Critique Of Chicago: The Social Vice Holding Captive The City

CRITIQUE OF CHICAGO Name Institution Critique of Chicago Portraying the moral decadence within the society through theatrical works makes for difficult and risky undertaking in the entertainment industry. The society tends to turn a blind eye to the social vices occurring within the community under the disguise of respecting personal freedoms, the right to privacy or simply under the guise of minding their own business. In 1975 a renowned playwright, Bob Fosse, highlighted the social vice holding captive the city of Chicago in a dramatic musical titled after the City’s name, Chicago. Disregard for the law and the social norms is often hailed by the media through intense coverage that would turn criminals and their specific criminal activities into celebrities and social trends respectively. The act of making celebrities out of criminals is a common practice that has found its way from the late 20th century into the current generation. The play effectively displays human being’s deviant desires as they collectively idolize acts of crime through media coverage and attention given to the perpetrators of the said activities. Chicago’s revival in theatres today is synonymous with its debut in 1975 as it speaks directly to the audience and challenges the society as a whole to uphold its morality by condemning rather than praising corruption, manipulation, selfishness, betrayal, and murder or murderous intentions. Centred on a vixen’s, Roxie Hart, determination to rise to fame at whatever cost, the musical collaborates various effects and aspects of a play to deliver a satirical reproach of the society’s disregard for morality and the rule of law for a misguided notion of fame and or popularity. Vaudeville, for instance, was popular in the city of Chicago at the time of the play’s Broadway debut and its popularity syncs in well with the society’s trending glamorization of criminals and their activities. Thus, the play successfully achieves its purpose of educating the audience on the vices being overlooked in the community as well providing for a satirical entertainment in musical theatre. Several distinct factors ensured that the play delivers on its wide acknowledgement in the American theatre and around the world for the lovers of musicals. First and foremost and unlike in most Broadway shows, the stage of the play was simple and the fact that it separated the actors from the musical players making it easy for the former to make transitions from one scene to the other without confusing the audience. The orchestra placed on top of a double-height-centre with the actors staged just beneath them allows for enough space for both to carry out their specific roles without the interruption of the other. The simple staging techniqu...