© Kathleen Dreier_Esens Photography
Chicago is a town where murderesses want to be show-biz stars, where the rumor mill is hard-hitting journalism, and where the courtroom is a stage for sleight of hand lawyers and verdicts are results for a popularity contest. At least that’s how it is in Bob Fosse’s vision, co-author of the stunning musical “Chicago.”
“I always like a good challenge, and Bob Fosse is my all-time favorite musical theater icon,” says Robert Encila, co-founder of Studio Connections, a local non-profit visual arts and theater center. The Studio Connections resident stage troupe, the da Vinci Players, is bringing “Chicago” to the Zuzi stage, 738 N. 5th Ave., this month and opening night is Oct.7.
“I’m intrigued by his ability to get people to look at the darkest subjects and to question morality while managing to entertain at the same time.” With sultry numbers like “All That Jazz,” “When You’re Good To Mama,” and “Cell Block Tango,” the show is packed with dancing. “I also wanted to open the season with a big bang, and there’s nothing better than a dance-heavy production,” says director Encila.
Founded in 2002 from the back of a pickup truck full of art supplies, Studio Connections began as a middle school summer camp with the goal to give kids access to the arts. It soon grew to a full-fledged studio with visual arts and theater classes for young people and adults.
“The da Vinci Players had its genesis seven years ago as an acting class for teenagers, sort of an after-school outreach to keep young people off the streets,” says Encila. The da Vinci Players have since become a full production troupe “inspired by a very talented group of young adults who craved an artistic home outside of the college environment,” Encila explains. “It’s a diverse cast of young adults with a really vibrant energy.
“I look forward to all that collective hard work resulting in what I hope to be a very electrically charged and cohesive performance.”
Performances are Oct. 7-8, 13-15 at 7:30pm and Oct. 8, 9, 15 at 3 pm. General admission is $28, military/senior/student, $25. For tickets, call 1-800-838-3006. StudioConnections.net, 329-3707.
