This unofficial site features his current and recent events and tours
Review of Tony Hadley in Chicago the Musical -
14th April 2007
This was going to be my last chance to see Tony in Chicago, I didn't really want to spend more money on another hotel in London, but I would be part way there as it was the night after Crawley, so decided that the Saturday matinee would be a good one to see and although it wasn't the last, it almost was.
Having been to see Chicago a few times, I'd got wise to websites which offered discounted tickets although these tended to be for midweek shows. I'd found discounted tickets for this show with Lastminute.com and although they were not in the stalls, the Cambridge theatre Grand Circle offered a good view. I kept hesitating and didn't buy these tickets and was glad when I found that there were tickets being offered with a drink after the show with Tony. I felt a bit of an idiot asking for the 'LOVE' Offer that it was being promoted with when I phoned for the tickets, but this was the only way to get these special tickets. I was offered seats in the balcony, Row O, Row B on the end or Front Row. Front Row please was my reply. I'd not seen it from the front row, but my friend had.
There had been quite a few cast changes since the last time I had seen Chicago - Tina Arena had replaced Aofie Mulholand as Roxie, Sue Kelvin had replaced Brenda Edwards as Mama Morton and Matthew Lloyd Davie had replaced Julian Sims as Amos, but Annette McLaughlin was still playing Velma excellently. There had also been a couple of changes to the chorus, so you could say it was like watching a different version of the same show as the new people played it differently.
Even with the change of cast, Tony's performance had become confident and comfortable. He knew exactly what he was doing although he was a little thrown by the chorus girls kissing him during the fan dance. I was told later that this is something that is done on a performers last matinee as they never stray from the choreography on the evening performance.
I really enjoyed this performance but was sad that I wouldn't see Tony in Chicago again (well not unless he decides to reprise the role) He made a superb Billy Flynn. We then went to a room backstage for the drink with Tony. I was quite surprised how few people had made it to this event but I'm sure part of it was that other people hadn't been as lucky as me to get a sixth sense not to buy the tickets and had already booked for the afternoon and evening performances. It was nice to speak to Tony about the role and he mentioned how much he had enjoyed doing it.