Piedmont College Theatre kicks off its 2016-2017 season with the hit musical Chicago. Set in the Roaring Twenties, the show centers around nightclub star Velma Kelly and chorus girl Roxie Hart, who both share the same label - murderess.
Velma kills her husband and sister after finding them in bed together, and Roxie murders her lover after he threatens to walk out on her. To avoid conviction these crafty women, along with the other accused at the Cook County Jail, enlist the help of a smooth talking lawyer, Billy Flynn. Through the use of the media, he cons the public into believing that these women are victims who need their sympathy.
Will Velma and Roxie face conviction or will the media frenzy get them acquitted?
Performances of Chicago are 7:30 p.m., Sept. 29–Oct. 1; and 2 p.m., Oct. 2, on the Swanson Center Mainstage at 365 College Drive, Demorest. Adult tickets are $10, Senior/Student tickets are $5, and Piedmont College faculty, staff, and students are admitted free. Tickets can be ordered online at piedmont.edu/fa or by calling the Box Office at 706-778-8500 ext. 1355.
Directed by Bill Gabelhausen, with musical direction by Benji Stegner, the Piedmont production draws parallels between the crime, the corruption, and the media presence of the 1920s and today. “The evening news being overloaded with scripted stories fed to them by savvy defense attorneys and public relations professionals is not a modern phenomenon, but an old one,” says Gabelhausen on his vision for the production.
