Orange Is the New Black”: finding out why and how these women landed in prison.
In “Chicago,” we get that satisfaction in one of the show’s most unforgettable numbers, the “Cell Block Tango.”
In “Orange Is the New Black,” the stories are more drawn out, with the tales of the characters and flashbacks from their lives pre-incarceration unspooling over a period of one or more episodes.
Both shows are sexy and smart and go beyond merely entertainment—they’re a satire on the justice system, corruption and, in the case of “Chicago,” turning criminals into celebrities.
Even reviews of the shows can be interchanged. “Chica-go," said The Wall Street Jour-nal, is “a shot in the arm, a kick in the pants, a jolt of morning coffee,” something that can also easily describe “Orange Is the New Black.” Entertainment Weekly saw Orange” in a way that could easily capture “Chicago”: “It’s very funny and occasionally quite moving, with a cracker-jack cast and provocative insightts...” Of course, the musical has a lot more to offer—the brilliant songwriting skills of John Knand Fred Ebb, the choreog-raphy of Bob Fosse (updated by Ann Reinking). Manila’s Mama Morton Roz Ryan said, “That’s why we’re still here... the book, the lyrics, the music, the choreography, the simplicity of the show, we’re all in black, we don’t change clothes a thousand times, there’s nothing blowing up or taking off onstage, it’s two hours of constant beautiful entertainment.”
“Chicago” in Manila is produced by Lunchbox Theatrical Productions, David Atkins Enterprises and Concertus Manila. It opens on Dec. 3 at The Theatre at Solaire.