This transcript was automatically generated and might contain errors.

[0:00] Richie Grasso: Welcome to another episode of Half Hour with Jeff & Richie, the podcast where we dig deep into the shows that we see on Broadway.

[0:07] Jeff Malone: This week, we're revisiting a musical that we have previously seen, Chicago. You want to know what we think about the longest-running American musical on Broadway?

[0:16] Richie Grasso: Find out in our Half Hour discussion. I'm Richie, a theater director and producer.

[0:21] Jeff Malone: And I'm Jeff, a music industry producer and manager. Let's explore Chicago on Broadway.

[0:30] Richie Grasso: Welcome, everyone, to the show. Before we get started, we always like to let our listeners know that there will be spoilers about the show in the episode. So if you still want to see the show first, that's okay. Go check it out and then come back and listen to this episode.

[0:52] Richie Grasso: That being said, Richie, can you give us the quick one, two, three on Chicago?

[0:57] Jeff Malone: I can. I know a lot of our listeners have heard Chicago before and seen Chicago before, but I'm going to give a little history because sometimes people don't always know everything.

[1:05] Jeff Malone: So this is the longest-running American musical in Broadway history. And this is a revival, and it is the longest revival. I always like to remind people that this is not the original production. The original production was on Broadway in 1975.

[1:21] Jeff Malone: Kander and Ebb, Fosse, they write the book, the music, the lyrics, and Fosse obviously leads it with amazing choreography. It plays for 936 performances. It wins no Tony Awards.

[1:33] Richie Grasso: The original.

[1:34] Jeff Malone: The original wins not one Tony Award. And one of the things in my research I read was, and this will be something we talk about a little bit, it was mixed reviewed because audiences were uncomfortable with the addressing of the audience and the breaking of the fourth wall at that time.

[1:50] Jeff Malone: And I think that's so interesting because I want to talk about that a little bit later with this revival. It was a mixed reviewed show. I believe Chorus Line was around the same time, and I think it was just a competing show. Gwen Verdon plays the original Roxy.

[2:04] Jeff Malone: Chita Rivera plays the original Velma. And Liza Minnelli steps in for Gwen when Gwen's out and plays the role. But it only plays a couple years on Broadway, mixed reviews, it gets Tony nominations, it doesn't win any Tony Awards, and it closes.

[2:20] Jeff Malone: Now we jump forward to 1996. City Center Encores! does a stripped down, very simple production of it, transfers to Broadway, and here we are today in 2023 talking about this same production.

[2:31] Richie Grasso: Many years later.

[2:32] Jeff Malone: And ranking stars in it. May she rest in peace. There's actually a wonderful tribute to her in the lobby of the theater. She really spearheaded this choreography for this revival in the style of Fosse.

[2:42] Jeff Malone: And Walter Bobby directed this revival. And as I said earlier, Fred Ebb, John Kander, and Fred Ebb and Bob Fosse did the book for this. And this revival won six Tony Awards, including Best Revival.

[2:54] Jeff Malone: So it's amazing how the original wasn't as successful as the revival. And that's so rare. So I find that to be. And then, of course, a lot of us know that in 2002, there was a film, a very famous and very well done-

[3:08] Richie Grasso: The film.

[3:09] Jeff Malone: The film of-

[3:11] Jeff Malone: The film that has kind of changed movie musicals for a very long time. And I will say in this revival, it's Anne Reinking as Roxy and it's Bebe Neuwirth as Velma.

[3:21] Jeff Malone: But we did not see them. We saw a wide range of people in this. I really love that. But let's just, before we dive into who we liked and things like that, let's just talk about our experience seeing this last night. What are your overall thoughts? This is not our first time we're seeing this production. We've seen it a few times now. What do you think?

[3:38] Richie Grasso: Yeah. How many times have you seen it?

[3:40] Jeff Malone: This is my fourth time. It's the most I've ever seen a Broadway show, is this one. And I've seen it four times over the last 20 years.

[3:49] Richie Grasso: This is my third time seeing the show.

[3:52] Jeff Malone: Yeah. And you've sat in different places with different casts. You know, I feel like this is becoming a little trend for us. Last year, around this time, we saw Phantom of the Opera. And it was a year since we had seen Phantom of the Opera. And we had all of our lovely thoughts on Phantom and then closed. So hopefully that doesn't happen this time.

[4:14] Richie Grasso: Yeah. I do think to myself, we were sitting in the theater. It's a Friday night on Broadway in the summer. And there were some empty seats in the orchestra.

[4:25] Jeff Malone: There were.

[4:25] Richie Grasso: And I know this show sells to about 70% to 75% houses, which for a small show that is low budget in terms of operating cost, that's fine. I mean, it doesn't have to be sold out. It doesn't have to be pulling in a million dollars a week to run a show.

[4:41] Jeff Malone: Well, also, can you remind me, summertime, is this major tour season or not?

[4:49] Richie Grasso: Sure.

[4:49] Jeff Malone: For Broadway?

[4:50] Richie Grasso: Oh, for sure. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[4:52] Jeff Malone: I always forget if the holidays are better then.

[4:55] Richie Grasso: It's always Thanksgiving to New Year's. And then it's always usually June to Memorial Day to Labor Day as the height of tour season, which is why I know there's a lot of stunt casting in Chicago.

[5:05] Richie Grasso: And a lot of stars come in for short runs in January, February, March, which is when Jinx was in it. And we saw it six months ago. And then usually September, October, November is a stunt casting time too. So I don't know. We haven't heard anything.

[5:19] Jeff Malone: Interesting to me, because do you think they would be stunt casting more when the tourists are in town?

[5:23] Richie Grasso: I don't know.

[5:27] Jeff Malone: You know, I don't know.

[5:29] Richie Grasso: Plot and thoughts and does it still work? Okay. So I, first of all, I love the plot of this musical. It's so great and so well done. And the camp jazz dancing element. I mean, I don't know if I would like this story as much if it was told as a play or as, I don't know, something different, maybe more melodramatic with ballads.

[5:53] Richie Grasso: I mean, I feel like everything works so well. Of course, like with its little vignettes of them, they go off and they do their solo numbers. And it's like done in that like vaudeville style, you know, because it's completely said throughout the whole piece, like, I want to do vaudeville and I want to be this and I want to be that with Velma and Roxy.

[6:09] Richie Grasso: And it's like, I just, there are two characters that you think of right away when you think Broadway, and they're like bad women, but like, you love them.

[6:26] Jeff Malone: Yeah. And whenever I think Broadway star, like if you're playing that role on Broadway, actually, Kimberly Marable plays Velma, and I saw her Instagram post about it. And she said, I'm in this show, in this role, like you, they don't take that for granted.

[6:43] Richie Grasso: Right.

[6:44] Jeff Malone: Even if you were the understudy and you went on once, like you're playing like Broadway icon characters like that is, that is the golden age Broadway jazz song and dance.

[6:58] Richie Grasso: It's all wrapped into one.

[6:59] Richie Grasso: That's what I'm saying. It's like immediately when you like think of some of the major characters in Broadway, it's like, it's Velma, it's Roxy, it's like Millie, you know, some of these big names. And it's like, you just, you want to go to Chicago because of that.

[7:14] Jeff Malone: Yeah. Oh, and I'm always waiting for the Hot Honey Rag.

[7:17] Richie Grasso: Right.

[7:18] Richie Grasso: I am beaming in the fourth time seeing this. I am beaming. I don't even know if you looked over at me. I was like, oh, I love that song.

[7:29] Richie Grasso: It's like this, the moment that you're totally waiting for. So like for plot and like thoughts, and this is kind of going to the movie a little bit as well, because I had only seen the movie originally first before actually seeing the stage production of this.

[7:39] Richie Grasso: So I only knew the movie and the movie is just so it's like, it pays homage to the stage production, but at the same time, it really knew how to make it its own. So sometimes when you're watching this production, you're kind of like, oh, I just wish like that was in it, or I just wish the tempo was a little bit faster.

[8:02] Richie Grasso: But then like you look back at this and you say, no, I have to watch the show from the lens that it was given to me now. And you have to appreciate the certain things that were done in the show.

[8:13] Jeff Malone: So for those of you, I don't know, listening in the 70s, the production elements were there.

[8:21] Richie Grasso: Yeah.

[8:21] Jeff Malone: There was full scenery and costumes and lighting. And so then that didn't seem to work. And then the movie, what a risk for the Hollywood to say, well, we're going to do it that way.

[8:32] Jeff Malone: And we're going to put stars in and we're going to make this. But I think what the movie does is the movie looks at this 90s revival and says, oh, there are some camp elements that we should still include here.

[8:44] Richie Grasso: Of course.

[8:45] Jeff Malone: And so like, it's a perfect hybrid of set, costume, lighting and strip down, strip down, strip down. That's what makes the movie work so well.

[8:51] Richie Grasso: Also, the movie came at a time where the movie musical was dying in the 80s and 90s. We weren't seeing, I studied this a little bit in college. I have a minor in film studies.

[9:05] Jeff Malone: Okay.

[9:05] Richie Grasso: So I did a whole paper on the movie musical. And so I talked about how in the 80s and 90s, no, I did. I wrote this whole thesis on it, this whole paper for a class.

[9:15] Richie Grasso: And it was the 90s. There's not many movie musicals from the 80s and 90s. Disney was bringing it back, but that was cartoon. And it was a 2002 with this huge, big, splashy, high budget film comes and wins the Academy Award.

[9:31] Jeff Malone: I mean, what movie musicals were winning the Academy Awards? Of course, Golden Age, Singing in the Rain, Times, the 50s, the 60s, all that. But this was a big deal.

[9:39] Richie Grasso: And then I really think that that helped this show. And I think people go because they know the movie. I'm going to tell you something right now, if that movie never came out, I don't know how long this revival would be going. I don't know if people would be wanting to see it.

[9:50] Jeff Malone: True, because I do think people probably went back to see Chicago after thinking they were getting the movie, not knowing what this production was. And I asked you that after, I said, do people still come to this stage production and say, oh, wait, that wasn't the movie? I wonder.

[10:04] Richie Grasso: I don't know. Because I feel like the movie takes like touches of that in to from the play, you know, the dark, the sexiness of this revival, just like really works. But it has so much more camp than I think the movie actually does. I think the movie goes a little bit more serious here with some of

[10:24] Richie Grasso: The murders and killings, you know, like that kind of stuff. Whereas in this, it's like so campy. Like, every time they shoot a gun, it's a drumbeat in the pit. It's not a sound effect. You know what I'm saying? They're using a couple chairs. They're all in black. It, in a way, it works. And of course, people would still see it, whether it was the movie or not. I'm just saying, I don't know if the run would be as long as it is. And it's got this nice theater, cozy right there on 49th Street. It's not a huge house. They love having it in that space. I always say the music is a character. And the music being, okay, that orchestra pit is only 15 people, but they are taking up, what would you say, three quarters of the stage.

I mean, it's done in that city center style. So it's like, but you're watching them play and you're like, oh, the music is a character. Yeah, you when they play the overture, the on track to the exit music, you could just sit there and watch because it's such great music. So why would you hide that for the show? You know? One thing I wanted to bring up to you a little bit is like, kind of comparing the two. What do you think the revival's bigger strengths are over the movie versus what do you think the movie's bigger strengths are? Like, what are the strengths and weaknesses between the two? The movie knows how to take you out of the reality and put you in the heightened circus of the courtroom and the tango of the cell blocks and then brings you right back to reality.

With the stage production, it's all heightened drama. So there's really no reality. Even when they're sitting, listening to Mary Sunshine, listening to the radio before they sing "Class," they're not really hovered around a radio, but you know that they're listening to the radio. So there's so many differences I can't even compare. But if you want that high level, high heightened everything, it's in the movie. But there's something so... I'm watching these dancers and the Fosse rolls of the hands and the hitting the beat to see that. Where do you see Fosse choreography live or hear Kander and Ebb music live like that? It's about live to me. The revival is all about seeing it done live. And you can go see someone sing it at 54 Below live, but to see it in a... There's just enough costume.

There's just enough prop. There's just enough orchestral. And it's just enough for... I can smile and listen to this and have a nice night. But we were talking about this and we can talk about this towards the end. Like, what's the future of the show? But I wonder what the future of this revival is. And I said to you when we left, you know, Jeff, I said, I think one time in our life, this revival might close and maybe 20 years from now, a big, splashy, high budget, moving scenery, a heightened costume will come for a limited run. I do.

[13:04] Jeff Malone: Yeah, but I don't know if that necessarily... It would have to close and then Lincoln Center would have to do it. So, you know... Maybe, but I will say this. When "Cabaret," the famous revival of "Cabaret" with Alan Cumming, was the stripped down, simple, it was orchestra on stage. It worked. And now what's coming next year? From what we see in video and photo of the "Cabaret" in London is splashy, loud, colorful "Cabaret" is coming. And I think we want that. So I really think a splashy, splashy "Chicago" could come. It's obviously not this revival. And I think it's much later down the path. But I still think it could come. And I think audiences, maybe in the 70s, weren't ready for it. But yeah.

[14:01] Richie Grasso: Well, I do think like the strongest part of the revival too, though, is really Fosse's choreo, because I don't even really feel like you get that full effect in the movie of the choreography that's in the movie. It's so like, duh, duh, duh in the movie. This has all of those Fosse elements. This is telling the story. The music and the dance is telling the story at the same time as the story is actually going on, which is I think that's the biggest strength there. And if you want to see that choreo, you're going to go see this production. And there's moments where, and now a tap dance, and she's skirting around asking her husband for money. And on the side, there's a trio doing a tap number, a soft shoe, because she's, you know, it totally works.

Also, and we can talk about this, we talk about characters too, Mary Sunshine is completely different. And I always love seeing this and knowing that a lot of people in the audience have no idea that that is a man in drag playing Mary Sunshine. Spoiler alert for all of you listening. It's not done that way in the movie. It's amazingly done by Christine Baranski, but it's not done that way in the production. And that is just a level of camp to me that totally, totally works. Of course, the reporter is going to sing opera and be a drag. Duh, like it totally makes sense. And Arlo has been doing this role for I think 15 plus years. He is amazing. I watch a little bit of "Good at Everyone," which is a cut song.

And everyone's like, some people are like, oh gosh, that song. I love it. I'm like, you're singing opera right here. And it's so camp. And my eye goes to him. I think he looks great in the wig and the outfit. When it comes off, I was like, I'm looking around the audience, which is a lot of tourists. They're like, what? Their mind is blown. And it's just like, oh, that's Broadway to me, you know? Very heightened there.

[16:06] Jeff Malone: Yeah. I was just like, oh, I just love that camp element of it. That is the vaudeville 20s camp. I don't know what else to say. And I just really love that. Well, talking a little bit more about the music and lyrics of the show, we were talking about how this is one of those classic musicals that the music is just written so well. There's no filler, really. I mean, there's some bad songs. There's some great songs. There's some perfect songs. Everyone has their favorites of what they either like or don't like and what they're happy that was removed from the film versus what stayed in this production. But what are your top three songs?

[17:27] Richie Grasso: My top songs may not. I mean, I like the one that everyone likes, like "All That Jazz" and "Both Reach for the Gun." But I'm going to tell you something. The songs that not everyone knows, some I understand why they weren't in the movie. But when I like "Me and My Baby," I love that. I don't know. There's something that totally works with that. I also love "Nowadays." There's something so, you know, you can like. I just love that. Into "Hot Honey Rag." It's a perfect way to end a show. And I will also say "Roxy." I mean, I just love "Roxy." Just when you hear that vamped for 10 minutes while she's doing the monologue. We're going to talk about Charlotte in a second. But just love. So those are my I like the other big ones too. But those are my favorites. I really like those. What about you?

[17:58] Jeff Malone: Those are your actual favorites? Or are you just saying because you want to be different?

[18:02] Richie Grasso: No, no, no. I truly love them. And I actually thought there was some of them were missing in the movie.

[18:07] Jeff Malone: Yeah. Yeah. I I'm going to go major on these. I think "Razzle Dazzle" is one of the best songs on the show. Totally. It's like such and it's done well on both the stage and in the movie. Yeah. I also think "We Both Reach for the Gun" is just like such a number. What a production number. And for both, too. Yeah. They were done so well. It's so funny on the stage watching her bounce up and down. I know. And when it slows down. Oh, yes. Oh, when it gets slow like that and then builds. What a what a way to write a song. I love you know what? I'm actually funny like thinking about RuPaul and like how Jinx was in the show or whatever. It's funny that no one has ever tried to do Snatch Game as like Roxy Hart or Velma Kelly. Actually, it would make sense, right? Because you have a lot to work with there.

[18:54] Richie Grasso: So much. Yeah. Yeah. I do think "Roxy" is like one of the greatest musical theater songs of all time. Oh, love it. Totally. Totally. And talking about some of this music does lead into the legacy of choreography and Fosse. You don't see Fosse a lot anymore. If you watched "Fosse Verdon," you learn so much about their marriage and his life and Gwen's life. But this was like I think this was ahead of its I always say he was ahead of its time. And kudos to Ann for keeping that legacy going and doing this in the style of him. And just so you all know, the "Hot Honey Rag" is the exact Fosse choreo. It's built that Ann choreographed this for the revival in the style of Bob, but that the "Hot Honey Rag" is the exact Fosse choreo untouched.

That is Bob that last five minutes. Of course. And it's unlike no other. I mean, I think there's some great choreographers, Jerome Robbins, Michael Bennett. I mean, the list can go on and on even nowadays. Nowadays, get it. We have Andy Blankenbuehler. I mean, there's so many amazing choreographers now, but Jerry Mitchell. Right. But I do think like Fosse created a signature style. Everyone else kind of just like they're choreographers. They're great. And they haven't really found what their signature style is. You know, unless you want to say very high energy over the top dancing as a signature style, not to name names, but some shows pull that. And this one is all about bringing it down. Fosse is about no, no, no, no, no. Just right. Like start the car when they start the finger. That's all you need to do.

[20:02] Jeff Malone: Yeah. Yeah. And it's all and when the drag queens do it and the shows I know a lot of drags love doing. It's so good. It's so good. Yeah. So and then when it comes to design and direction, there is design here. I'm not going to say this is not design. There's lighting design. There's costume design. There's scenic design. It's just minimal. And I always wondered about this. And maybe, you know, the answer or if not, someone else can tell us. But what are the rules on what you can change? Can you bring in more intelligent lighting to a show after the show has already been locked? Can you, you know, I don't think you really change much when a show is locked. Of course, things are replaced like.

[20:49] Richie Grasso: Things break and they have to replace things, but I don't think you really change. In Phantom, for example, that was Hal Prince's direction. I don't think anything changed unless you replaced things. So this is probably what we're seeing is probably what the 90s was putting up. And so yeah, you want to add moving lights, you want to add projections, you want to add things, you would have to close this production, I think, by contract and re-ignite a new production. And whether you want to bring the same creative team on or not would be the producer's decision. So they would not really be able to change anything then. No, and that's why with the direction of it, I think in the 90s it was cutting edge.

Does it hold up to what Broadway is doing now? Yes and no, because there's still something so simple about it that I think works. And you do still see, how many times do we see shows, Jeff, and we're like, why is there no scenery? Or like, oh, it works with no scenery. Or like, oh, it's so projection-heavy, that works, or it doesn't. This just kind of tells you the story in the song. In some ways it works, in some ways, I don't know how it holds up to the high level. I do think people are kind of okay with it. We've known that this is a legacy show. It is like the legacy show now on Broadway now that Phantom is gone. And Lion King is right behind it.

[22:09] Jeff Malone: Right behind it, yep.

[22:11] Richie Grasso: This is a show that has had a major pop culture impact, even with the pop culture stunt casting that they do. And it's probably one of the first Broadway musicals that still lives on because of stunt casting. Well, it's interesting because Wicked, Lion King, and Mormon don't really stunt cast. Maybe a little. I've seen like, Ruma Klanahan went into Wicked and played Madame Horrible once. They've done it, but not like Chicago does. They don't need it. When we went to see Jinx, Jinx was a total stunt cast. And guess what? The show was making so much money because of that. And we've seen many others like Brandy and Pamela Anderson. The list goes on and on. There's hundreds maybe at this point. I think that is something that they still have going for them. And as long as people want to go into the show, they'll be fine, which is kind of like talking about cast now. You know, there are so many great people in this show.

[23:05] Jeff Malone: Yeah. Who are your standouts? Who do you, out of who we saw who's currently in this revival, who is a standout for you? I think I have my top three.

[23:17] Richie Grasso: I mean, I'm sure we have the same top three. I think it's Kimberly Maribel, who's playing Velma. Who just came in a few months ago. I think Kimberly is amazing in this role. She's finding the comedy of it. She can dance. She can sing. She killed all that jazz in the beginning. And I just thought she was great. I know she comes from Hadestown. And good for you for coming to a show like this. And yes. And Charlotte D'Amboise. I mean, come on, you have to give it to her. How long do we know how long she's been doing?

[23:48] Jeff Malone: I don't know how long she's been doing it, but she's in and out of it a lot.

[23:52] Richie Grasso: She comes in and she owns it. She has more energy on that stage than most people. And she is carrying it. And that 10 minute or so monologue before Roxy. Oh, my gosh. It's like, wow, you are. I understand why you're a two time Tony nominee. Yeah, you are. You know exactly what you're doing. You are a star. And I am just my jaws on the floor when I watch her. I love her. I love her.

[24:19] Jeff Malone: That's Richie's thing. When you're a star, you're a star.

[24:22] Richie Grasso: When I say you're a star, you're a star. Yes. But yeah, no, I think she really is killing it. And it's like one of those things now where you think about Chicago and you think about her and her name. And I do think people actually go and see this show to see her. And, you know, I give her so much like I give her a lot of props for the energy that she does hold in a monologue, like before Roxy, because she makes it feel like it's like the first time she's ever done it. And she does it every day. Every day. You really think that she's doing it for the first time. I'm just blown away by her. And there's a part of me that's like, could she just keep doing this? Yes, girl, just keep doing it because you're so good at it.

Is there a part of me that's like, can we please give her like a new role somewhere? Because I want another Tony nomination for her. But I'm curious to see, like, what would she want to be doing? Like, what does she want to do next on Broadway? Because like her style of dancing and her style of singing might only suffice in certain areas. So I wonder what it is that she wants to do. Maybe she doesn't want to be doing these big commercials, splashy musicals. Maybe she likes this jazzy stuff. Maybe she appears in Cabaret or something in that style, something that she might like, you know, because she's also chorus line, right? So, oh, yeah, you know, those these are those are all in the similar wheelhouse.

But I would also love to see her, like, do a straight role in a play, because she was acting so well, like, let's get dramatic. And I love it. And also other, I mean, I said already, Arlo. Arlo is just so good. And he could stay in the role forever, too, because he's so good at it.

[26:01] Jeff Malone: Yeah.

[26:06] Richie Grasso: And then I will also say, Evan Harrington, I'm going to throw Evan in as Amos. Oh, my gosh, like, that was Amos. Like, you were born to play that role. I was blown away by him, too. That's such a funny role, too. And we were talking about that, because that role, I think, is better in the stage. Yes, I agree. It's more clown camp. So the sad clown, that's what you feel bad for him. The mime. I also thought Ryan Silverman was great. I also thought Jennifer Foucher was great. There was other wonderful roles. But the standouts to me, Charlotte, for sure. Arlo, for sure. I mean, and the ensemble, like they're up there working. And so shout out to all those performances in the cast. We're getting ready to wrap up soon. Let's talk a little bit here of just the future of the show, some of the legacy and some pop culture impact. What are your just like concluding thoughts on just like this show, this revival, the future of it?

[27:00] Jeff Malone: And who the show's for?

[27:01] Richie Grasso: And who the show's for? Current audience experience as well. I think there's like a bunch of things we could say in here. Because, you know, I go into this theater originally. And, you know, I'm always so excited, too, when I'm going in, because it's Chicago. And it's like, you know, it's like you're never in the Ambassador Theater. Right, right. Never. When I'm here, I'm here. And I, you know, what I did this time, I took everything in. I was like, let me see, you know, what this theater is like. It has beautiful marble all over. You don't see that often. I wonder if like this show ever does leave. Is that one of the things that's like the first to go? Or is it cleaned up? But I'm like looking around and it's like this theater just at times it feels a little tired.

Okay. And the audience feels a little predictable for me. And it's just missing like it was very different when we went to see Jinx because the audience was very different. The audience like loved it. The audience was cheering. The audience was New Yorkers. Yeah. The audience was locals. Yeah. It was like a Broadway audience that's like they know to clap after a song and it's not awkward. And I just felt like with this one, it was missing a little bit of energy for me. Not from the audiences. Right. Not from the cast, but from the audience. And that I feel like is a disservice almost to the cast here because I think they're just like, they're done with all that jazz and people are like this. Yeah. Some people were like slow. They just gave their all. I know.

[28:33] Richie Grasso: So I think it is a tourist trap now at the end of the day. It's like when someone comes here, they're like, oh, do I go see Shucked or Chicago? And they're like, oh, I don't know what Shucked is. So I'm going to go see Chicago. And I feel like that's kind of like where this is at. And it's one of those things where you're kind of like, you know what, you know, so I'm just going to go back and see it. But it's also like if you have a family member who called you up right now and said, I'm coming to New York, I have time to see one Broadway show and I don't really know or like theater, but I kind of want to see something like show me Broadway. Well, the American musical Chicago is the way to show someone Broadway because it's song, dance, comedy, acting, live music, jazz. I mean, you want me to keep going? Like that's what.

[29:17] Jeff Malone: Yeah, it's like so many great things. I don't know what the longevity of the show is like. Does it have 10 more years of steam? I don't know. It seems like.

[29:27] Richie Grasso: I don't know how long musicals are going to be doing that for much longer. You know, does Lion King have 10 more years of steam? Does Wicked have 10 more years of steam? Probably, especially after the movie for Wicked comes out. But who knows? I just I don't know about like this whole long running on Broadway, how much longer that's going to be a thing for us. We're getting down to the nitty gritty of like maybe five shows that are long running. Other than that, nothing lasts. Right. So don't forget when Phantom left, everyone's like, I think Phantom's going to come back. If Chicago was to leave, look at Cabaret. Cabaret keeps coming back. Everything comes back. So and I do think that I like I do. I do love the music. I'm glad we got to see it again. And everyone's working hard up there. And listen, if it's a job and people are working and telling stories and and working and singing and showing us that fozzy choreo, keep it up. Of course, you know.

[30:20] Jeff Malone: Well, oh my gosh, time is flying by. We're talking about what we love. So yeah, there's so much more to talk about on this show, too. I know. I think we will, you know, we'll we'll maybe we'll just keep returning to it. This will be and we'll come back in another couple of years if it's still running. But yes, that does wrap up our discussion of this episode. We hope you enjoyed our deep dive into Chicago on Broadway. And don't forget, we want to hear from you. Continue the conversation with us on Instagram and TikTok at Half Hour Podcast. Let us know your thoughts on Chicago and any other Broadway shows you'd like us to discuss. And if you enjoyed our show, please leave us a review. Your feedback helps us bring more Broadway to you. Remember, you can listen to our past episodes and stay tuned for upcoming ones as well. Until next time, I'm Jeff and I'm Richie saying ta-ta.

[31:05] Richie Grasso: Bye.