Robsham Theater Arts Center (Photo by Lee Pellegrini)
“Chicago,” one of the most iconic musicals in modern theater, brings its “Razzle-Dazzle” to Boston College to launch the fall season at Robhsam Theater Arts Center.
The longest-running American musical in Broadway history and winner of six Tony Awards, “Chicago” – which also was adapted into an Academy Award-winning film – offers rousing song and dance numbers. Its Theatre Department production, directed by former Monan Professor in Theatre Arts Michelle Miller ’98, runs Oct. 18-22.
Set in Roaring Twenties Chicago, the story features aspiring vaudeville performer Roxie Hart, who murders a faithless lover and convinces her hapless husband to take the rap – until he learns he has been duped and turns on her. Convicted and sent to death row, Roxie and fellow “merry murderess” Velma Kelly vie for both the spotlight as performers and for the headlines surrounding their sensational crimes. Ultimately, the arch enemies join forces in search of their American Dream of fame, fortune, and acquittal.
“The Cherry Orchard,” Russian playwright Anton Chekhov’s last work, will be presented Nov. 16-19, under the direction of Associate Professor of the Practice of Theatre Patricia Riggin. Widely regarded as a classic of 20th-century theater, the play charts the precipitous descent of a wealthy family and in the process creates a bold meditation on social change and bourgeois materialism.
Forced to auction their estate, with its massive cherry orchard, the life of this impoverished aristocratic family is drastically altered. Its members spend a summer together debating about love, money, education, the strain between the social classes, and the ability to face the massive social upheaval going on around them.
Ticket prices (service fee included) for the productions are $17 for adults; $12 for BC students with valid ID, faculty and staff (one ticket per ID), and seniors. More information, including performance times, casts and production teams, is available at the Robsham Theater website.
–University Communications