A Tale of Two Billies
By Casey Gillis on Feb. 21, 2008
(434) 385-5525
There were two Billy Flynns in the house as E.C. Glass and Virginia School of the Arts students rehearsed a scene from their upcoming production of “Chicago” last week.
As Billy No. 1, senior Danny Harner, ran through a musical number with the cast, it was hard to miss Billy No. 2, junior Will Reuhle.
Off to the side of VSA’s main studio, Reuhle mouthed along to the dialogue and lyrics, and mimicked Harner’s actions - even doing the Rockette-esque leg lifts solo, while Harner did them with a group of female students.
Director Jim Ackley double-cast Harner and Reuhle as Flynn, as well as several other key roles in “Chicago,” which is scheduled to debut at 7:30 p.m. Friday (see box for subsequent show dates).
Each pair that has been double-cast will perform in the show on alternating nights.
Ackley says he doesn’t require students to do what Reuhle was doing during that particular rehearsal.
But, he says, “if they’re smart, they do it.
“Most of them will do that. They will rehearse off to the side.”
Other nights, they’ll rehearse a scene with one cast and then will immediately run through it again with the other cast.
It complicates things for everyone involved, but Ackley says it’s worth it.
“We have a lot of talented kids who work really hard,” he says. “It’s a little more work for us, but if we have enough kids that we can double-cast the show, why not?”
Challenges are nothing new to Ackley and his kids.
“Our No. 1 thing,” he says, “is we want to find something that challenges our kids.”
He says the show is even more of a feat than “Cats,” which they staged in 2006, because the set has to do so much more.
“It is the most technically-extensive set we’ve ever had,” he says. “There’s a lot more bells and whistles than we’ve had, and a lot of moving parts and surprises, which is really neat.”
Some of those include a few sets of spiral staircases, an on-stage elevator and several revolving pieces.
The musical itself, choreographed by Bob Fosse, is set in prohibition-era Chicago and centers on two murderous women: Velma Kelly, a vaudevillian who murdered her husband and sister when she found them in bed together, and Roxie Hart, who killed her lover.
At first, Roxie gets away with the murder when her husband, Amos, takes the rap, believing the victim was a burglar. But after Amos figures out the truth, Roxie is arrested and booked at the Cook County Jail, where Velma is incarcerated.
As Roxie awaits her trial, she quickly becomes the talk of the town and steals not only publicity from Velma but also her lawyer, Billy Flynn. The ladies then go back and forth, trying to one-up each other, before learning the fleeting nature of celebrity.
“Chicago” debuted on Broadway in 1975 and ran for over 900 performances. There was also a 1996 revival, which holds the record for the longest-running musical revival on Broadway. The film version, which starred Renee Zellweger, Catherine Zeta Jones, Richard Gere and Queen Latifah, came out in 2002.
IF YOU’RE GOING:
WHAT: ‘Chicago’
WHEN: 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday; 2:30 p.m. Sunday; 7:30 p.m. Feb. 28, 29 and March 1
WHERE: E.C. Glass High School Auditorium
TICKETS: $10 for adults and $8 for students. Tickets can be purchased online at http://www.ecglasstheatre.org, at the door one hour before curtain or at one of the following locations: Givens Books/Little Dickens, Carolina Connection, Doyle’s Florist, Barnes & Noble and Maxfields.
INFO: (434) 385-3712, ext. 3511
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