Murders? Burlesque show? In a School?

The short answer:  yes.

Morton West High School is putting on the ‘Chicago’ Musical this November. Morton West usually has 1 musical and 1 play a year, and ‘Chicago’ will run Friday, Nov. 10 – Sunday, Nov. 12. Usually, people expect our musicals to be the “family-friendly” type and more of something that smaller kids get excited for; For example, our previous shows like “The Little Mermaid”, “Beauty and the Beast”, and “Addams Family”. However this year’s show is way different than shows that have been put on during previous years.

Chicago the musical is set in the 1920’s and is based around trials and murders that actually happened. It’s a jazz age and a heavy dance-based show so there’s going to be a lot of big dance numbers. Our main character ‘Roxie’ murders her fling lover and tries to get her actual husband to cover for her until he finds out the truth and gets her arrested. Meanwhile, our other main character ‘Velma Kelly’ is a Jazz Star who is also later arrested for murder. While they’re both incarcerated they fight to get the best lawyer ‘Billy Flynn’ for their upcoming trials.

Sydney Hall, A Senior, Is playing a main role as  jazz star ‘Velma Kelly’. Some people who watch Morton’s theater productions might know Sydney from previous musicals like “Beauty and the Beast” as a ‘Silly Girl’ or “The Addams Family Musical” as the love interest’s mother ‘Alice Beinke’.  Sydney has been in theater since 5th grade.  She says “I feel like I live in a musical house, because my mom does community theater and my dad is in a band. So, I feel like I was raised to enjoy theater.”  When discussing this upcoming show with Hall, she claims she’s excited for all the dancing. She feels people should see the show because “It’s a fun story and we put in all our time and effort for people to see it”.

 Diego Jimenez, A Junior, plays the role of the determined lawyer ‘Billy Flynn’. When Diego was younger he watched his older sister perform in theater and it inspired him to also be in theater. Diego also has featured in previous morton musicals as ‘Cogsworth’ in “Beauty and the Beast” and ‘Gomez Addams’ in “The Addams Family Musical”. He feels “Being in a musical really drives the mission of an organization to bring everyone together as a team. Also, making memories with people you love and hate”. Diego claims he’s most excited to just sing and perform his songs on stage. He also quotes “I’m excited to have ‘All that Jazz’. ” Jimenez says doing a musical takes a lot of time but also says “I do it because I love it and I love meeting new people.”

I also met up with Director and Fine Arts teacher, Janine Delmonico also known as “Mrs. Delmonico” who has been directing for 27 years. This year will be Delmonico’s last year before retiring. She says “I just always knew I wanted to be a teacher from when I was very young. I used to play school all the time with my best friend. I also loved theater so why not put the two together.”. A fun fact about Mrs. Delmonico is she is also certified to teach English and Sociology. However, Delmonico claims she loves directing and says “My favorite part is starting with a piece of paper, blank stage, and watching it transform into a piece of art.” She feels this show is like “nothing we’ve ever done before” and thinks people will enjoy all the dancing.