Shady Side Academy Senior School will stage three performances of the 2023 winter student musical CHICAGO: TEEN EDITION on Friday, Feb. 17, at 7:30 p.m., Saturday Feb. 18, at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday, Feb. 19, at 2 p.m. Shows will take place in the Richard E. Rauh Theater of the Hillman Center for Performing Arts on the SSA Senior School campus. located at 423 Fox Chapel Road, Pittsburgh, PA 15238.
Tickets are $20 for adults and $15 for students and can be purchased online at www.shadysideacademy.org/theater or at the door. Content is suitable for ages 12 and up.
In roaring twenties Chicago, chorine Roxie Hart murders a faithless lover and convinces her hapless husband, Amos, to take the rap... until he finds out he's been duped and turns on Roxie. Convicted and sent to death row, Roxie and another "Merry Murderess," Velma Kelly, vie for the spotlight and the headlines, ultimately joining forces in search of the "American Dream": fame, fortune and acquittal.
The cast, crew and pit orchestra feature 80 Senior School students in grades 9-12. Featured roles in the cast include senior Sloane Simon as Roxie Hart, senior Elaine Gombos as Velma Kelly, senior Aidan Adams as Billy Flynn, junior Jack Engel as Amos Hart, junior Kayla Zhu as Matron “Mama” Morton, and sophomore Kevin Polke as Fred Casely. Featured “Merry Murderess” dancers include sophomore dance captain Sophia Gombos as Liz, freshman Lily Toma as Annie, junior Sarah Grand as June, junior Abby Ondos as Hunyak and junior Madeira Semins as Mona. An additional 23 students are in the ensemble and dance cast.
Senior Ayli Davidson is the stage manager, and sophomore Jeffrey Brunner and Tommy Kann are the assistant stage managers. An additional 29 students are on the crew, and 14 student musicians are playing in the pit orchestra.
SSA Senior School Performing Arts Chair Dek Ingraham is the show’s director, music teacher Jeff Gross is music director, music teacher Ian Hughes is orchestra director, staff member Amanda Olmstead is dance choreographer, staff member Austin Davidheiser is technical director and production designer, and alumnus Tron McConnell ’71 is shop coordinator.
Chicago first opened on Broadway on June 3, 1975. Directed and choreographed by Bob Fosse, it ran for 936 performances, winning a 1975 Drama Desk Award and earning 10 Tony Award nominations, including Best Musical, Best Book and Best Original Score. On Nov 14, 1996, a revival opened on Broadway, where more than two decades later it continues to run. The revival won six Tony Awards, including Best Revival of a Musical, and six Drama Desk Awards, including Outstanding Revival of a Musical, in 1997.
CHICAGO: TEEN EDITION is presented by arrangement with Concord Theatricals and features a book by Bob Fosse and Fred Ebb, music by John Kander and lyrics by Fred Ebb. It is based on the play by Maurine Dallas Watkins with script adaptation by David Thompson.