Kevin Richardson is the slickest, shiftiest Billy Flynn "Chicago" has ever had.
Source: New York Post
By CLIVE BARNES - February 18, 2003 --
At the Ambassador Theater, 219 W. 49th St. Call TeleCharge (212) 239-6200.
'CHICAGO" has played more than 2,500 performances, but it's as fresh as a show that opened last week.
Clearly, its box office has also gotten a massive jolt of adrenaline from the acclaimed movie version.
With its leggy, trashy nightclub glamour, the stage show is far harsher and more wickedly cynical than the movie.
As the new Roxie Hart, Belle Calaway is outrageously confident, tough but also pixie-cute, resembing that wondrous and very first Roxie, Gwen Verdon.
Australian star Caroline O'Connor ("Moulin Rouge"), making her Broadway debut, is quite the funniest Velma I have seen, and she and Calaway make one of the most formidable pairings since Reinking and Bebe Neuwirth.
Yet the big surprise is another Broadway newcomer, Kevin Richardson, replacing the all-too-bland and colorless Billy Zane as the sleazy Chicago lawyer, Billy Flynn.
Richardson, a member of the pop group Backstreet Boys (five albums, 71 million sold worldwide), might seem a classic case of shamelessly opportunistic casting. Wrong!
Wonder of wonders, Richardson, as slick as his oiled-down hair, as shifty as a tiny earthquake, and singing with justifiable zest, is in like Flynn. He's the best of them all - from Jerry Orbach in the original 1975 version to James Naughton in the encore revival.
Rob Bartlett proves seedy, decrepit and delightful as Roxie's cuckolded and all but invisible husband Amos, while a raunchy and bluesy Roz Ryan is simply marvelous as Mama Morton, the intimidatingly accommodating matron of Chicago's most corrupt prison.
Now that you've seen the movie, see what started it - plus the naughty bits the film left out. You'll agree the show has more drop-dead brilliance than its lauded Hollywood (watch me win the Oscar!) spin-off.
Kevin Transcript from Access Hollywood Interviewer: It's been 2 years since you guys have done a new album.
Kevin: Well, Nick has done his solo project, which he was dying to do. So when he definitely said he wanted to do it, we said, Ok. Step back. Take a breather.
Interviewer: Stories are written about rifts within the group. That the groups not very thrilled that Nick went and did his own thing.
Kevin: We had had a meeting and set a schedule up and then we had another meeting and he kind of sprung it on us and we were all like... (surprised / confused look - I'm sure you can all picture it. LOL)
Interviewer: Was there ever a time when you thought there might be 4 guys instead of 5?
Kevin: Initially, there were some feelings of that but, you know time heals things and we've been together for 10 years and you know it's either the 5 of us or its none of us.
Clips were shown and the release of Chapter 1 was brought up.
Interviewer: They (Jive) decided to release the greatest hits album before you wanted them to.
Kevin: Exactly. We wanted it to come out on our 10th year.
Interviewer: But they went ahead and did it anyways.
Kevin: They were gonna do it with or without our help. And we're like, well if we don't help and we don't promote, and it doesn't sell, then who looks bad? We do. So you know it's frustrating, but that's the business.
Clips are shown and NSync signing with Jive is mentioned and the rivalry is mentioned.
Kevin: Our relationship with our label kinda went downhill, just because we felt like it was a conflict of interest.
Interviewer: People have written about the rivalry between NSync and Backstreet Boys, just like the Lakers and The Bulls. How much of it is true?
Kevin: On a personal thing, it's not true.