The leading ladies are lying con artists and murderers. Despite this, the audience is expected to root for them in the now-classic Fred Ebb/Bob Fosse/John Kander musical Chicago. Paige Davis plays Roxie, the homemaker and would-be nightclub dancer with a heart of cold, who kills her lover and hires a lawyer to get her out of jail and trouble and competes for his, and the world’s, attention with her cellmate rival Velma Kelly. “Roxie thinks she’s at the end of her chances in life,” says Davis, adding that the lying and the killing to achieve recognition in the Prohibition-era setting are more than relevant today with “this country’s relationship with celebrity and fame and getting it at all costs.” Davis, known as the host of Trading Spaces (TLC) and Home and Family (Hallmark) and Emmy-nominated in 2013 for Home Made Simple (OWN), says most of her background is in theater (tours in Beauty and the Beast, Sweet Charity) and Chicago, which she’s performed in off and on since 1998, including most recently on Broadway. Audiences still come to see Chicago, she says, because “The show is very sexy and it’s really, really, really good. The music in Chicago is unforgettable. The production is brilliant. People really know the songs and love the show.” Presented by Gexa Energy Broadway, Chicago’s revisit to Houston is a quick six-day run, so get your tickets fast.
7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, 8 p.m. Friday, 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. Saturday, 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. Sunday. Hobby Center for the Performing Arts, 800 Bagby. For information, call 713‑315‑2525 or visit houston.broadway.com. $41.90 to $121.35 (Subject to change).
Nov. 12-14, 7:30 p.m.; Fri., Nov. 15, 8 p.m.; Sat., Nov. 16, 2 & 8 p.m.; Sun., Nov. 17, 2 & 7:30 p.m., 2013
This article appears in Nov 7-13, 2013.
