‘Chicago’ Gives DC Razzle Dazzle on its 25th Anniversary Tour

If there’s a popular Broadway musical to get DC back to the theatre, it’s Chicago, a legend in bright lights that brings with it all that jazz including sultry songs and bangin’ femmes fatales.

And the 25th-anniversary tour of Chicago happens to be soft-shoeing its way across the stage at DC’s National Theatre right now in a sensational run that brings at least one major cast member back to the area where she grew up. (Welcome home, Logan Floyd (Velma Kelly)!)

Chicago is at the height of decadence in the 1920s, with gin joints galore and personalities with a penchant for the dangerous dramatic. Roxie Hart, a housewife — and nightclub dancer — who murders her lover-on-the-side finds herself locked up with a group of headline hounds, and while she’s desperate to avoid a conviction, she also secretly doesn’t care whether reporters make her famous… or infamous.

After two and a half decades, the story in Chicago just sets the scene; it’s the characters that audiences crave.

Logan Floyd (Velma) is delightfully devilish, if less provocative than others who have danced in the vaudeville villian’s shoes; Katie Frieden (Roxie) has perfected a convincing insouciant faux-innocence, and her movement is marvelous; Brian Kalinowski (Amos Hart) breaks hearts with his humility… and Jeff Brooks (Billy Flynn) has audiences echoing the chorus in a “We love, Billy!” refrain as he commands the show.

And all of this happens with local live musicians on the stage with that iconic Bob Fosse magic and choreography.

Whether you’ve seen it before or have been waiting for a great opportunity to experience the Cell Block Tango, Mister Cellophane, and We Both Reached for the Gun, now is the perfect time. Single tickets for Chicago start at $55 and are available here or in person at the National Theatre box office.

But act fast! Chicago, truly one of Broadway’s best, is playing at National Theatre for two weeks only, through November 27, 2022.

The show runs approximately 2 hours and 30 minutes, including one intermission.