“They did it very much in the style of the movie — with scantily clad dancers, but I knew coming up to Gisborne I didn’t want to do that version of it. I knew I wanted to do something the locals would look good doing — that I wouldn’t necessarily have all those dancers’ bodies to work with. I’m very much into making sure everyone looks good on stage and there’s nothing distracting from the actual story or the talent of the cast.
“My favourite thing to do is go in and say ‘Who’s here, what have I got and what can I do with you?’,” he said.
McKerras said people could expect to see some new blood, with some of the cast having never done anything like this before.
“Some have done zumba, martial arts and hip-hop — so this has been a whole new learning experience for them.”
McKerras has focused on the era of the 1920s for the look and feel of the show.
Another source of inspiration is Cirque du Soleil, the largest contemporary circus in the world known for using acrobatics and mime to invoke the imagination and provoke the senses. It also happens to be one of Dean’s “favourite things”.
So think Cirque du Soleil meets 1920s Chicago.
“That’s the magic — the whole thing is a circus and we’ve gone full Cirque du Soleil with the mime.
“It took a while for them to get it. It’s a real style thing, but now they do and its looking fabulous. It gives me goosebumps thinking of it.”
He has taken lawyer Billy Flynn’s statement describing the murder trial and court case as “a circus” and infused it into the choreography and stage-craft.
“If people think they’ve seen Chicago, well they haven’t seen this one.”
McKerras said early ticket sales were going well, but people needed to get in now.
“It promises to be a great night out — and it’s good to have something to look forward to. Don’t leave it too late.”
As well as lots of costume changes, audiences can expect a “fuller show”.
“The cast is on stage a lot more often than what they typically would be, which means they are there to give more support to our leads.”
And he’s made it so there’s always something to look at with cast performing subtle bits of choreography while solos are taking place for instance.
McKerras does the choreography on-the-spot in rehearsals and says there is a lot of contrast between numbers.
He has been coming to Gisborne for rehearsals most weekends and also runs a dance school in Palmerston North. A guest lecturer at Massey University, McKerras also teaches jazz to the full-time dance students at Wellington’s Te Whaea – New Zealand School of Dance.
It is the best show to have live music and there’s so many extra instruments in it, he says.
They utilise the skills of talented musician Amanda Maclean who plays a variety of instruments including trumpet, trombone and the antique helicon along with several percussion instruments in her role as MC. This is yet another of the unique takes on the MTG production.
Audiences should forget the traditional version of Chicago and expect the unexpected . . .
Chicago a bucket-list show for musical director Sean Scanlen
With around three weeks to go until opening night, musical director Sean Scanlen said they were at the point where they were running half of the show and going back fixing bits.
“This is about where we should be at this time, so I’m pretty happy.”
Scanlen who plays keyboards and conducts, has been rehearsing with the cast and the band every week since February.
“I have been working mostly with the cast as they memorise the songs and script, but one day a week I rehearse with the band.”
The band is made up of 11 musicians including Sean with instruments ranging from clarinet to trombone.
Scanlen said he tapped into the musical community in Gisborne to select the band, with the requirement they were able to read sheet music. This, he describes as “an art form that fewer and fewer people practise these days”.
“There was a relatively small pool of people to pick from and I already knew who they were. So I approached some people and some people approached me. Between us we settled on a group.
“I’m doing Chicago because it is a bucket-list show for me.
“The music is fantastic — it’s got some of the most iconic music in all of Broadway.
“I actually like some of the pieces of music the band play by themselves which tend to be medleys of other songs.
“The intro to act two is probably my favourite. It combines a bit of All That Jazz, a bit of Mr Cellophane man. But there are a few real bangers in the show.”
Those bangers include Funny Honey, We Both Reached for the Gun, Cell Block Tango and more.
Scanlen is looking forward to performing in the orchestra pit at the Gisborne War Memorial Theatre, in full view of the audience.
“I have done shows in other theatres where we were a little bit more hidden and where the audiences have walked out and turned their heads and realised we were there playing the music the whole time. They go ‘Gosh, we thought it was a recording’.”
Originally from Whangarei, Sean cut his teeth on musical theatre there before moving to Gisborne in 2020 to become a music teacher at Lytton High School.
His introduction to musical theatre here was in that same year when MTG asked him to be musical director for The Addams Family production.
He loves seeing the less experienced members of the cast grow in confidence.
“It has been great seeing some of the cast go from being unsure to becoming more confident, and awesome performers in their own right.”
Then you get the music theatre practitioner satisfaction of watching it all come together, he says.
“After the long hours of waiting for the choreography to be perfected, costumes to be finalised, the set to be moved around —suddenly it’s like a well-oiled machine. It’s amazing.”
This weekend they will do a Sitztrobe — a sitting rehearsal with the band and the cast, which have been rehearsing separately until now.
“It will be the first time the band has heard the cast perform and it’s the first time they have heard the band,” Scanlen says.
“So there’s going to be a lot of working out cues. Up until now they have just heard me playing piano.
“And it’s going to be different when you get trumpet, saxophone, clarinets and things. It can be quite a shock for them because it’s not what they’re used to.”
Scanlen said he tended to take more of a supporting role when McKerras was in town for weekend rehearsals.
“Dean McKerras is a genius in the theatre — he really is, and I don’t normally say that about people.”
When asked why people should come and see the show, Sean doesn’t hesitate.
“They will find it amazing. The dancing I have seen is spectacular, the singing is great, the story is fantastic.
“There’s a reason it’s one of the longest running Broadway shows of all time.
“It’s funny, it’s thought provoking in its own way and the music is some of the best.
“People will just have a bloody awesome time.”
